ICC 2021 edition of the ICC Awards, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced today the T20I cricketers of the year in men’s and women’s international cricket. Pakistan’s ace wicketkeeper-batter, Mohammad Rizwan was voted the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year 2021, whilst England’s Tammy Beaumont was voted the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year 2021.
Aggregating a staggering 1326 runs in only 29 matches, Rizwan averaged at 73.66 and had a strike-rate of 134.89. Apart from his achievements with the bat, Babar Azam also performed well behind the stumps. He was instrumental in Pakistan reaching the semi-finals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, finishing as the tournament’s third-highest run-scorer.
Earlier in the year, Rizwan achieved his first T20I century against South Africa in Lahore. He continued his excellent form with a notable innings of 87 against West Indies in Karachi.
Commenting on receiving the honour Mohammad Rizwan, said: “I had an exceptional year in the shortest format of the game, and I am thankful to all my colleagues and peers for voting me as the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year. This award gives me further motivation and incentive to do even better in 2022 and beyond for Pakistan so that we can collectively achieve our objective of being the top T20I playing side and in the process enhancing our fan-base.“
“I want to thank all my team-mates and coaching staff who helped me throughout the year by preparing and training me well enough to contribute to Pakistan’s successes. As cricket is a team sport, I would like to dedicate this award to my teammates and fans.”
In the women’s division, England’s versatile player Tammy Beaumont was honored as the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year due to her remarkable performance throughout 2021. Beaumont emerged as England’s top run-scorer and ranked third overall worldwide in the same year.
Previously in the year, during a series against New Zealand on their home turf, which witnessed low-scoring encounters, Beaumont stood out as the leading scorer. Her exceptional performance earned her the Player of the Series title, having amassed a total of 102 runs across three matches. Her 63 in 53 balls in the second match put England in a winning position after they had lost two wickets in the powerplay. Beaumont maintained her impressive form during New Zealand’s limited-overs tour of England. She once again finished as the highest run scorer in the series with 113, which included a stunning 97 in the opening game of the series.
Commenting on her award Tammy Beaumont said: “It’s a huge privilege to win the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year Award. I’ve worked incredibly hard on my T20 game in the last few years. My T20I career has had its ups and downs and I don’t think I’ve always been known for my T20 abilities, so this award gives me a huge amount of confidence.”
“As a team we had a great year in terms of T20I results and it feels great to have contributed to team wins. We’ve got a big year ahead in all formats – with the Ashes, the ICC Women’s World Cup and the Commonwealth Games, and I look forward to continuing to work hard alongside my teammates to help us win as many games as possible.”
Pakistan’s Fatima Sana and South African Janneman Malan Awarded Women Emerging Cricketers 2021
The International Cricket Council (ICC) named Janneman Malan from South Africa and Fatima Sana from Pakistan as the Emerging Cricketers of the Year for 2021 in men’s and women’s international cricket, respectively.
The ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year in men’s and women’s international cricket is given to the top performer under the age of 26, having played no more than 5 Tests, 10 ODIs, and 5 T20Is before the performance period between January 1 and December 31, 2021.
Commenting on her award Fatima Sana said: “I am delighted to receive this award. As a youngster, it is a big boost to receive such a recognition at the start of my international career for which I am thankful to the PCB, my teammates, and the ICC. I feel lucky that I have found such good support from the senior players and my coaches, their confidence and backing has remained invaluable for me throughout the year and has been one of the reasons for my successes.“
“After winning the PCB Women’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year award in 2020, the ICC Award has given me a huge lift and I look forward to serving my team to the best of my abilities this year, especially since this is an ICC Women’s World Cup year.“
“We are work really hard in the ongoing camp in Karachi and I remain motivated to do well in the New Zealand tournament and hope to finish as one of the top players while helping my side in the winning moments.”
For more details about the ICC Awards 2021, you can visit the official ICC Awards page at https://www.icc-cricket.com/awards.
