Shaheen, Smriti elected best players of 2021

Pakistan pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi won the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year of 2021, and India’s Smriti Mandhana won the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy for the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year.

The International Cricket Council announced the winners on Monday, along with the ICC Men’s and Women’s ODI cricketers of the year, ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year, and ICC Umpire of the Year awards.

Babar Azam was elected as the Men’s ODI Player in 2021, with South Africa’s Lizelle Lee being the Women’s ODI Player in 2021. England skipper Joe Root won the award for Men’s Best Test cricketer in 2021, with South Africa’s Marais Erasmus being the Umpire of the year.

Shaheen had a fantastic 2021 as he picked up 78 wickets in 22 international matches, at an average of 22.20. Winning the award, the Pakistani fast bowler hoped to continue his good form in 2022.

“I always try to produce performances for Pakistan, and I will continue my efforts. I had many good performances including five-fors in Tests. It was a great year for me, and hopefully, you will see good performances in 2022 too,” Shaheen said in his acceptance speech.

Smriti played 22 international matches in 2021, where she scored 855 runs at an average of 38.86, including one century and five fifties.

Upon receiving her award, Smriti said that she was honoured and this recognition would help her get better in the future.

“I am truly honoured for receiving the prestigious Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy for the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year 2021. I am grateful to my teammates, my coaches, my family, friends and fans who believed in my potential and supported me in this journey. A recognition of such high class from the global governing body of cricket in an exceptional and difficult year will motivate me to continue to better my game and contribute to Team India’s success going forward,” she said.