ICC announces nominees for Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year 2022

The International Cricket Council  (ICC) on Thursdady announced the nominees for the Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year award 2022 and surprisingly, there are no Indian players on this list despite middle-order sensation Shreyas Iyer and veteran opener Shikhar Dhawan showcasing consistent performances in the 50-overs format throughout the year.

Meanwhile, the four candidates handpicked by the governing council, who have been nominated include Pakistan captain Babar Azam, Australia leg-spinner Adam Zampa, Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza and Shai Hope of West Indies. 

Notably, Raza has also been nominated for the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year award as well.

Babar Azam makes it to elite list

Azam, who was adjudged the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year in 2021, is once again in contention to retain the award after having showcased outstanding performance on the 22 yards in the ongoing calendar year.

The prolific Pakistan batter, incidentally, has been sitting at the top of the ICC ODI rankings since July 2021 and thus he has the credentials to claim the prestigious award for a second successive year.

Azam, 28, has scored 679 runs in nine matches this year including three centuries at a stupendous average of 84.87. Seasoned leg-spinner Zampa has successfully emerged as Australia’s highest wicket-taker in ODIs this year.

Even though most of his wickets came on home soil this year, it is to be noted that the Australian wickets do not provide much assistance to the spinners. Zampa wrapped up the year with 30 wickets in 12 outings.

Raza who has had an outstanding year in T20Is also showcased consistent performances in the 50-overs format with both the bat and ball. The engineer-turned-cricketer amassed 645 runs averaging 49.61 and a strike rate of 87.61 including three centuries and two half-centuries in 15 appearances. With the ball in hand, the Pakistan-born cricketer bagged eight wickets in 2022.

Hope, meanwhile, has only been growing from strength to strength for the West Indies in last few years as he has been their best ODI batter since 2017. He finished 2022 with 709 runs in 21 matches including three centuries and two half-centuries while averaging 35.45.