Smriti Mandhana and Shaheen Afridi sweep top honours in ICC Awards 2021

On Monday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the complete list of winners of their yearly awards. For the unversed, ICC honours such players who rule the charts and display utmost consistency for their respective national side every year.

ICC named these awards in several different categories such as Cricketer of the Year, Test Cricketer of the Year, ODI Cricketer of the Year, Emerging Cricketer of the Year, T20I Cricketer of the Year, and Associate Cricketer of the Year for both men’s and women’s cricket.

Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi bagged the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy as he was picked for ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year for 2021. Similarly, Indian opener Smriti Mandhana was the recipient of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy for Women’s Cricketer of the Year.

While Afridi became the first Pakistan cricketer to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, Mandhana became only the second player after Australia’s Ellyse Perry to win the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy twice. She had previously bagged the award in 2018.

“I tried to produce good performances for Pakistan in 2021. Even our team played well, and we won some good matches. I have always tried to produce good performances for Pakistan, and hopefully, I’ll continue doing that,” said Afridi said in a video message posted by the ICC.

“A recognition of such high class from the global governing body of cricket in an exceptional and difficult year will motivate me to continue to better my game and contribute to Team India’s success going forward. I look forward to 2022 with a clear focus on winning the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 in New Zealand as we continue to prepare as a team and unit,” said Mandhana.

England Test skipper Joe Root was named as the Test Cricketer of the Year, while Pakistan captain Babar Azam bagged the Men’s ODI Cricketer for 2021. Both the players won these awards for the first time in their careers. Similarly, South Africa’s Lizelle Lee bagged the ODI Women’s Cricketer of the Year award.

Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan was named the Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year. For the same award, England star Tammy Beaumont bagged the honour in the Women’s category.

Here is the complete list of awards:

• Men’s Cricketer of The Year – Shaheen Afridi
• Women’s Cricketer of The Year – Smriti Mandhana
• Men’s Test Cricketer of The Year – Joe Root
• Men’s ODI Cricketer of The Year – Babar Azam
• Women’s ODI Cricketer of The Year – Lizelle Lee
• Men’s T20I Cricketer of The Year – Mohammad Rizwan
• Women’s T20I Cricketer of The Year – Tammy Beaumont
• Emerging Men’s Cricketer of The Year – Janneman Malan
• Emerging Women’s Cricketer of The Year – Fatima Sana
• Men’s Associate Cricketer of The Year – Zeeshan Maqsood
• Women’s Associate Cricketer of The Year – Andrea-Mae Zepeda
• Umpire of The Year – Marais Erasmus