The International Cricket Council (ICC) has unveiled the list of T20I cricketers for the year 2024, as only one player from the champion side has got in place in the list, and quite surprisingly, the name isn’t their premier pace bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, or the winning captain of the side, Rohit Sharma.
In the list of ICC awards, the only Indian to earn a place is the left-arm pacer of the side, Arshdeep Singh, who ended the ongoing year with 36 wickets in 18 games at an average of 13.5 with a best bowling figure of 4/9 in an innings. That’s the second-best in the list by an Indian bowler in a year, behind Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who picked up 37 in 2022.
The Punjab-born filled the role of the attacking bowler, who earned the wickets with the new ball in the powerplay and also in the death overs with the old ball. The most memorable contest for him was the final of the ICC T20 World Cup, where he picked up the wicket of Aiden Markram and Quinton de Kock in the defense of 177 runs.
The second in the list of the ICC awards in the T20I captain of Zimbabwe, Sikandar Raza, who cracked 573 runs in 24 games at an average of 28.65 with the best score of unbeaten 133 runs, besides picking up 24 wickets at an average of 22.25.
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Raza was an instrumental contributor to the side for their unbeaten run in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup sub-regional Africa Qualifier Group B, smashing 199 runs and picking up ten wickets. The Chevrons remain progressively, as they have secured wins over Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan under his leadership.
The right-handed batter secured his maiden hundred in the shortest format with a five-wicket haul. But the biggest moment of the year for him came against a young Indian side. On a tricky Harare surface, they finished with 115/9 thanks to his 17 runs, but he made the difference with the ball.
Travis Head and Babar Azam cut ICC T20 cricketer nominees of 2024
The right-handed batter broke the defense of the Indian captain and found India at 47/6. His figures of 3/25 were enough for them to earn a thrilling victory by 13 runs.
The third in the list is the former T20I captain of the Pakistan side, Babar Azam, who drilled 738 runs in 24 T20Is this year at an average of 33.54 and the highest score of unbeaten 75 runs. It has been a mixed year for the veteran, under whose captaincy they were eliminated from the group stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
Babar is bound to break the record of 4231 runs in T20Is, set by former T20I batter of India, Rohit Sharma. The biggest moment for Azam in the year was the knock of 75 runs in 42 balls against Ireland in their chase of 179 runs after the early loss of Saim Ayub.
The last player on the list was the aggressive Australian batter, Travis Head, who grilled 539 runs in 15 T20Is at an average of 38.5, which is the best for an Australian to score in the calendar year in T20Is. He was the third leading run-getter of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 with 255 runs at 158.38.
The biggest role for him in the year was when he earned the wicket of Matthew Short and got 59 runs in just 23 balls with the help of 12 boundaries and four sixes by the end of the powerplay at Rose Bowl against England.