ICC Awards: Shaheen Afridi, Smriti Mandhana bag top honours

Shaheen Afridi was the beneficiary of the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy as he was named the ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year for 2021 while Smriti Mandhana packed away the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy for Women's Cricketer of the Year.

Afridi turned into the principal Pakistan cricketer to pack the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy since its commencement in 2004. He got 78 wickets in 36 games across every worldwide configuration, with best figures of 6 for 51 which he took in the main innings of the second Test against West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica. He was additionally one of the significant patrons in Pakistan's first triumph against India in the T20 World Cup, getting 3 for 31 remembering the wicket of Virat Kohli for the game in Dubai in October 2021.

"I attempted to deliver great exhibitions for Pakistan in 2021. Indeed, even our group played well and we won some great matches. I have attempted all the time to deliver great exhibitions for Pakistan and ideally, I'll keep doing that," Afridi said in a video message posted by the ICC and named his T20 World Cup exertion against India as his best. "I had numerous great exhibitions, incorporating five-fors in Tests. Yet, the most important one for me would be the game we dominated against India. It was a chronicled game and a lot of individuals watched India matches. Performing against India was the feature of 2021 for me."

In the meantime, Mandhana turned out to be just the second cricketer after Ellyse Perry to win the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy two times. Mandhana, who recently stowed the honor in 2018, scored 855 runs in 22 worldwide appearances in 2021, which incorporated her lady Test century - 127 against Australia in India Women's first pink-ball Test - aside from two T20I half-hundreds of years, one Test fifty and two fifties in ODIs.

"An acknowledgment of such elegance from the worldwide overseeing collection of cricket in an excellent and troublesome year will spur me to keep on bettering my game and add to Team India's prosperity going ahead. I anticipate 2022 with an unmistakable spotlight on winning the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2022 in New Zealand as we keep on planning collectively and the unit," Mandhana said.

Joe Root won the Test Cricketer of the Year grant without precedent for his profession while Babar Azam was named the Men's ODI Cricketer for 2021, with the Pakistan commander additionally winning the honor interestingly. South Africa's Lizelle Lee stowed the ODI Women's Cricketer of the Year grant.

Regardless of England's diminishing Test fortunes, Root had a fabulous year as he got done with 1708 runs in 15 matches at a normal of 61. He scored six hundred - two of which were twofold tons and two scores during the 180s - alongside four fifties. Root was additionally the primary England player to sack the Test grant since Alastair Cook in 2011 while he fell just possibly shy of Mohammad Yousuf (1788) and Viv Richards (1710) who involve the main two situations for the most Test runs in a scheduled year.

Babar was the main Pakistan cricketer to win the ODI grant as he wrapped up with 405 runs in six matches, averaging 67.50, with two hundred and a fifty. He even scored a profession best 158 against England in Birmingham, in spite of the fact that his thump arrived in a losing cause as the Ben Stokes-drove England group pursued down an objective of 332 for a 3-0 decisive victory.

Lee, who scored 632 runs at a normal of 90.28 with one century and five fifties, turned into the main South African to win the Women's ODI grant. She likewise enrolled her most elevated score in ODIs when she struck an unbeaten 132 against India in Lucknow.

Mohammad Rizwan was the victor of the recently established Male T20I Cricketer of the Year as the ICC got rid of the best T20I Performance of the Year grant. The Pakistan wicketkeeper-player had a sublime year as he scored 1326 runs in 26 innings at a normal of 73.66 and a striking pace of 134.89, with hundred and 12 fifties. He turned into the first to score in excess of 1000 T20I runs in a scheduled year.

Tammy Beaumont was named the Women's T20I Cricketer of the Year. She became the main player from the England Women's group to win the honor since Sarah Taylor secured the honor in both 2012 and 2013. Beaumont scored 303 runs in nine innings, averaging 33.66, with three fifties. She was England's most noteworthy run-getter in Women's T20Is in the year while she was the third-best on the planet for 2021.

South Africa's Janneman Malan and Pakistan's Fatima Sana were named the Emerging Cricketers of 2021. Malan scored 715 runs in 17 internationals at a normal of 47.66, with two hundred and three fifties. Sana, the 20-year-old speed bowling allrounder, got 24 wickets at a normal of 23.95 while she scored 165 runs at 16.50 in 16 global matches.