Suryakumar Yadav top contender for ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year award

India’s Suryakumar Yadav, who enjoyed a sensational year in the shortest format of the game, was on Thursday shortlisted for the 2022 ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year award.

Batters from three different continents have been shortlisted for the award, including Sikandar Raza from Zimbabwe, England’s Sam Curran and Mohammad Rizwan from Pakistan.

Yadav, who became just the second batter to score more than 1000 runs in a year in the format, ended the year as the highest run-getter, scoring 1164 runs at a brilliant 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 by a fair distance.

His incredible consistency in the format is reflected in his average which stood in the mid-40s. With two hundreds and nine half-centuries in the year, Yadav was the standout men’s T20I batter.

SKY, as he also known as, scored three fifties in six innings, averaging nearly 60 in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia at a strike-rate of 189.68.

Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza also had a stellar year, scoring 735 runs and taking 25 wickets in 24 matches.

2022 T20 World Cup Player of the Tournament Sam Curran took 25 wickets and also chipped in with the bat, scoring 67 runs in 19 matches.

Curran’s three-wicket haul in the final proved to be crucial in England winning their second T20 World Cup title.

Pakistani wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Rizwan continued on from his record-breaking year in T20Is in 2021, scoring 996 runs, taking nine catches and effecting three stumpings in 25 matches in 2022.

Rizwan hit 10 half-centuries in the year in T20Is and only Suryakumar Yadav made more runs in the year in men’s T20Is.

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