Mohammad Rizwan named Men's T20I Player of the Year

Pakistan wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan was on Sunday (January 23) named ICC Men's T20 Player of the Year following a prolific 2021. The opener ruled the roost in 2021 when it came to the shortest format of the game. AMong the women, it was England's Tammy Beaumont who won the prestigious award. 

Aggregating a staggering 1,326 runs in only 29 matches, Rizwan struck at an average of 73.66 and a strike-rate of 134.89. Beaumont on the other hand, finished wit 303 runs at 33.66 to go with a strike-rate in excess of 108. Only Ireland's Gaby Lewis (325) and Austria's Andrea-Mae Zepeda (361) scored more runs than her.

Rizwan, apart from his exploits with the bat, was as solid as ever behind the stumps, playing a key role in Pakistan's run to the semis during the T20 World Cup 2021, where he ended up as the third-highest run-scorer.

He also scored the maiden T20I century of his career against South Africa in Lahore early in the year and ended it continuing his form with a brilliant knock of 87 against West Indies in Karachi. With another T20 World Cup coming up next year, Pakistan will hope that Rizwan continues in the same vein.

Speaking on the honour,  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.”

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.”

(With inputs from PTI)