The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday (December 29) announced the shortlisted candidates for the Men's T20I Cricketer of the Year 2022 award.
Suryakumar Yadav is the only Indian to feature in the list of nominees, which also includes Sikander Raza, Sam Curran and Mohammad Rizwan.
Suryakumar had a sensational 2022 in T20Is, becoming just the second batter to aggregate more than 1000 runs in a year in the shortest format. He ended the year as the top run-getter, amassing 1164 runs in 31 innings at an impressive average of 46.56 and a remarkable strike-rate of 187.43.
His tally of 68 sixes in the calendar year in T20Is is the highest anyone has recorded in the format in a year. With two hundreds and nine half-centuries to his name in 2022, Yadav was the standout men's T20I batter.
Surya’s batting was one of the highlights of India’s T20 World Cup 2022 campaign in Australia. The dashing right-hander scored 239 runs in six matches at a sensational strike rate of 189.68 with three half-centuries, which came against Netherlands, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Talking about Sikander Raza, the Zimbabwe all-rounder had a stellar year with the bat and also contributed significantly with the ball in T20Is.
Raza finished the year as Zimbabwe’s highest run-getter in T20Is, scoring 735 runs in from 23 innings at an average of 35 and a brilliant strike-rate of 150.92 with five half-centuries. He also led the wickets chart for them, picking 25 scalps at an excellent economy rate of 6.13.
Sam Curran, T20 World Cup winner and Player of the Tournament, is also one of the frontrunners to win the award. With England missing key fast bowlers in the showpiece event, Curran stepped up admirably to finish the World Cup with 13 scalps to his name, second only to Wanindu Hasaranga of Sri Lanka.
The England all-rounder finished the year with 25 wickets and 67 runs to his name from 19 T20I matches.
As far as Mohammad Rizwan is concerned – the Pakistan wicketkeeper was highly consistent in T20Is throughout the year. He amassed 996 runs in 2022, only behind the tally of Suryakumar Yadav.
Rizwan slammed 10 half-centuries in the year in T20Is, and returned with 175 runs in the T20 World Cup, the joint-most by a Pakistan batter. Averaging 45.27 in T20Is in 2022, Rizwan enhanced his reputation as a prolific anchor at the top of Pakistan's batting line-up.
The year also saw Rizwan achieving the top position in the ICC Men's T20I Player Rankings for batters. He finished the year at No.2 with 836 rating points.
(With ICC inputs)
