ICC Awards 2024: Rachin Ravindra becomes ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year by defeating Jaiswal
New Delhi: New Zealand all-rounder Rachin Ravindra and Australian opening batsman Phoebe Litchfield have been named winners of the ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year in the men’s and women’s categories respectively. Ravindra faced competition from India’s opening batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sri Lankan and South African fast bowlers Dilshan Madushanka and Gerald Coetzee respectively. New Zealand’s left-handed batting all-rounder Ravindra has made headlines for his ODI exploits in 2023, the format in which he made his debut in March.
The year 2023 Cricket World Cup was special for Rachin Ravindra. He scored 578 runs in the World Cup, which was the best performance by any New Zealand player. Rachin surprised everyone by scoring an unbeaten 123 runs on 96 balls against England in the very first match of the World Cup. After this, he also scored a century against Pakistan in Bengaluru. He scored 116 runs against Australia in a spirited chase which got him a lot of buzz.
After winning the award, Ravindra said in an ICC statement that it was obviously a very special feeling. Whenever you are recognized by the ICC for something, it is always special. There’s been quite a whirlwind in the last year or so. Having the opportunity to play so much cricket in so many different environments has been really special. Congratulations to all the fellow nominees who have had an incredible year and performed brilliantly.
In the women’s category, Phoebe had a great start to the year, scoring consecutive unbeaten half-centuries in her first 2 ODIs against Pakistan at home. Despite missing out on selection in Australia’s squad for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, Litchfield made a strong comeback by scoring an unbeaten 106 against Ireland in Dublin. She was the player of the series in the ODI series against India. He also scored 119 runs at Wankhede Stadium.
Phoebe won the award ahead of England fast bowler Lauren Bell, Bangladesh fast bowler Marufa Ekter, and Scotland all-rounder Darcy Carter. After winning the award, she said that I am thrilled to be named the ICC Emerging Female Cricketer of the Year. It is an honor to be nominated alongside incredible cricketers and I would like to extend my congratulations to all the award nominees.
It’s been a big year for women’s cricket and the level of all the teams continues to rise, which is exciting for the future of our game. The multi-format series away from home against England and India was a big challenge for our group but we enjoyed it. Also, read this.