Babar Azam named captain of ICC T20I Team of the Year

The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the names of the XI players who will make up the ICC Men’s T20I Team of the Year on Wednesday, with Pakistan captain Babar Azam leading the squad.

Pakistan’s key players, including wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan and bowling sensation Shaheen Shah Afridi, were also named to the squad.

The ICC stated in a statement announcing the Men’s T20I Team of the Year that it will recognise 11 remarkable people who have amazed one and all, “whether it with the bat, the ball, or their all-round exploits in a calendar year.”

The ICC Men's T20I Team of the Year certainly packs a punch 👊

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The XI players who make up the ICC Men’s T20I Team of the Year is revealed! 📝

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Here is a look at the Pakistani players who made the squad.

Babar Azam

The Pakistan captain was at his classiest in the shortest format in 2021, finishing as the tournament’s highest run-scorer at the T20 World Cup.

Babar appeared in 29 matches and scored 939 runs at an average of 37.56, with one century and nine half-centuries. His captaincy was also lauded as he led his team to the T20 World Cup semi-finals in the UAE and Oman.

Mohammad Rizwan

When it came to the game’s shortest format, the Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter controlled the roost in 2021. Rizwan amassed an astounding 1,326 runs in only 29 matches, striking at an average of 73.66 and a strike-rate of 134.89.

Apart from his achievements with the bat, he was as strong as ever behind the stumps, helping Pakistan reach the semi-finals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, where he finished as the third-highest run-scorer.

Shaheen Afridi

Shaheen Afridi had a memorable year, particularly in the shortest version of the game. Afridi took 23 wickets in 21 matches at an average of 26.04 and an economy of 7.86, extracting excellent movement with the new ball and reversing it with the old.

Still only 21, Shaheen will most certainly command Pakistan’s fast bowling squad for many years to come, and with his bowling already improving at a rapid pace, he will undoubtedly prove to be a scary proposition.

Others are England’s Jos Buttler, South Africa’s Aiden Markram, Australia’s Mitchell Marsh, South Africa’s David Miller, Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga, South Africa’s Tabraiz Shamsi, Australia’s Josh Hazlewood, and Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman.