Suryakumar Yadav is among the list of nominees named for the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year 2023 award
Team India batter Suryakumar Yadav finds himself among the four nominees named by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the T20I Cricketer of the Year 2023 award.
Apart from Suryakumar, the list of nominees includes Zimbabwe's Sikandar Raza, Uganda's Alpesh Ramjani, and New Zealand's Mark Chapman.
In a year that was largely focused on the other two formats, the aforementioned players managed to leave a mark with their exceptional performances.
#1 Suryakumar Yadav
The right-handed batter, who has made a rapid rise in the format since his debut in 2021, won the prestigious award in 2022 and is a firm favorite to win it twice in a row.
Suryakumar Yadav scored 733 runs in 17 innings at an average of 48.87 and an explosive strike rate of 155.96. He notched two centuries in 2023 to level Rohit Sharma and Glenn Maxwell's record of four T20I hundreds.
Suryakumar scored an unbeaten 112 runs off 51 deliveries to help India seal a home series against Sri Lanka, and his second hundred of the year also came in a potential series decider. He recorded 100 runs off 56 deliveries as India trumped South Africa in Johannesburg to draw the series 1-1.
Suryakumar was also handed the responsibility of leading the side in the bilateral affairs against Australia and South Africa towards the end of the year, with Rohit and Hardik Pandya not being available.
#2 Sikandar Raza
Although Zimbabwe failed to qualify for the 2024 T20 World Cup after finishing behind Namibia and Uganda in the ICC Mens T20 World Cup Africa Region Qualifier 2023, all-rounder Sikandar Raza had an eventful year.
He had played a crucial role for the country in 2022, which included a spirited campaign in the World Cup. His efforts helped him earn a nomination for the award in 2022, and he is once again in the reckoning in 2023 as well.
Raza had a prolific run with the bat in 2023, scoring 515 runs in 11 innings at an average of 51.50 and an impressive strike rate of 150.15. He was influential with the ball as well, claiming 17 wickets at an economy rate of 6.57.
#3 Alpesh Ramjani
Uganda scripted history by finishing second in the ICC Mens T20 World Cup Africa Region Qualifier 2023, and Alpesh Ramjani had a huge role in it.
The left-arm spinner finished as the leading wicket-taker in men's T20I cricket in 2023, claiming 55 wickets in 30 matches at an economy rate of just 4.77.
Ramjani also played a role with the bat for Uganda, scoring a crucial 40 runs off 26 deliveries in the famous win over Zimbabwe.
#4 Mark Chapman
The New Zealand all-rounder stood out as one of the best T20I players for his side in 2023, and he is bound to play a huge role in the upcoming 2024 T20 World Cup.
Mark Chapman scored 576 runs in 19 innings at an average of 44.3 and a strike rate of 141.87. He did not have the best of starts to the year, recording a duck in his first appearance of 2023 against India.
It was the bilateral series against Pakistan where he found his groove, scoring two fifties and a hundred.
Who will be crowned as T20I player of 2023? Let us know what you think.