The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday announced the nominations for the ICC T20I cricketer of the year with Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan and all-rounder Nida Dar making the cut in their respective sections.
In the men’s section, the other three nominees are India’s Suryakumar Yadav, England’s Sam Surran and Zimbabwe’s Sikander Raza.
Rizwan was also crowned the T20I cricketer of the year by the ICC in 2021.
Among the leading run-scorers in the 20-over format this year, Yadav is at the top spot with 1,164 runs followed by Rizwan (996 runs), Virat Kohli (781 runs) and Sikander Raza (735 runs).
While Curran was nominated for his “remarkable T20 World Cup” show this year.
“His best showing came in the final against Pakistan in Melbourne, where he conceded just 12 runs in his fours overs while taking three wickets,” the ICC said, adding he was also named the player of the match.
Hailing Rizwan for his consistency in the format, the cricket body said the Pakistani opener amassed 996 runs with nine catches and three stumpings in 25 matches in the outgoing year.
It said Rizwan also smashed 10 half-centuries in 2022 in T20Is, and finished 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 high-quality anchor at the top of Pakistan’s batting line-up,” the statement said.
The ICC recounted that Rizwan’s best performance came in the home series against England in the build-up to the T20 World Cup when he scored an unbeaten 88 off just 51 balls as Pakistan scaled a 200-plus target without the loss of a wicket.
