Bumrah named ICC Test Player of the Year

Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has won the ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year award after he finished 2024 with a rich haul of 71 wickets in 13 Test matches.

Bumrah bowled a staggering 357 overs in the red-ball format and picked up 71 wickets at a magnificent average of 14.92.

He was only the fourth Indian bowler to bag more than 70 wickets in a calendar year after Ravichandran Ashwin, Anil Kumble and Kapil Dev.

Bumrah has made a tremendous impact since he returned to Test cricket in late 2023 after a long layoff from a back injury. He finished the year as a leading wicket-taker in Test cricket followed by Gus Atkinson of England with 52 wickets in 11 Test matches. The 31-year-old right-hander rounded off a perfect year with 32 wickets in five Test matches against Australia, where he earned the Player of the Series award.

Afghanistan’s all-rounder, Azmatullah Omarzai was named ODI player of the year after finishing the year with 417 runs while picking up 17 wickets in 14 white-ball games.

The 24-year-old Omarzai finished the year as Afghanistan’s second-highest scorer in ODIs behind Rahmanullah Gurbaz and helped his country win four of the five bilateral series in a calendar year that included victories over South Africa and Bangladesh.
Indian left-handed batter Smriti Mandhana completed a perfect year by earning the ICC’s women’s ODI player of the year award as she scored 747 runs in 13 ODIs. 

Mandhana’s run results put her ahead of Laura Wolvaardt with 697, Tammy Beaumont with 554 and Hayley Matthews with 469.
Mandhana also scored a women’s record of four ODI centuries in a calendar year, hitting 95 fours and six sixes.