PCB Awards 2020: Cricket At an All-Time High
For the first time in history, PCB directly announced the winners for the PCB Awards 2020 with the beginning of the new year, 2021.
PCB recently announced the winner’s list for the PCB Awards 2020 on Friday, 1st January. However, the list did not include the categories for referees and scorers. Pakistan Cricket team’s captain Babar Azam stood out and grabbed two titles! Babar was named the Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year and also the White-ball Cricketer of the Year!
“Pakistan captain Babar Azam was named as the Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year following his stellar performances across all formats during the 2020 calendar year. In addition to the most prestigious award, the 26-year-old was also adjudged the White-ball Cricketer of the Year after averaging 110.5 and 55.2 in the ODIs and T20Is, respectively. In the four Tests, Babar scored 338 runs at 67.6,” a PCB press release stated on Friday.
Moving on, the acting captain of the Pakistan Test team in New Zealand, Muhammad Rizwan, was named the Test Cricketer of the Year for the PCB Awards 2020. “In five Tests, he aggregated 302 runs, mostly in difficult situations, with four half-centuries at an average of 43.14. He also accounted for 12 batsmen behind the wickets,” the PCB release said.
In comparison, however, Babar Azam could have also easily bagged this category as well in the PCB Awards 2020, if he had not been injured and fractured his thumb during the Test Series in New Zealand. Babar played just four Test matches to score 338 runs with one century and an excellent average of 67.46. No other players come close to Babar’s average even experienced batsmen like Azhar Ali, Shan Masood, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq could hardly average around or below 40.
“Fawad Alam’s fighting and courageous 102 at Mount Maunganui, his first Test century in 11 years that made global headlines, was chosen as the Individual Performance of the Year by the independent jury that comprised highly respected and distinguished cricket personalities,” the PCB Awards 2020 press release further stated.
Moreover, moving towards the women’s category for the PCB Awards 2020, Aliya Riaz was named the Women’s Cricketer of the Year while 19-year-old Fatima Sana was chosen as the Women’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year.
The PCB Awards 2020 also included the17-year-old Test fast-bowler, Naseem Shah, who won the Emerging International Cricketer of the Year following his 20 wickets in eight Tests, including a hat-trick against Bangladesh that made him the youngest bowler to achieve this.
While the Domestic Cricketer of the Year awards went to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kamran Ghulam after he became the only batsman in the ongoing first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy to complete 1,000 runs. He finished 19 innings of 10 round matches with 1,065 runs with four centuries and four half-centuries at an average of just under 60. The PCB Awards 2020 also featured Rohail Nazir who moved up from the U19 level to Pakistan Shaheens’ captain and has now won him the Men’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year.
Until previously, PCB did not organize these events directly, however, this year PCB has announced the awards for 2020 directly under its supervision and followed international practices by not including categories for referees and scorers.
The Pakistan team collectively also received the Spirit of Cricket award for visiting Bangladesh’s cricket team in their dressing room and thanking them for their visit to Pakistan. Moreover, the immense success of the HBL PSL 2020 was declared as the Corporate Achievement of the Year.
The winners of the PCB Awards 2020 will be presented with specially designed trophies during the upcoming home series against South Africa.
As a response to winning the award for Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year, at the PCB Awards 2020, Babar Azam said, “I am truly humbled to have been awarded the White-ball and Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year awards in what has been a difficult year for all professional athletes. Without the support of my teammates and family, this would not have been possible and, as such, I owe big time to all of them for my successes in 2020 and hope they will continue to support me in years to come.
“Captaining Pakistan at home was a huge moment for me though without crowds it took a bit of the gloss off that honor. I think the cricket I played in England was some of the best. England is never an easy place to play due to the conditions and the players they boast, but to go out there and perform gave me the satisfaction and encouragement that I can compete against the best and help my side to do better. I will reflect in 2020 with a lot of satisfaction and hopefully, the honor and rewards I have won will only contribute to me working harder to further enhance and improve my performances as well as my young and talented team.” said Babar Azam to the PCB Awards 2020 management.
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