Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Awards 2021 – Top Pakistani Cricketers

Every year PCB honours Pakistani Cricket Players with Different Awards to acknowledge their services to Cricket. These awards are awarded to Top Performers according to the Categories.  This Year, PCB has announced PCB Awards in the Eight Different Categories. Categories are:

• T20I Cricketer of the Year
• ODI Cricketer of the Year
• Test Cricketer of the Year
• Domestic Cricketer of the Year
• Emerging Cricketer of the Year 
• Women’s Cricketer of the Year
• Impactful Performance of the Year
• Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year

Nominations of Players in these Categories are made after consultation with Umpires, National and International Cricket Experts. Winners will be decided in a Virtual show and the results will be announced on PCB’s Youtube and Facebook Page. Chairman PCB Ramiz Raja will be the Chief Guest at PCB’s Award Ceremony (Not Confirmed from PCB Officials yet). Categories-wise Shortlisted Players are:

T20I Cricketer of the Year

In 2021, Pakistani Players excelled in every sector of the T20 International Games. Among top T20I Players in 2021, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Run Machine Rizwan, Fast Bowler Haris Rauf and Skipper and FInest Pakistani Batter Babar Azam are nominated for the PCB T20U Cricketer of the Year Awards.

Shortlisted Players for T20 Cricketer and their Stats;

• Shadab Khan (20 wickets in 18 Mathes with an Average of 6.64)
• Shaheen Shah Afridi (Shaheen took 23 Wickets in 21 T20 Matches with an Economy of 7.86)
• Haris Rauf: Rauf has taken 25 Crucial Wickets in 23 T20 International Matches. 
• And the Last Contestant for the T20 Cricketer of 2021 is one and only Muhammad Rizwan. In terms of Pakistani Cricket, 2021 was Rizwan’s Year. WicketKeeper Muhammad Rizwan remained unbeatable in front of Wickets and behind the Stumps. Rizwan scored 1326 runs in 29 Games. Wicketkeeper Batter Rizwan is Strongest Candidate in this Category. 

ODI Cricketer of the Year

In 2021, Due to ICC T20 Cricket World Cup, Not many ODI Matches were played. In a few Played ODI Matches, the following players have been shortlisted for PCB ODI Cricketer of the YEar AWards;

• Babar Azam (6 ODIs, 405 runs: Azam scored 405 runs in just 6 Matches. Babar Azam is also Nominated in the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year (2021) Awards for his Exceptional Performances in Calendar Year. The National Team’s Skipper is one of the favourable Candidates.
• Haris Rauf (In Six One Day International Matches, Haris scalped 13 Wickets)
• Fast Bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi is nominated in this Category for playing 6 matches and taking 8 wickets.
• Aggressive Left Handed Batter Fakhar Zaman is also included in Nominations for PCB ODI Cricketer of the Year. He scored 365 in Six ODIs. 

Test Cricketer of the Year

Based on 9 Test Matches, the following Test Players are nominated for Pakistan Cricket Board’s Test Cricketer of 2021. Of Four nominations, Abid Ali scored 695, Fawad Alam scored 571 runs, Shaheen took 47 wickets, and Hassan Ali took 41. Unfortunately, none of the following Cricketers are nominated for ICC Test Cricketer of the Year Awards, for which ICC is being strongly criticized. 

• Abid Ali 
• Shaheen Shah Afridi (Probably the Strongest Candidate)
• Fawad Alam
• Hasan Ali 

Domestic Cricketer of the Year

While coming to Domestic Cricket of Pakistan, the following Cricketers are shortlisted on the basis of their performance in Quaid e Azam Trophy, Pakistan Cup, National T20 Cup. 

• Spinner Asif Afridi has taken 59 wickets in Matches of the National T20, Pakistan Cup and Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. 
• Stylish and Emerging Batter Mohammad Huraira, nephew of International Cricketer Shoaib Malik, has scored 986 runs in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.
• Sahibzada Farhan has scored 1869 runs during Pakistan Cup, National T20 and Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. 
• Tayyab Tahir scored 1,670 runs in DIfferent Domestic Tournaments.
• The skipper of KPK in Domestic Circuit, Iftikhar Ahmed, is an aggressive Middle Order Batter of Pakistan, and he had scored 1456 runs in 2021. He is one of the strongest candidates for the award of PCB Domestic Cricket of the YEar. 

Emerging Cricketer of the Year 

PCB’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year award nominees are such players who are young (Born in 1998 or later) and played at least minimum of 15 matches in either HBL Pakistan Super League or  Domestic Cricket. Following Players are hereby nominated for Emerging Cricketer of 2021;

• Arshad Iqbal: He was Superb During PSL
• Mohammad Wasim Jnr: Wasim is one of the KPK Cricketers who earned a great name in Cricket in a brief time. He is Bowling Allrounder and nominated for this PCB Award due to his Performance in PSL, Kashmir Premier League (KPL) and National T20 Cup. He remained in Pakistan’s Squad for ICC World Cup 2021, Pakistan vs Bangladesh and PAK vs WI series. 
• Shahnawaz Dahani: Young, Aggressive and Sensational Shah Nawaz Dahani is one of the most liked Pakistani Cricketers in the year 2021. Dahani was honoured with the title of “Pakistani Cricket Team’s Foreign Minister/Ambassador ”, by his Social Media fans because of his friendly behaviour with Opposing Team. He was seen gossiping with Cricketers of Opposing Teams. Shah Nawaz Dahani belongs to Larkana, a backward area of Sindh. Belonging to Poor Family Background, Dahani worked hard and struggled hard to reach the National and International Level of Cricket. He is the Strongest Candidate for the Award of PCB Emerging Cricketer 2021. 
• Azam Khan: Young Azam Khan is Son of Moeen Khan and he is famous for his aggressive batting. Khan is selected on the basis of his performances in various International Leagues like Lankan Premier League (LPL), Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and HBL PSL. 

Women’s Cricketer of the Year

Following Women Cricketers are shortlisted this year for the PCB awards in Category of Best Women Cricketer of 2021;

• Aliya Riaz
• Fatima Sana
• Nida Dar: Young and Talented Nida Dar is one of the strong candidates and she has scored 363 with 10 wickets and 95 runs with 7 wickets in 10 ODIs and 6 T20Is respectively. 
• Anam Amin

Impactful Performance of the Year

• Fawad Alam is shortlisted for his brilliant performance of scoring 109  runs in the 1st PAK vs SA Test.
• Run Machine Muhammad Rizwan was Superb throughout the year but one of his impactful innings was against arch-rival India where he scored an unbeaten 79 scores with Babar Azam for the First Wicket Partnership in Dubai. Rizwan is Strongest Candidate for this Award. 
• In Dubai’s PAK vs IND, Along with Babar Azam and Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi also produced an exceptional and remarkable bowling Performance of 3/31. 
• Hasan Ali is also shortlisted for his memorable performance in the 2nd Test of Pakistan vs. South Africa where he put 10/114 on the Board. 

Most Valuable Cricketer of 2021

In the Category of Pakistan Cricket Board 2021’s Most Valuable Cricketers, the following players are nominated;  

Babar Azam

Shaheen Shah Afridi 

Hasan Ali 

M Rizwan