Shaheen And Smriti Mandhana have won the Cricketer of the Year awards at 2021 ICC Awards

At the reveal of the 2021 ICC Awards, Pakistan fast bowler, Shaheen Afridi has been awarded Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy and Indian women all-rounder, Smriti Mandhana is awarded Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, which are the names of the award for the ICC Cricketer of the Year awards for men and women category.

Shaheen Afridi has been outstanding in the year 2021 with his bowling. In a total of 36 international games, the tall pacer clinched 78 wickets, with his best figures of the year coming off as 6/51 against West Indies in a Test match at Kingston, Jamaica. He was one of the key players in Pakistan’s historic win against India in the 2021 T20 World Cup. His bowling figures of 3/31 included the crucial wickets of KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

On the other hand, Smriti Mandhana has won the award for the second time and she has become the only women cricketer after Ellyse Perry to win the title for the 2nd time. In the 22 international innings played in the year 2021, Mandhana scored 855 runs including her first Test century -127 runs, against Australia.

On winning the award, Shaheen Afridi said, “I tried to produce good performances for Pakistan in 2021. Even our team played well and we won some good matches. I have always tried to produce good performances for Pakistan and hopefully I'll continue doing that.” He also expressed that his bowling spell against India in the T20 World Cup is his favourite from the year.

Meanwhile, the Indian women all-rounder said, “A recognition of such high class from the global governing body of cricket in an exceptional and difficult year will motivate me to continue to better my game and contribute to Team India's success going forward.”

Check the below list for the winners of other important categories at 2021 ICC Awards: