Star Team India cricketer wins Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year 2024
India Test vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah won the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year 2024 on Tuesday, January 28. In a sport almost entirely dominated by batters, the right-handed pacer showcased why he continues to hold his own and is among the finest bowlers to emerge in modern-day cricket.
The 31-year-old put up domineering performances across every format of the game in 2024 and was rightly adjudged as the Cricketer of the Year. Bumrah became the fifth Indian after Rahul Dravid (2004), Sachin Tendulkar (2010), Ravichandran Ashwin (2016), and Virat Kohli (2017, 2018) to win the prestigious award.
Fellow nominees on the list were Travis Head, Joe Root, and Harry Brook, but Bumrah managed to overcome them quite comfortably.
In 2024, Jasprit Bumrah's greatest achievement was becoming the fastest bowler to reach 200 wickets in Test cricket with an average of less than 20, which is the best in history.
Jasprit Bumrah broke records in 2024
Jasprit Bumrah was also given the honor of leading India in the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against Australia in Perth in the absence of Rohit Sharma. He responded in style, guiding the team to victory in Perth.
The speedster was awarded the ICC Men's Test Cricketer of the Year recently, and his being voted as the overall Cricketer of the Year was merely a matter of formality. The current number one Test bowler in the world ended the year with 907 points, which is the most by any Indian bowler in history.
Bumrah stole the show in India's T20 World Cup win in 2024, picking up 15 wickets at an economy of just 4.17, and winning the Player of the Tournament award. In Test cricket, he picked up a whopping 71 wickets in 13 matches and finished the year as the leading wicket-taker in the world.
In the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he won the Player of the Series award with 32 scalps to his name. Most importantly, Bumrah's contributions in the 2023-25 World Test Championship cycle equated to 77 wickets, which is the most that any pacer has had in a single cycle, despite India not making it to the final.