Rajneesh Gupta explains the numbers that led to the world's cricket cognoscenti to vote Ravichandran Ashwin as the ICC Cricketer of the Year 2016 and the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year 2016.
The rankings took into account performances between September 14, 2015 and September 20, 2016.
The trophy is named after Sir Garfield Sobers, arguably the greatest all-rounder ever.
The name for the trophy was chosen by Richie Benaud, Sunil Gavaskar and Michael Holding who were asked by the International Cricket Council to select 'an individual with whom to honour cricket's ultimate individual award.'
The recipient of the annual award is selected by an 'academy' of individuals, including the current captains of Test-playing nations, members of the elite panel of ICC umpires and referees, prominent former players and cricket correspondents.
In the event of a tie in the voting, the award is shared.
ICC Players of the Year
| Year | Player |
| 2004 | Rahul Dravid (India) |
| 2005 | Andrew Flintoff (England), Jacques Kallis (South Africa) |
| 2006 | Ricky Ponting (Australia) |
| 2007 | Ricky Ponting (Australia) |
| 2008 | Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies) |
| 2009 | Mitchell Johnson (Australia) |
| 2010 | Sachin Tendulkar (India) |
| 2011 | Jonathan Trott (England) |
| 2012 | Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) |
| 2013 | Michael Clarke (Australia) |
| 2014 | Mitchell Johnson (Australia) |
| 2015 | Steve Smith (Australia) |
| 2016 | Ravichandran Ashwin (India) |
Ashwin's performances: September 14, 2015 to September 20, 2016
| Matches | Runs | Batting Average | Wickets | Bowling Average | |
| Tests | 8 | 336 | 42.00 | 48 | 15.39 |
| One-Day Internationals | 3 | 1 | 1.00 | 3 | 47.33 |
| Twenty20 Internationals | 19 | 57 | 28.50 | 27 | 15.62 |
| All international cricket | 30 | 394 | 35.81 | 78 | 16.70 |
Ashwin was also adjudged the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year, which has made him only the second Indian after Rahul Dravid (2004) to bag the two coveted prizes in the same year.
Jacques Kallis (2005), Ricky Ponting (2006), Kumar Sangakkara (2012), Michael Clarke (2013), Mitchell Johnson (2014) and Steve Smith (2015) are the other players to annex both the awards in the same year.
ICC Test Cricketers of the Year
| Year | Player |
| 2004 | Rahul Dravid |
| 2005 | Jacques Kallis |
| 2006 | Ricky Ponting |
| 2007 | Mohammad Yousuf (Pakistan) |
| 2008 | Dale Steyn (South Africa) |
| 2009 | Gautam Gambhir (India) |
| 2010 | Virender Sehwag (India) |
| 2011 | Alastair Cook (England) |
| 2012 | Kumar Sangakkara |
| 2013 | Michael Clarke |
| 2014 | Mitchell Johnson |
| 2015 | Steve Smith |
| 2016 | Ravichandran Ashwin |
Ashwin's performance in Tests: September 14, 2015 to September 20, 2016
| Opponent | Venue | Batting | Bowling | Result (for India) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa | Mohali | 20* and 3 | 5/51 and 3/39 | Won |
| South Africa | Bangalore | DNB | 4/70 | Drawn |
| South Africa | Nagpur | 15 and 7 | 5/32 and 7/66 | Won |
| South Africa | Delhi | 56 | 2/26 and 5/61 | Won |
| West Indies | North Sound | 113 | 0/43 and 7/83 | Won |
| West Indies | Kingston | 3 | 5/52 and 1/114 | Drawn |
| West Indies | Gros Islet | 118 and 1 | 2/52 and 1/28 | Won |
| West Indies | Port-of-Spain | DNB | 1/22 | Drawn |
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