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Shaheen Shah Afridi declared ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year
Pakistani pacer wins Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Men's Player of the Year for Award 2021
Dubai: Pakistan pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi on Monday won the Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year for 2021. Shaheen took 78 wickets in 36 internationals at an average of 22.20 in 2021.
The tall Pakistani quick was on fire throughout 2021, knocking some of the best batters over across all three formats of the game. He especially had a year to remember in Tests and T20Is, reaching his peak during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in UAE, where he impressed one and all with his sheer speed and skills.
He would take seven wickets in six matches during the tournament in Pakistan's run to the semi-final. He ruled the shortest format throughout the calendar year, scalping 23 wickets in 21 matches with his death bowling improving by leaps and bounds.
After a slow start to the year in Test cricket in New Zealand, Afridi burst to life during the home series against South Africa. He continued his brilliant form throughout the rest of the year in the away tours of Zimbabwe, West Indies and Bangladesh. Overall, he claimed 47 wickets in only nine matches at a staggering average of 17.06.
Swing, seam, sheer pace and sizzling yorkers Shaheen Shah Afridi gave an exhibition of it all in the year 2021.
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has been named as One Day Internationals (ODI) Cricketer of the Year by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday (January 24).
On the other hand, the ICC has declared Babar Azam as the ODI Cricketer of the Year for his spectacular performance in the calendar year 2021.
Besides Azam, Shakib Al Hasan, Janneman Malan and Paul Stirling were among the nominees.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) turned to its official twitter handle to felicitate the cricketer on this amazing milestone.
Babar Azam, in his acceptance speech, thanked all cricket fans, his family, PCB officials, the ICC and his squad for supporting and boosting his confidence.
“My best knock in the year (2021) was against England, which was also my career-best,” said Babar.
The skipper added that he was struggling there, but that knock gave him a lot of confidence.
The 27-year-old further added, "My goal is to score runs in every country and at the home of the opponents”.