Jas brilliant cricketer
dubai: Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was chosen for the men’s Test Cricketer of the Year, while big-hitting batter Smriti Mandhana bagged the women’s honour in the ODI format as Indian cricketers dominated the ICC individual awards that were rolled out on Monday.
ICC announced three more awardees from its annual list this afternoon, continuing a process that started on Friday. The final two honours – the men’s and women’s Cricketer of the Year – will be revealed on Tuesday and Bumrah is in contention to bag a double after having been named in the Test Team of the Year.
Bumrah was a standout performer in the last 12 months in which he dominated all opposition teams, grabbing 71 wickets from a mere 13 matches at a brilliant average of 14.92.
Bumrah bowled a phenomenal 357 overs in Test cricket in the cycle, maintaining a strike-rate of just 30.1.
Bumrah, who was instrumental in India’s home series victories over England and Bangladesh, was the fourth Indian bowler to take 70 or more wickets in a calendar year after Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble and Ravichandran Ashwin.
“I am really happy to win the ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year award. This format is always close to my heart. The last year was really special, to be having a lot of learning and wins. I am happy to play a lot of cricket this year, and a lot of wickets have been special. But the wicket of Ollie Pope (England) at Visakhapatnam was really special because that shifted the momentum in our favour,” Bumrah said.
He is the first male Indian cricketer to bag an individual ICC honour since 2018, when Virat Kohli claimed the Test player of the year as well as the Cricketer of the Year.
Honour for Mandhana
Charismatic opener Mandhana brought further joy to the Indian fans as she was named the women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year. She earlier featured in the women’s T20 International and ODI Team of the Year.
The India vice-captain, who was the women’s Cricketer of the Year in 2018 and 2022, racked up 747 runs in 13 innings in 2024 to bag the prestigious award.
“I thank ICC for giving me the honour of ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year. I was happy to contribute to the team. I would like to thank my coaches and family for all the support and most importantly the teammates who have been with me through all the ups and downs,” Mandhana told ICC. She put several batting stalwarts, including South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt, England’s Tammy Beaumont and West Indies’ Hayley Matthews, to shade.
The left-hander’s tally was the highest among the leading run-getters in Women’s ODIs last year, way ahead of Wolvaardt (697), Beaumont (554) and Matthews (469). The 28-year-old cricketer’s runs came at an average of 57.86 and an impressive strike rate of 95.15. Some of her best innings came against high-calibre opposition, including her back-to-back centuries which guided India to a 3-0 series win against SA in June.
