Virat Kohli named Pubity Athlete of the Year 2023 as he defeats second-placed Lionel Messi by landslide margin

Indian cricketer Virat Kohli was named the Pubity Athlete of the Year for 2023 after he defeated Lionel Messi 78-22 in the final vote count.

Pubity is an online community, spanning 20 channels. The popular Instagram page has over 35 million followers and their subsidiary channel - Pubity Sport - hosted the online poll between the legends of the sport, Virat Kohli and Lionel Messi.

Sixteen athletes including the likes of Novak Djokovic, Pat Cummins, LeBron James, Erling Haaland, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Max Verstappen were pitted against one another in a knockout setup for online voting. It came down to Kohli and Messi in the final, with the former claiming 78% of the votes to win the Pubity Athlete of the Year 2023 title.

Kohli had an amazing 2023, with the star batter returning to his best. He amassed eight tons and 10 half-centuries, scoring 2048 runs with the bat across formats. He made 765 runs in the recently concluded 2023 ODI World Cup, becoming the highest run-aggregator in a single edition of the prestigious tournament.

Messi, on the other hand, won the Ballon d'Or in 2023 for his exploits in 2022. He helped his former club Paris-Saint Germain win the 2022-23 Ligue 1 title, registering 41 goals and assists in as many games.

Messi's shining moment came in Qatar in December 2022, when he lifted the elusive FIFA World Cup with Argentina. The legendary footballer registered seven goals and three assists in seven games, winning the Golden Ball in the quadrennial tournament.

Pep Guardiola names Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo among six greatest players of all time

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has proven himself to be a generational manager. Winning leagues at a canter in various countries, the Spaniard is one of the most tactically astounding minds in the game.

He recently paid tribute to the excellence of certain individual footballers, saying that these athletes have made the managerial job - 'a better place'.

Guardiola said (as per SportBible):

"Pele, (Diego) Maradona, (Johan) Cruyff, (Lionel) Messi, (Franz) Beckenbauer, Cristiano Ronaldo, these players will be eternal. They have done many things for many years, these types of players make our business, our job, a better place."

Messi and Ronaldo are still playing as star players in their respective clubs - Inter Miami and Al Nassr.