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[Saba Sports News] India’s Suryakumar Yadav has retained his ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year title, while West Indies’ Hayley Matthews claimed the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year in the first batch of ICC Awards 2023 winners announced on January 24. New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra and Australia’s Phoebe Litchfield were named the ICC Emerging Men’s and Women’s Cricketers of the Year, respectively. Additionally, Netherlands’ Bas de Leede and Kenya’s Queentor Abel won the ICC Men’s and Women’s Associate Cricketer of the Year awards.
Yadav, who led the T20I run charts with 733 runs in 18 matches at a strike rate of 155.95, expressed his delight at winning the award again, acknowledging his fellow nominees’ exceptional performances. His year was highlighted by a 112 not out against Sri Lanka and a century against South Africa.
Matthews topped the women’s T20I run-scoring with 700 runs in 14 matches and a strike rate of 132.32, also taking key wickets with her off-spin. Her consistent Player of the Match performances were pivotal in series against Australia, Ireland, and at the T20 World Cup.
Rachin Ravindra, the standout all-rounder for New Zealand, scored 578 runs and took six wickets in his debut World Cup, aggregating 820 runs and 18 wickets across formats. Litchfield impressed in her first year of ODI cricket, scoring 485 runs with an average of 53.88.
De Leede excelled for the Netherlands with 424 runs and 31 wickets, including a memorable 123 and a five-wicket haul in the World Cup Qualifier. Abel’s 476 runs and 30 wickets for Kenya underscored her all-round prowess, highlighted by a century against Lesotho and exceptional bowling figures in T20 World Cup qualifiers.
Each award recipient was selected through votes from the ICC Voting Academy and fans worldwide, recognizing their outstanding international performances and achievements over the last calendar year. Seven more awardees will be revealed on Thursday.