India pacer Jasprit Bumrah has made the shortlist for the ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year for 2024 and also for the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for Men’s Cricketer of the Year 2024.
Coming to the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year 2024 award, apart from Jasprit Bumrah, Joe Root, Kamindu Mendis, and Harry Brook have been nominated as well.
Bumrah was picked as he took 71 wickets in the year from 13 Tests, at an average of just 14.26. Bumrah performed admirably throughout the year, whether in pace-friendly circumstances in South Africa and Australia or tougher conditions at home.
Leading India in the absence of full-time captain Rohit Sharma, Bumrah delivered a captain's performance to lead the visitors to a massive 295-run victory in Perth. He took eight wickets in the encounter and was named Player of the encounter for his efforts.
The other nominee was Joe Root, who scored 1566 runs in 17 Tests at an average of 55.57. This was also the fifth instance of Root scoring over 1000 Test runs in a calendar year. His best performance was in the Multan Test against Pakistan.
Root amassed a career-best score of 262 - his sixth double-hundred, putting him on level terms with the likes of Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar.
Kamindu Mendis, Sri Lanka’s debutant in 2024, had an excellent start to his Test career. He scored 1049 runs from nine Tests, at an average of 74.92. He was the joint-third quickest to score 1000 Test runs. His best score was 182 against New Zealand at home.
The fourth and final nominee was also from England, Harry Brook. Brook hit the only triple century of the year as he amassed 1100 runs in 12 Tests at an average of 55. Brook scored 723 runs in 6 Tests outside England, including his best knock of 317 against Pakistan in the Multan Test.
Jasprit Bumrah was also nominated for the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for Men’s Cricketer of the Year 2024. Apart from above mentioned 71 test wickets, Bumrah took 15 wickets in 8 T20I matches including that in the T20 World Cup 2024.
He took 2 wickets in the final against South Africa - as India went unbeaten at the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Joe Root and Harry Brook have also been nominated for the ICC Cricketer of the Year 2024 for their brilliant outing in Test cricket.
The fourth nominee for ICC Cricketer of the Year was Travis Head of Australia. He hit 608 runs in 9 Tests and 539 runs in 15 T20Is in 2024. He took Australia to the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2024.
Apart from this, Head scored two centuries in the ongoing BGT 2024 against India, including a scintillating 140 and 152 in Adelaide and Brisbane respectively.
(ICC inputs)
