Virat, MSD, Rohit among the top cricket newsmakers of 2019

Rohit Sharma smashed a 22-year-old record, while Kohli reaffirmed his towering status in 2019. Mahendra Singh Dhoni continues to remain a fan favourite.

Virat Kohli (left) and Rohit Sharma finished as the top run-scorer across formats and will remember a successful 2019 for a long time.

2019 was a stellar year for Indian cricket, especially for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Sharma finished as the highest run-getter in ODI with 1490 runs and broke Sanath Jayasuriya’s 22-year-old record for most runs in a calendar year by an opener across formats. Meanwhile, Kohli reaffirmed his towering status by finishing as the leading run-getter in 2019.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who hasn't played a single international match since the culmination of the World Cup, continues to remain a fan favourite.

Here's a look at some of the names that made the headlines more often that the others:

Virat Kohli

Indian skipper Virat Kohli had a great 2019. He led India to the World Cup semifinal and in the country's first Day-Night test match. World Cup 2019 was the biggest newsmaking event in terms of cricket and India’s exit in the semifinal stage was not well received by the fans. Kohli also entered the 11th year of his career in 2019 which created an exceptional amount of news.

MS Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni made his mark yet again in the Indian Cricket landscape with his remarkable performance in the 2019 World Cup. He also led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to the Indian Premier League (IPL) final but eventually lost to Mumbai Indians (MI). MS Dhoni, however, hasn't featured in the national outfit after the World Cup.

Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma had a marvellous 2019 with the highest number of runs for India in the World Cup including back-to-back hundreds. He also led the Indian side against Bangladesh. He emerged as the new sixer-king for the Indian side with a record number of sixes in a single test. He also led the Mumbai Indians side to the IPL title. Sharma finished as the highest run-getter in ODI with 1490 runs and broke Sanath Jayasuriya’s 22-year-old record for most runs in a calendar year by an opener across formats.

Steve Smith

Steve Smith also had a successful year as he made a solid comeback with IPL after the ban and also scored a lot of runs in the World Cup and Ashes. He played well against Pakistan and all of this helped create the outstanding amount of news for the Australian.

Sourav Ganguly

2019 was the most buzzworthy year in the recent past for  Sourav Ganguly  as he was made the president of BCCI. His contribution in India playing its first Day-Night Test also added to his visibility.