Bumrah snubbed as Babar nominated for Men's T20I Cricketer of the Year

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced its nominees for the Men’s T20I cricket of the year. This year's nominees are Sikandar Raza from Zimbabwe, Travis Head from Australia, Arshdeep Singh from India, and Babar Azam from Pakistan.

The biggest surprise omission from the list is India’s ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who has taken 15 wickets this year in just eight T20I innings at an average of just 8.3 and an economy of 4.2 in 2024. 

While Bumrah playing selectively might have gone against his favour, as Arshdeep was leading India’s T20I attack in his absence more often than not, the snub is still surprising considering the impact his performances had on India winning the T20 World Cup in 2024. 

All the eight T20Is he played this year were during the T20 World Cup in West Indies and the United States of America (USA), where Bumrah didn’t concede more than 29 runs in a four-over spell even once. In fact, in the semi-final and final of the tournament, he had figures of 2/12 and 2/18, respectively. Deservingly, he was also the Player of the Tournament. 

In contrast, Pakistan’s ace batter Babar Azam’s selection seems a bit surprising in comparison since he has had a mixed year at best in T20I cricket. While he had the most runs for a Pakistani batter in the year, his average of 33.54 and his strike rate of 133.2 are nowhere near the best among the batters who have scored more than 500 runs this year. 

His inconsistency with the bat affected Pakistan in the T20 World Cup as well, where his team couldn’t go past the group stage, where they were defeated by the USA. 

Meanwhile, the other nominees are also among the top performers of their country this year. Raza has had a great 2024, scoring 573 runs and also picking 24 wickets at an average of 22.25 for Zimbabwe. Arshdeep picked 36 wickets in 18 games at a stellar average of 13.5. On the other hand, Travis Head smashed 539 runs this year at a strike rate of 178.5. 

Fans can vote on ICC’s website to select their favourite players to become the Men’s T20I cricketer of the year.