ICC announces nominees for Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the nominees for its prestigious annual ceremony awards for the calendar year 2022. ICC has included all the domains and considered all the formats including the ODI, T-20I, and Test Cricket. ICC has named four cricketers as the nominations for the Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year. These include Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa, Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikander Raza and Caribbean wicketkeeper-batsman Shai Hope. Interestingly, the nominees include no Indian players despite ace batsmen Shreyas Iyer and Shikhar Dhawan having showcased their talent and consistency throughout the year.

Let’s have a look at the nominees for ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year

1. Babar Azam

The Iconic Pakistani batsman Babar Azam has undisputedly made to the list after a convincing and splendid batting performance round the year. The skipper is leading the ICC Men’s ODI Rankings since July 2021 and is unarguably the frontrunner to seize the award for the second consecutive year. Notably, Azam was honored with the Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year for 2021 as well.

Babar Azam has been consistent in his efforts to gather runs in his favorite white-ball ODI format. The frontline batsman has scored 679 runs in nine ODI’s with three centuries and a glorious average of 84.87.

2. Adam Zampa

Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa has also stormed in the nominees after a fabulous tourney with the white-ball in 2022. Zampa emerged as Australia’s leading wicket takers in ODI and has been scalping wickets in each game. Though Australia’s majority of matches have been played at home, Zampa’s efforts are noteworthy as the continent has a very low success rate for spinners.

3. Sikander Raza

Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikander Raza will truly be delighted to have his name in the contention. Raza truly deserved to be in the nominees as he has helped his struggling side seal impossible victories and has scored 645 runs in the year with a thumping average of 49.61. He has also scaled eight wickets throughout the year.

Meanwhile, astonishing Caribbean batsman Shai Hope is silently earning a name for himself with a consistent run. Hope amassed 709 runs in 21 ODI matches in 2022 with three centuries, two half-centuries, and a decent average of 35.45. ICC will likely declare the winner in the second week of January.