Pakistan's left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi has been named as the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men's cricketer of the Year for 2021. The 21-year-old speedster was in amazing form in 2021, which saw him scalp 78 international wickets in all three formats. His performance almost guided Pakistan to the final of the T20 World Cup 2021.
Undisputed King in T20Is
23 wickets in 21 T20I matches saw the young pacer give nightmares to the opposition as he ended with most wickets in the calendar year. If this wasn't enough, he scalped seven wickets in six matches for Pakistan in the T20 World Cup, where he was again a contender for the 'Man of the Tournament'. He was the chief architect in Pakistan's first ever win over India in a World Cup game, after he restricted the Indian team to a 151 runs in the tournament opener for both teams.
Best in the Test
With 47 wickets in the calendar year, he joined a unique list of players from Pakistan to be amongst the highest wicket-takers. Only Imran Khan (62), Waqar Younis (55), Saqlain Mushtaq (51) and Saeed Ajmal (50) have picked more wickets in red-ball format for Pakistan in a calendar year. His best figures of 51/6 came against the West Indies in August at Kingston in Jamaica. His astonishing average of 17.06 made him one of the most lethal assets for the 'Men in Green' throughout the year.
His consistent performances saw him getting compared to former Pakistan great Wasim Akram. The left-arm speedster had scalped Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul in the T20 World Cup encounter, which saw him rise on the global stage. He managed to pick eight wickets in the 50-over format, but it was his T20I and Test performances that saw him beat the rest.
He managed to beat off competition from England captain Joe Root, who scored 1,708 runs in the Test format. However, the England batter was named as the ICC Men's Test Player of the Year as his record run in the longest format of the game didn't go unnoticed. Among other winners was India's Smriti Mandhana, who was named the ICC Women's Player of the Year, after an astonishing 2021.
