Babar, Sciver scoop top ICC awards
The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday recognised the star performers for the year 2022, and it was Pakistan skipper Babar Azam who won the most noteworthy accolades, bagging the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year and also the ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year Award for a second consecutive year for outstanding performances across the formats.
"It's a matter of great honour for me. My family members' blessings and my teammates helped me a lot with their services," Babar was quoted as saying in a video by the ICC.
Babar further elevated his game in 2022 as the inspirational skipper broke more individual records. The right-hander amassed a whopping 2598 runs at a staggering average of 54.12 across formats in the calendar year, becoming the only player to breach the 2000-run mark in 2022.
A total of eight hundreds and 17 fifties was also Babar's career-best showing in a calendar year. The Pakistan skipper, however, picked two innings to highlight from an incredible 2022.
"I want to highlight two performances from the previous year. One was my 196 against Australia [in a Test in Karachi], and the other one was in white-ball cricket, a hundred against England [110* off 66 in a T20I in Karachi]. I think these two innings were the two best knocks of mine last year. Mainly because I played both these innings on my home ground, in front of my home crowd," Babar added.
Babar's 425-ball 196 not only fetched him his first Test century in two years but also his highest Test score, which almost saw Pakistan pull off an incredible victory from the jaws of an inevitable defeat.
Babar enjoyed a tremendous year in Test cricket, despite team results not always going his way. He accumulated 1184 runs from just nine matches and did the bulk of the heavy lifting for Pakistan in the longer format.
The winner of the 2021 ODI Player of the Year continued to rule in the 50-over format, scoring 679 runs in nine matches. It is a testament to his consistency that he registered scores of 50 or more in eight of those innings.
Nat Sciver wins Women's Cricketer of the Year
Meanwhile, jaw-dropping knocks and being a non-stop threat with the ball helped England's Nat Sciver claim the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy for the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year.
In total, Sciver hit 1346 runs and took 22 wickets in 33 matches in the year, captaining England for much of her side's home summer.
Stokes and Suryakumar recognised
England all-rounder Ben Stokes defined the year of Test cricket more than any other in 2022 and was deservingly named the winner of the ICC Men's Test Cricketer of the Year award. In 15 Tests played in 2022, Stokes scored 870 runs, including two centuries, at 36.25 average and scalped 26 wickets.
Meanwhile, India's Suryakumar Yadav was named the T20I Cricketer of the Year as he became only the second batter to score more than 1000 runs in a calendar year in the format and ended the year as the highest run-getter, scoring 1164 runs at a ridiculous strike-rate of 187.43.