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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE all-rounder Sikandar Raza marked a double celebration yesterday after he was nominated for the prestigious ICC Men T20 Cricketer of the Year 2023, just moments after he had been showered with a US$10 000 reward by Zimbabwe Cricket for an extraordinary year on the park.
The 37-year old was nominated for the award for the second year running following another momentous year in which he scored 515 runs, averaging 51 and took 17 wickets at an economy of 6.57. He spiced the performance with eight catches.
The ICC yesterday announced the first four shortlists in the ICC Awards 2023, highlighting the outstanding performers in contention for the Men’s and Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year Awards, and the Emerging Men’s and Women’s Cricketer of the Year Awards.
Raza is facing competition from India’s Suryakumar Yadav, who stands in contention to win his second successive prize, after being crowned in the same category in the previous 2022 awards.
The four-men shortlist also has New Zealand’s Mark Chapman and surprise package in Uganda’s Alpesh Ramjani who scored 449 runs and had a massive 55 runs in a successful year for the Cranes as they punched their ticket to the next ICCT20 World Cup, for the first time in history.
Raza will be hoping for better fortunes this year as he was nominated for three categories last year but missed the award.
The Zimbabwe captain ran for the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year, ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year and the most coveted Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year.
However, it was Pakistan icon Babar Azam, who walked away with a double after landing the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, as well as the Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year prize.
India’s Yadav scooped the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year while England captain Ben Stokes was named as the ICC men’s Test Cricketer of the Year.
But this has not daunted Raza, despite Zimbabwe’s pronounced woes later in 2023, which saw them failing to qualify for two global events.
Raza has claimed numerous individual awards and ZC yesterday rewarded him with a plaque and $10 000 in appreciation of his exceptional performances.
The plaque was presented by ZC Managing Director Givemore Makoni.
“This is in recognition of Raza’s achievements in 2023 season. We thought with his achievements and what he has done throughout the season, he deserved recognition from the company. He scored runs, he has taken wickets and he has led from the front and I think it’s only befitting,” said Makoni.
Raza, who was born in Pakistan in 1986 and emigrated to Zimbabwe in 2002 with his family, has played for the Zimbabwe cricket team since 2013. He has been a positive influence with his exceptional performances and he humbly received the gesture by ZC yesterday.
“I’m just speechless; I wasn’t expecting this… I owe this country a lot and I think that is my biggest motivation. “This country has given me a home, fame love, everything I could possibly wish and ask for.
“So the fire that you see in me is because I want to return that but nothing that I do on the cricket park or outside the cricket park would ever be enough but I’m trying my hardest to return something to the people that have accepted me as one of their own,” said Raza.
Some of his achievements in 2023 include making his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut and going on to be the first Zimbabwean to win a Player of the Match accolade and score a half-century in the world’s richest franchise league. He was also named in the ESPN Cricinfo T20I team of the tournament and CricTracker T20I Cricketer of the Year.
Raza was also named Player of the Tournament in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers Africa held in Namibia. He also has the most Player of the Match awards (nine), most Player of the Match awards in succession (four), most half-centuries by a Zimbabwean in T20Is (six), most runs by a Zimbabwean in T20Is (515 runs), and the most half centuries in succession in T20I (four).
He also became the first Zimbabwean to get a hat-trick in T20Is and the fourth Zimbabwean to reach 50 T20I wickets. He had the most T20I runs during the year (82* vs. Namibia).
Raza will be hoping to win the ICC Men T20 Cricketer of the Year for the first time.
The ICC announced yesterday that fans are now able to vote for their favourite T20I and Emerging players at www.icc-cricket.com, with other categories unlocked as further nominees are revealed by the ICC over the next two days.
Shortlists are being revealed in nine ICC Awards 2023 categories between 3 and 5 January, and have been determined by a specialist panel of cricket writers and broadcasters, who selected the nominees according to on-field performances and overall achievements in international cricket through the calendar year.
Fan voting results will be combined with selections made by the ICC Voting Academy to identify the winner in each of the shortlisted categories.
Other categories which will be celebrated in the ICC Awards 2023 include the ICC Men’s and Women’s Associate Cricketers of the Year, the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award, and the ICC Umpire of the Year, making a total of 13 prizes.
In addition to the individual awards, five ICC Teams of the Year will be also decided by the ICC Voting Academy, identifying the standout XIs across men’s and women’s international cricket in 2023.
Winners of the ICC Awards 2023 will be announced later this month.
ICC Awards 2023 – the shortlists revealed to date
ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year; Mark Chapman (New Zealand), Alpesh Ramjani (Uganda), Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe), Suryakumar Yadav (India)
ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year; Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka), Sophie Ecclestone (England), Hayley Matthews (West Indies), Ellyse Perry (Australia)
ICC Emerging Men’s Cricketer of the Year; Gerald Coetzee (South Africa), Yashasvi Jaiswal (India), Dilshan Madushanka (Sri Lanka), Rachin Ravindra (New Zealand)
ICC Emerging Women’s Cricketer of the Year; Marufa Akter (Bangladesh), Lauren Bell (England), Darcey Carter (Scotland), Phoebe Litchfield (Australia)
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter