Muscat – In a massive achievement for Oman cricket, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has named Zeeshan Maqsood, the national cricket team’s captain, ICC Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Year.

According to ICC, not only leading his side with aplomb, Maqsood flourished in both batting and bowling roles for Oman in 2021. He played a crucial role as a middle-order batter, and picked up wickets consistently with his left-arm orthodox as well.

At the heart of his team’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup campaign on home soil, Maqsood took on some of the Associate best across the year, as well as Bangladesh at the global tournament.

Maqsood made fifties against the USA at home and Namibia on his teams travels, and was at his consistent best as a bowler, controlling the flow of runs in the middle overs and picking up vital wickets. Maqsood particularly thrived against PNG, registering four wickets against them twice this year, one in an ODI and the other one in the T20 World Cup.

Maqsood, who bats in the middle-order and bowls left-arm spin, scored a total of 316 runs at 31.60 and picked up 21 wickets at 18.80 across 13 limited-overs matches in 2021.

The Women’s Associate Cricketer of the Year award has gone to Austria’s Andrea-Mae Zepeda. In 2021, she scored 361 runs in eight T20Is at 51.57 with a strike rate of 102.55. Zepeda was outstanding in the series against Belgium, where she scored a hundred and two fifties in three T20Is.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Rizwan and Tammy Beaumont were named the ICC men’s and women’s T20I Cricketers of the Year for 2021, respectively.

Rizwan, who also won the Pakistan Cricket Board’s Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year award recently following a stellar year, scored 1,326 runs in 29 T20Is at an average of 73.66 and a strike rate of 134.89. He also effected 22 dismissals behind the stumps in the format.

At the Men’s T20 World Cup, where Pakistan lost in the semi-finals, Rizwan finished as the third-highest run-getter with 281 runs in six matches. In 2021, Rizwan also became the first batter to touch the 1000-run mark in a calendar year in T20Is, and the 2000-run mark in T20s.

“I want to thank all my team-mates and coaching staff who helped me throughout the year by preparing and training me well enough to contribute to Pakistan’s successes,” Rizwan said in an ICC statement. As cricket is a team sport, I would like to dedicate this award to my team-mates and fans.”

As for Beaumont, the England opener notched up 303 runs in nine T20Is at an average of 33.66 in 2021, with three half-centuries. She was England’s highest run-getter in the year in the format, and was also the third-highest scorer overall. Against New Zealand away from home, she was named the Player of the Series for her contribution of 102 runs in three matches.

South Africa’s Janneman Malan has been named the ICC Emerging Men’s Cricketer of the Year. He accumulated 715 runs in 17 international matches at 47.66 through the year, including two centuries and three fifties.

Pakistan’s Fatima Sana, a seam-bowling allrounder, was named ICC Women’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year. Sana, 20, claimed 24 wickets and scored 165 runs in 16 games across ODI and T20I cricket in 2021.