In spite of winning the Times Athlete of the Year, Lionel Messi on Saturday was beaten by Indian cricketer Virat Kohli as Pubity Sport Men’s Athlete of the Year. Messi proved no competition for Virat who received 78 per cent of the 500,000 votes to win the award comfortably.
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Kohli had a terrific 2023 with the bat, although his wait for an ICC trophy did not end. Kohli shattered several record throughout the year, notably becoming the first batter in the world to score 50 ODI centuries. He also scored 765 runs from 11 matches in the ODI World Cup. He finished the year as the second highest run getter in the world, scoring 2048 runs in 35 matches.
Lionel Messi on the other hand had an average 2023. After the high of winning the FIFA World Cup in the summer of 2022, the Argentine wizard moved to Major Soccer League to play for Inter Miami. In spite of scoring 10 goals in 11 matches for the David Beckham co-owned side, Messi failed to help Inter Miami qualify for the playoffs. He did win his first silverware in US though in the form of Leagues Cup.
However, Lionel Messi’s 2023 exploits were not enough as the prolific Indian batter won the competition fairly easily.
