Ace Pakistani pacer Shaheen Afridi has been nominated in five categories for PCB awards 2021.
An independent 10-member jury has nominated Shaheen Afridi for Impactful Performance of the Year, T20I Cricketer of the Year, ODI Cricketer of the Year, Test Cricketer of the Year, and Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year.
Shaheen Afridi was one of the main architects behind Pakistan’s success in 2021 across all the formats. The left-arm pacer was the mainstay of his side’s bowling attack and made an impact in almost every game he played.
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Afridi took 47 wickets in seven Tests that he played last year and also bagged 23 wickets in 21 T20Is and 8 wickets in six ODIs. The main highlight of his performance was his heroics in the T20 World Cup 2021, especially in a match against India, where he rattled their top order.
Apart from Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, who was the highest run-scorer in T20Is in 2021, and Hassan Ali has been shortlisted for three awards each.
While the wicketkeeper batter has been nominated for Impactful Performance of the Year, T20I Cricketer of the Year and Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year, the pacer has been shortlisted for Impactful Performance of the Year, Test Cricketer of the Year and Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year awards.
Skipper Babar Azam has been nominated for Most Valuable Cricketer and ODI Cricketer of the Year awards while Fawad Alam has also found himself in two categories in Impactful Performance of the Year and Test Cricketer of the Year.
Fast bowler Haris Rauf has been shortlisted for the T20I and ODI Cricketer of the Year awards. While the likes of Arshad Iqbal, Azam Khan, Mohammad Wasim Junior, and Shahnawaz Dahani are selected for the Emerging Cricketer of the Year award.
Releasing the official statement, PCB explained on what criteria they made nominations for the Emerging Cricketer of the Year award.
“Players born on or after 1 August 1998 or have made international debuts in this calendar year or have played in a minimum of 15 matches in the Cricket Association events and HBL PSL in this calendar year are eligible.
"Player(s) once nominated in this category, cannot be re-nominated. This means Haider Ali and Mohammad Huraira, despite impressive performances, were not considered as they had been shortlisted last year," PCB said in a statement.
(ANI Inputs)
