The young left-handed opener was nominated alongside English left-arm spinner Monty Panesar, batsmen Alaistar Cook and Ian Bell, West Indian wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin, Sri Lankan leg-spinner Malinga Bandara and opener Upul Tharanga and Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif.

This nomination has come on the back of his appointment as the vice-captain of the Bangladesh team for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy only a week ago.

"It is very encouraging but I don't see anything from an individual's perspective. What is most important is that a Bangladeshi player was included in the list," said Nafees who got the news of his nomination from The Daily Star Sport.

Nafees however did not want to single out his fabulous knock against Australia this year, which put him in the world map, as the reason for nomination.

"It was not because of that knock against Australia (138 at Fatullah) rather the whole season where I showed adequate consistency."The awards, covering performances from August 1, 2005 to August 8, 2006, will be presented on October 23 in Mumbai during the Champions Trophy tournament.

The 20-year-old Nafees made his international debut in the NatWest Trophy in England in July last year where he caught the eye with a plucky 75 against Australia in Canterbury. He followed it up with a string of good scores after making his Test debut in Sri Lanka later last year.

But the world took notice when he smashed a dazzling 138 against Australia in Fatullah in April this year. He struck 19 fours in what was a knock of the highest caliber against the likes of Shane Warne and Brett Lee.

His only one-day international hundred also came during this year when he notched up 118 against Zimbabwe at Harare last month.

Nafees becomes the second Bangladeshi player to receive this honour after dashing batsman Aftab Ahmed was chosen last year for the award won by stylish England batsman Kevin Pietersen.

The biggest competition for Nafees would be Pakistan paceman Asif who had a wonderful first year in international cricket. The 23-year-old took 30 wickets in 6 Test matches including a best of six for 44 against Sri Lanka.

The final selection will be voted by a 56-member ICC academy comprising the 10 Test captains, 18 members of the umpires and match referees panel and 28 legends of the game and members of the media.