Pakistan pace bowler Shaheen Afridi was awarded the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Player of the Year on Monday for his “sizzling spells, sheer display of pace and swing and some magical moments”, while captain Babar Azam was crowned as the ODI Cricketer of the Year by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for his “match-winning knocks, spell-binding stroke-play and memorable moments” in 2021.
Azam beat Bangladesh’s Shakib al Hasan, South Africa’s Janneman Malan and Ireland’s Paul Stirling to bag the title and Shaheen was in competition with England’s Joe Root, teammate Mohammad Rizwan and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson.
Prime Minister Imran Khan was all praises for Azam and Afridi. He also lauded Fatima Sana and Mohammad Rizwan who were named ICC’s Emerging Women’s Cricketer of the Year and Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year, respectively.
Netizens celebrate Mohammad Rizwan and Fatima Sana for winning top ICC awards, making Pakistan proud
2021 has been a year of victories where the Pakistani cricket team is concerned — just recently Babar Azam was made captain of the ICC’s ODI and T20I teams of the year — and now two more players have made their way to the top. The ICC announced more of its awards and Mohammad Rizwan has been named ICC’s Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year, while Fatima Sana was named Emerging Women’s Cricketer of the Year and netizens are overjoyed.
Pakistani Twitter has flooded the platform with congratulations, expressing joy over the two massive wins and saying they’ve made the country proud.
“Sheer Consistency, indomitable spirit and some breathtaking knocks,” the ICC captioned the post, saying 2021 was memorable for Mohammad Rizwan. Shadab Khan was quick to congratulate his team member and said, “No one deserved it more.” Fans brought up Rizwan’s turnaround as he made the transformation from “not T20 material to best T20 player.”
“Congratulations to our cricket stars.
You have made us proud,” PM Khan said. Source: dawn.com
