Arshdeep Singh pips Pakistan's Babar Azam, Australia's Travis Head to be named as ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of the Year

Arshdeep Singh, a Left-arm pacer who played a crucial role in India's T20 World Cup 2024 triumph, was on Saturday named ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of the Year 2024. The India pacer thus pipped Pakistan's Babar Azam, Australia's Travis Head and Zimbabwe's Sikander Raza to pocket the prestigious award.

The 25-year-old took 36 wickets in 18 matches in 2024, thus cementing his reputation as one of the leading short-format bowlers in the game. He was also named in the ICC T20I Team of the Year 2024 earlier in the day, alongside Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya.

One of the crucial fast bowlers in the shortest format for India in the past few years, Arshdeep Singh showcased his class in both powerplay and death overs during the T20 World Cup last year. He ended the tournament as the joint-highest wicket-taker alongside Afghanistan's Fazalhaq Farooqi with 17 scalps across eight matches.

In the final, Arshdeep Singh claimed two wickets for 20 runs, picking up South African captain Aiden Markram early and breaking a threatening partnership by removing Quinton de Kock later.

Tasked with bowling the penultimate over, Arshdeep conceded just four runs, setting the stage for Hardik Pandya to seal the win. Arshdeep Singh's best figures in the T20 World Cup came against the USA when he finished with figures of 4/9.

Only four players in the world took more T20I wickets than Arshdeep in a calendar year – Saudi Arabia's Usman Najeeb (38), Sri Lanka's Wanindu Hasaranga (38), UAE's Junaid Siddique (40) and Hong Kong's Ehsan Khan (46) – with all four playing more matches. Of those bowlers, only Hasaranga featured for a full-member nation.

Arshdeep chases history

With two wickets in the first T20I against England, Arshdeep Singh became India's highest wicket-taker in the shortest format of the game, surpassing Yuzvendra Chahal. Arshdeep Singh now has 97 scalps to his name. The Punjab cricketer is just three wickets away from becoming the first Indian to take 100 wickets in T20Is.