Team India's talismanic batter Virat Kohli has emerged as the winner of the Pubity Male Athlete of The Year Award, defeating Argentine footballing great Lionel Messi on Sunday, December 31.
Kohli is one of the popular athletes and has a huge fan following around the world. Former India captain had an incredible year in Tests and ODIs and broke several records, notably first batter to score 50 ODI centuries and world record for most runs in a single edition of the World Cup (765).
Virat Kohli was in contention with Lionel Messi, Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Lebron James, and Max Verstappen to win the Pubity Male Athlete of The Year Award. The finalists came down to between Kohli and Messi, with latter winning the award with over 5 lakh votes.
Team India batter received 78% votes as compared to Messi's 28%. Though Argentina football star won Times Athlete of the Year, he was nowhere near Virat Kohli to win the Pubity Male Athlete of The Year Award.
Lionel Messi had an average 2023 as he didn't produce any incredible performance post leading Argentina to 2022 World Cup triumph. This year, the 35-year-old grabbed headlines for his deal with David Beckham-owned Inter Miami club following parting ways with Paris Saint Germain. He scored 11 goals in 10 matches for the club, but he failed to take his team to the playoffs of Major Soccer League 2022-23 season.
Virat Kohli's 2023 in numbers
Former India captain Virat Kohli revived his lost form and played best of his cricket in 2023.
Kohli emerged as the second highest run-getter of the year, aggregating 2048 runs at an average of 66.06 in 35 matches. The 35-year-old shattered Kumar Sangakkara's record for scoring the most 2000 international runs in different calendars. Kohli achieved the milestone seven times, while Sangakkara did in six times.
Virat Kohli had a spectacular World Cup as he became the highest run-getter with 765 runs at an average of 95.62 in 11 matches. However, his incredible campaign ended in a heartbreak as India failed to get hold of the coveted trophy after losing to Australia in the final.
Talismanic batter was quite impressive in IPL 2023, wherein he was the four highest run-scorer with 639 runs, including two centuries and six half-centuries, at an average of 53.25 in 14 matches.
Kohli is currently part of India squad in the ongoing two-match Test series against South Africa. He scored the most runs for visitors, aggregating 114 runs across two innings.
