Indian skipper Virat Kohli & offie R Ashwin nominated for ICC Player of the Decade Award

Indian skipper Virat Kohli and veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin have been nominated for the ICC Player of the Decade Award. While Kohli is India's most successful captain in the longest format, R Ashwin is the fourth-highest wicket-taker for India in red-ball cricket. 

Apart from the batting megastar as well as Team India's Test specialist, other players who have been nominated for the award include the likes of English Test skipper Joe Root, the elegant New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, top-ranked Test batsman Steve Smith, South African batting icon Abraham Benjamin de Villiers, and former Sri Lankan wicket-keeper batsman Kumar Sangakkara.

The full list of nominations was announced on Tuesday.

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Virat Kohli & R Ashwin in the 2020/21 Aus series

The duo will next be seen in action during the upcoming all-format series against Australia that gets underway this Friday i.e. November 27. Ashwin is expected to be the frontline spinner in the four-match Test series that gets underway on December 17.

In fact, he has been India's Test specialist from mid-2017 ever since the emergence of wrist-spinners Kuldeep Yadav and, Yuzvendra Chahal fondly known as 'KulCha' who have succeeded in making a tremendous impact for the Men In Blue in white-ball cricket.

Kohli on the other hand will be leading India in the limited-overs series against the five-time world champions that includes three One Day Internationals which will be followed by the same number of T20Is. He will then be making a solitary Test appearance by leading his team in the opening Test match at the Adelaide Oval which will be played under lights.

The regular skipper would be heading back to India after the first Test match to be with his wife Anushka Sharma as they are expecting their first child in January. He has been granted paternity leave by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and his Test deputy Ajinkya Rahane might lead the visitors in the last three matches at Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane respectively. 

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