Ace Indian seamer Jasprit Bumrah got rewarded for his supreme performance in Tests this year with two nominations in the latest ICC Awards 2024 - Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for Men’s Cricketer of the Year and ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year. Bumrah is among four Indians, including fellow seamer Arshdeep Singh and two women’s cricketers, Shreyanka Patil and Smriti Mandhana, zeroed in for the coveted individual awards.

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Bumrah was the vital cog in the wheel for India across formats this year, helping them win their second T20 World Cup in the Americas in June. He won the Player of the Tournament for his 15 wickets in eight outings, two of which came in the final against South Africa in Barbados. 

Meanwhile, Arshdeep Singh, nominated for his maiden ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year award, was the tournament’s highest wicket-taker with 17 scalps. Overall, in the shortest format this year, the emerging left-arm quick picked 36 wickets in 18 matches, averaging 13.5. Even in the summit clash against the Proteas, Arshdeep conceded just four runs in the penultimate over during the chase. 

Also read | Explained - How India can reach the WTC Final after losing MCG Test

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Suryakumar Yadav, the winner of the ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of the Year for the last two years and who picked perhaps the catch of the year in that final, dismissing David Miller off Hardik Pandya, missed out on the cut this time.

Moving to women’s cricket, Mandhana and Patil are two names who made headlines for star performances this year. 

While Mandhana has been nominated for the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year, having scored 747 runs from 13 innings at an average of 57.46, the off-spinner Patil earned a nomination for the ICC Emerging Women’s Cricketer of the Year. In 17 matches (13 T20Is and 4 ODIs) played this year, the youngster bagged 19 wickets.

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Bumrah, the superstar!

Bumrah has had his best cricketing year, finishing at the top of the wickets chart in Tests. He picked a staggering 71 wickets in 2024 in 13 matches, averaging 14.92 and an economy of 2.96. He bagged five five-wicket hauls this year, with his best of 6/45 coming against England in February.

In the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Bumrah leads the wicket-takers tally with 30 scalps from four contested matches, including three five-fors and two four-wicket hauls. Even in the recently concluded MCG Test, which the hosts won by 184 runs, Bumrah picked nine wickets, including a five-for in the second innings. 

During this Test, he created history by becoming the quickest Indian and the fourth overall to bag 200 Test wickets.

(With inputs from agencies)