Finch, Macleod, Pant, and Williamson are the stars shined in the ICC Player Awards 2018 along with Indian skipper Virat Kohli.

International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the list of awards recognizing the performances of players in all three formats of the game in 2018. While Indian skipper has stolen the show with all three major awards, Finch, Macleod, Pant, and Williamson are the stars shined in the ICC Player Awards 2018. Aaron Finch has won the ICC Men’s T20I Performance of the Year award for the second time after his world record 172 against Zimbabwe. Remembering his knock, Finch said,  “It was just one of those days that things seemed to go my way, so it was nice to break my own record and get a 172. After I got a hundred and I started to middle consistently, that is when I knew it was going to be a big one. It all happened pretty quick.” Indian rising star Rishabh Pant has been named as the ICC Emerging player of the year. He scored 537 runs with a century and two fifties in eight Tests during the voting period with 40 catches and two stumpings. In three ODIs, he scored 41 runs and took three catches and in eight T20Is scored 114 runs and pouched two catches. Calum Macleod of Scotland has been named as ICC Associate player of the year. On this award Calum said, “It is a huge honour to win the ICC Associate Player of the Year award. It has been a really special year for me personally. I thank the ICC, Cricket Scotland, my team-mates and all the fans to making it a year I won’t forget.” Kane Williamson who has won the Spirit of Cricket Award said,  “We are all ambassadors of this game, so playing in the right spirit, those sorts of characteristics are really important even at the highest level. It is a nice award. It is important for us as a group that we keep looking to do better in all areas, and one of those areas is to continue playing the game in the right way, as how we see it being right.” Kumar Dharmasena was voted as Umpire of the Year by international captains and ICC Match Referees, winning the David Shepherd Trophy for the second time. The Lankan umpire believes that his achievements and success in the field will inspire many Lankan officials. “It has been a very satisfying year for me and this award from the ICC is a great honour and privilege. This comes six years after I was first named for the award and will inspire me to keep doing the job I love so much. I have always been passionate about cricket, both as a player and an umpire and look forward to keep working hard and challenging myself in order to meet the demands of this great game. I would like to thank my wife for being the strength behind my achievements and also my kids for their support and understanding. I would like to thank Mr. Peter Manuel, my coach, for his guidance from the start of my umpiring career, together with all the other coaches from ICC and Sri Lanka Cricket. I take this opportunity to thank all my fellow colleagues for all the encouragement and support over the years, without which this would not have been possible.”