Ravichandran Ashwin wins Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year 2016

Ravichandran Ashwin on 22 December 2016 won the coveted Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.

Ashwin was chosen for the award after being adjudged the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test Cricketer of the Year. With this, he became the second Indian player after Rahul Dravid to bag the two prestigious prizes in the same year.

Ace cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was awarded with the prestigious trophy in the year 2010. The other recipients of the Sir Garfield Trophy include Andrew Flintoff, Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Mitchell Johnson among others.

About Ravichandran Ashwin

• Ravichandran Ashwin is a right-handed batsman and right-arm off break bowler.

• He plays for the Rising Pune Supergiants in the IPL.

• Ashwin is the fastest Indian bowler to reach the 50-, 100-, 150- and 200-wicket mark in Test cricket.

• He is the only bowler of recent times apart from Ajantha Mendis of Sri Lanka to bowl the carrom ball.

About Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy

• The Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy is a cricket trophy awarded annually by the ICC to its chosen world player of the Year.

• It is named after former West Indies cricket captain Sir Garfield Sobers. The cricketer’s name was chosen by a panel consisting of Richie Benaud, Sunil Gavaskar and Michael Holding.

• The trophy was first awarded in 2004 to Rahul Dravid.

• The leading international crystal manufacturer Swarovski has handcrafted the trophy.

• The design of the trophy features a red crystal cricket ball studded with over 4200 Swarovski crystal chantons, which rests on a brass hand extended from a gold-plated base.

• In 2015, the trophy was awarded to Steven Smith.