Pakistan Cricket Board has announced its list of annual award winners for performances in 2021 in the men’s, women’s and various other categories, with names of Mohammad Rizwan, Hasan Ali and Nida Dar shining the brightest.
Rizwan, Pakistan men’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batter across formats, won the Most Valuable Cricketer award after a year where he recorded nearly 2,000 international runs, including 1,326 in T20Is. In a year dedicated to the T20 World Cup, Rizwan stood up as one of Pakistan’s best cricketers.
He became the first batter to reach the 1000-run mark in T20Is in a calendar year, for which he was also named Pakistan’s T20I Cricketer of the Year.
Rizwan started the year with a bang, scoring a century against South Africa. He made 281 runs in the T20 World Cup where Pakistan made it through to the semifinals, thanks in no small part to the solidity that Rizwan and Babar Azam provided at the top.
“I thought I had an exceptional year in the shortest format of the game when I was able to hit a century early in the year against South Africa and then carry that confidence and momentum for the rest of the year,”
Rizwan was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
Dar bagged the prestigious Women’s Cricketer of the Year award for her impressive all-round exploits in 2021. The 35-year-old scored over 450 runs and took 11 wickets in the white-ball internationals that Pakistan women’s team played.
Among other awardees, fast-bowler Hasan Ali and skipper Babar bagged the Test and ODI Cricketer of the Year, respectively, while Mohammad Wasim Jr was given Emerging Cricketer of the Year and Sahibzada Farhan was handed Domestic Cricketer of the Year.
The biggest plus for Pakistan was the impressive comeback by Hasan in Tests after a period where he struggled to cope with injuries.
“Last year was sort of a comeback year for me after I had missed international cricket in 2020 due to an injury. I was not only able to make a successful return to international cricket but also played my part in the team’s overall success in 2021,”
said the elated Hasan, who took 41 wickets in eight Tests.
