LAHORE: Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has been declared ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year, as the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday unveiled the final list of winners celebrated in the individual categories of the ICC Awards 2022.

Among the categories revealed on ICC’s digital channels was the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year and the coveted Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy for ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year. Babar Azam was declared as the winner of the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, as well as the Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year prize.

Earlier, Pakistan duo Mohammad Rizwan and Haris Rauf were named in the ICC Men’s T20I team of the year while all-rounder Nida Dar was included in the ICC Women’s T20I team of the year.

The winners were selected following a global vote conducted among an independent panel of prominent media representatives – the ICC Voting Academy – whose votes were combined with those of cricket fans from around the world registered to icc-cricket.com.

Winners in the 13 individual categories were based on overall performances and achievements throughout the calendar year.

By winning the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, Babar becomes the second winner from Pakistan in consecutive years, emulating the feat of his teammate Shaheen Shah Afridi, who won the prize in 2021. Babar also set new records in 2022, not least becoming the first, and still the only, player to win the ICC Men’s Player of the Month award on two occasions.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023