The year 2024 is about to end and with it this year's cricket action has also almost come to an end. Like every year, this time too everyone is waiting for the ICC Awards, which are given to the best players of the year in different categories. Now ICC has also announced the names of the contenders in the first category, in which only one Indian player has got a place but this player is not Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhishek Sharma or Yashasvi Jaiswal. ICC announced the short list for Emerging Player of the Year, in which Shreyanka Patil has been included from India only in the women's category.
On Saturday 28 December, ICC announced the candidates for this category. No Indian player found a place in the men's short list. It was expected that a young player like Yashasvi Jaiswal or Abhishek Sharma could be selected for this but it did not happen. Although Jaiswal was in the short list last year, he could not win the award then. At the same time, all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who scored a brilliant century in the Melbourne Test, was also not selected.
ICC has included 4 players in this list, which includes one player each from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies and England. Young opener Saim Ayub is presenting a claim from Pakistan, who scored 515 runs at an average of 64 in 9 ODI matches. Whereas from Sri Lanka, middle order batsman Kamindu Mendis is in this race. Mendis scored 1451 runs in 32 matches this year at an average of 50. West Indies' young fast bowler Shamar Joseph, who destroyed Australia in the Brisbane Test this year, is also a contender, taking 29 wickets in 8 Tests this year. Pacer Gus Atkinson, who made his debut for England, is also a strong contender, having taken 52 wickets in 11 Tests.
No Indian player was included in the men's list but India's young spin all-rounder Shreyanka Patil has been successful in making her place in the women's list. This year was good for Shreyanka, who made her international debut in December last year. During this period, he took 15 wickets in 13 T20 matches, while he also took 4 wickets in 2 ODIs. This year she failed to take wickets in only 2 matches. In the T20 World Cup, he had laid the foundation of victory against Pakistan by taking 2 wickets for just 14 runs. For this award, Shreyanka is competing with Freya Sargent of Ireland, Anne Dirksen of South Africa and Saskia Horley of Scotland.
