Mohammad Rizwan piled up a mountain of runs for Pakistan in the year 2021 and was one of the most trusted batters for the Men in Green in the Men’s T20 World Cup. Rizwan bagged the Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year award for scoring 455 in Tests, 134 in ODIs and 1,326 T20I runs. He was also accounted for 56 dismissals behind the stumps across all formats.
The wicket-keeper batsman trumped Babar Azam, Hasan Ali and Shaheen Shaheen Afridi to clinch the Most Valuable Cricketer. In addition to this award, Rizwan was also named as the T20I Cricketer of the Year.
“I feel humbled and honoured to have been adjudged Pakistan’s Most Valuable Cricketer of 2021. This is the PCB’s most prestigious award and to be recognised for my contributions in the team’s superlative performances across all formats in 2021 in such a way gives me tremendous satisfaction and happiness,” said Rizwan in a PCB release.
Pakistan’s captain across all formats, Babar Azam won the PCB’s ODI Cricketer of the Year award for scoring 405 runs in six ODIs with two centuries and a half-century. Hasan Ali won the PCB’s Test Cricketer of the Year for his 41 wickets in nine Tests, including a 10-wicket haul and five, five-wicket hauls.
Meanwhile, Nida Dar was named as the Women’s Cricketer of the Year by PCB after aggregating 604 runs and scalping 25 wickets. Mohammad Wasim Junior bagged the Emerging Cricketer of the Year for his 45 wickets in 2021, including 15 wickets in his first year of international cricket.
The year gone by was indeed a special one for Pakistan as they recorded some spectacular wins. In fact, Pakistan also registered a historic 10-wicket triumph against arch-rivals India in T20 World Cup. This was Pakistan’s first-ever win against India in World Cup events.
