Despite the pandemic that forced limited cricket, Pakistan’s premier batsman Babar Azam managed to leave his impact in the few opportunities he got. Following his brilliance in 2020, Babar was named the ‘Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year’ and the ‘White Ball Cricketer of the Year’ by the Pakistan Cricket Board on Friday.
The stylish top-order batsman amassed 338 runs in four Tests at an average of 67.6. In limited-overs cricket, he was stupendous as he scored a total of 221 runs in three outings at an average of 110.5 in ODIs. In T20Is, he scored 1681 runs at an average of 55.2.
With such numbers, Babar is without a doubt the best player in Pakistan right now. With Babar just 26, he still has a long way to go in international cricket which means Pakistan cricket would be exciting.
Mohammad Rizwan – who has replaced Sarfaraz Ahmed as the wicketkeeper for Pakistan – won the prestigious Test Cricketer of the Year. He scored 302 runs at an average of 43.14 in 2020. He also has 12 dismissals to his name in five Tests this year.
Fawad Alam’s brilliant 102 versus New Zealand in the first Test was the ‘Individual Performance of the Year’. Another big award went to young pacer Naseem Shah who won the ‘Men’s Emerging International Cricketer of the Year’
Aliya Riaz was named the ‘Women’s Cricketer of the Year’.
List of all winners:
- Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year – Babar Azam
- Test Cricketer of the Year – Mohammad Rizwan
- White-ball Cricketer of the Year – Babar Azam
- Individual Performance of the Year – Fawad Alam (102 v New Zealand, 1st Test)
- Women’s Cricketer of the Year – Aliya Riaz
- Domestic Cricketer of the Year – Kamran Ghulam
- Corporate Achievement of the Year – First-ever HBL PSL 2020 in Pakistan
- Men’s Emerging International Cricketer of the Year – Naseem Shah
- Men’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year – Rohail Nazir
- Women’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year – Fatima Sana