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Rising Indian pacer named ICC Men’s T20I cricketer of the year
Follow UsArshdeep Singh was at the forefront of India’s T20 World Cup winning campaign in 2024 and is their highest wicket-taker in the format
Indian left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh was named the ICC T20I Cricketer of the Year on January 25 (Saturday), after he had a stellar 2024 in the format.
He picked 36 wickets in just 18 games in the format and was sensational in the T20 World Cup final where he bowled four overs and finished with figures of 2/20 as India defended 176.
He dismissed skipper Aiden Markram in the third over, and just when Quinton de Kock was looking dangerous in the middle overs, he removed him before the latter could take full control of the chase. He also bowled a near-perfect penultimate over when the Proteas needed 20 odd 12, giving away just four runs.
Only four bowlers took more wickets than Arshdeep in the calendar year; however, the Indian pacer played fewer games than all of them.
He also had a bowling average of just 15.31 despite being a powerplay and death bowler - two hardest phases of the game. India’s strike bowler, Arshdeep took his wickets after every 10.80 deliveries on an average.
The 25-year-old was also one of the four Indians included in the ICC Men’s T20I XI of the year along with Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, and Jasprit Bumrah.
The Punjab-born recently became the highest T20I wicket-taker for India, surpassing Yuzvendra Chahal in the first T20I against England at Eden Gardens on January 22. At the time of writing this report, Arshdeep is just two wickets short of becoming the first Indian bowler to take 100 wickets in T20Is.