India's leading wicket-taker of 2024, Arshdeep Singh, was named the ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of the Year at the ICC Awards on Saturday. The left-arm pacer starred as India ended their wait for a major ICC trophy with victory in the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the US in June, and has cemented his reputation as one of the leading power play players strengthened. and death bowlers in the game. The 25-year-old has long been tipped for the top flight, and India have been very confident in his abilities since he made his full international debut in 2022. And 2024 was the year when Arshdeep fully established himself as a world-class bowler. in T20 International cricket, taking bucketloads of wickets with the new ball and consistently proving economical at the death on a variety of surfaces.
Arshdeep was the leading Indian wicket-taker in T20Is this year, taking 36 wickets in just 18 matches. He was instrumental in steering India to the title at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup and acted as leader of the attack as the selectors built a new era for the T20 side after the win in the Caribbean.
Only four players in the world have taken more T20I wickets than Arshdeep in the calendar year: Saudi Arabia's Usman Najeeb (38), Sri Lanka's Wanindu Hasaranga (38), UAE's Junaid Siddique (40) and Ehsan Khan (46) Hong Kong. four play more matches. Of those bowlers, only Hasaranga played for a full-member country.
Arshdeep took his wickets at an average of just 15.31 and, despite bowling predominantly in the powerplay and death overs, finished the year with an economy rate of 7.49. He was a constant threat to take wickets and took his wickets at a strike rate of 10.80.
Arshdeep had a number of impressive performances this year, not least when he tore through the United States in New York during the group stages of the T20 World Cup, achieving a remarkable return of 4/9 in his four overs.
But Arshdeep's most important achievement of the year came on the biggest stage of them all as he played a huge role in helping India successfully defend their total of 176 in the World Cup final in Barbados.
Part of a pace trio with Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya that effectively won the match for India, Arshdeep's stellar figures of 2/20 from four overs only tell part of the story.
Excellent with the new ball up top, Arshdeep struck in the powerplay and ensured that dangerous South African skipper Aiden Markram fell behind only in the third over. And when India needed a wicket in the middle overs, it was Arshdeep who provided the breakthrough, dismissing a Quinton de Kock set as the Proteas looked to control the chase.
India's collective effort at the death was astonishing as South Africa fell seven runs short of its target, and Arshdeep played a huge role in that, returning to attack to knock over the penultimate over, as South Africa took twenty of the needed twelve deliveries.
Arshdeep delivered a near-perfect death under the utmost pressure, conceding just four runs, leaving Hardik Pandya with sixteen runs to defend in the final, a job he did in spectacular style.
Brilliant in the powerplay, a wicket in the middle overs and economical excellence at the death, Arshdeep stepped up when it mattered most.
Earlier in the day, Arshdeep was also named in the ICC Men's T20I Team of the Year led by Rohit Sharma and with Pandya and Bumrah among the other Indian players.
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