LAHORE: Pakistan’s pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi has been shortlisted in as many as five categories for the PCB Awards 2021.

The winners will be announced in a virtual digital show on Thursday.

The 21-year-old left-armer Shaheen has been nominated in Impactful Performance of the Year, T20I Cricketer of the Year, ODI Cricketer of the Year, Test Cricketer of the Year and Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year categories by an independent 10-member jury, which comprises former international cricketers, broadcasters and members of the media.

Shaheen had a stellar 2021 across all formats. In nine Tests, he took 47 wickets and backed up with eight wickets in six ODIs and 23 wickets in 21 T20Is. His 3-31 show against arch-rivals India in the ICC T20 World Cup has made him one of the four candidates for the Impactful Performance of the Year award.

Run-machine Mohammad Rizwan and fast bowler Hasan Ali also had a year to celebrate, which is now reflected in their nominations.

While wicket-keeper/batter Rizwan has earned nominations for the Impactful Performance of the Year, T20I Cricketer of the Year and Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year, paceman Hasan has been shortlisted for the Impactful Performance of the Year, Test Cricketer of the Year and Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year awards.

Captain Babar Azam, middle-orded batter Fawad Alam and fast bowler Haris Rauf have been shortlisted in two categories each.

Prolific Babar, who won the Most Valuable Cricketer of 2020 award, has once again been nominated in this category, while his other nomination is in the ODI Cricketer of the Year. Fawad also makes a second successive entry in the Impactful Performance of the Year, while his second nomination is in the Test Cricketer of the Year. Haris has been shortlisted for the T20I and ODI Cricketer of the Year.

Arshad Iqbal, Azam Khan, Mohammad Wasim Junior and Shahnawaz Dahani have been shortlisted for the emerging cricketer award.

Players born on or after Aug 1, 1998 or have made international debuts in this calendar year or have played in a minimum of 15 matches in the Cricket Association events and HBL PSL in the 2021 calendar year are eligible. Player(s) once nominated in this category, cannot be re-nominated. This means Haider Ali and Mohammad Huraira, despite impressive performances, were not considered as they were shortlisted last year.

Nevertheless, Huraira has been grouped with Asif Afridi, Iftikhar Ahmed, Sahibzada Farhan and Tayyab Tahir for the Domestic Cricketer of the Year award.

Aliya Riaz, who won the Women’s Cricketer of the Year award last year, has been shortlisted along with Anam Amin, Fatima and Nida Dar.

Players shortlisted for awards:

Impactful performance of the year: Fawad Alam, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi

T20I Cricketer of the Year: Haris Rauf, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi

ODI Cricketer of the Year: Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi

Test Cricketer of the Year: Abid Ali, Fawad Alam, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi

Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year: Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi

Domestic Cricketer of the Year: Asif Afridi, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Huraira, Sahibzada Farhan, Tayyab Tahir Women’s Cricketer of the Year: Aliya Riaz, Anam Amin, Fatima Sana, Nida Dar.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2022