The award for 'Most Valuable Cricketer of 2021' goes to Mohammad Rizwan

Mohammad Rizwan earned the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) 'Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year' title on Thursday (January 6) after a remarkable 2021 season in which he scored 455 Test, 134 ODI, and 1,326 T20I runs, as well as 56 batsmen behind the wickets across all formats. Rizwan beat over Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, and Shaheen Shah Afridi for the PCB's 'Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year' title. They all had a great and outstanding year, which is reflected in Pakistan's overall achievement in 2021.

Rizwan was also named PCB's 'T20I Cricketer of the Year' by an independent panel, in addition to the 'Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year' title. "I feel humbled and honoured to have been adjudged Pakistan's Most Valuable Cricketer of 2021. This is the PCB's most prestigious award and to be recognised for my contributions in the team's superlative performances across all formats in 2021 in such a way gives me tremendous satisfaction and happiness," said Rizwan in a PCB release.

"I thought I had an exceptional year in the shortest format of the game when I was able to hit a century early in the year against South Africa and then carry that confidence and momentum for the rest of the year. I give a lot of credit to our bowlers who bowled their hearts out and didn't let the pressure get onto the batters by maintaining sustained pressure on the opponents throughout the year," he added.

Babar Azam, Pakistan's all-round skipper, won the PCB's ODI Cricketer of the Year title after scoring 405 runs in six ODIs, including two centuries and a half-century. Hasan Ali was named the PCB's Test Cricketer of the Year after taking 41 wickets in nine Tests, including a 10-wicket haul and five five-wicket hauls, as well as two player of the match and one player of the series accolades.

"Test cricket is the pinnacle format of the game and to be adjudged as the Test Cricketer of the Year is a proud moment for me. Last year was sort of a comeback year for me after I had missed international cricket in 2020 due to an injury," said Hasan Ali.

"I was not only able to make a successful return to international cricket but also played my part in the team's overall success in 2021," he added.

PCB awarded Shaheen Shah Afridi the Impactful Performance of the Year award for his 3/31 against India on October 24 in Dubai during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021. "I am extremely happy that my performance against our traditional rivals in a global event has been chosen as the Impactful Performance of the Year," said Shaheen. "For the ICC Men`s T20 World Cup, the team wanted an aggressive, fearless and convincing start to set the tone for the rest of the event and I am delighted that I was able to provide exactly that," he added.

Asif Yaqoob was named Umpire of the Year for the second year in a row by PCB's premier match officials. Mohammad Wasim Junior was named Emerging Cricketer of the Year after capturing 45 wickets in 2021, including 15 in his maiden year of international cricket, and Nida Dar was named Women's Cricketer of the Year after scoring 604 runs and taking 25 wickets.