Arshdeep Singh beats Travis Head to win ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year 2024 award

Young Indian pace sensation Arshdeep Singh has been crowned the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year 2024. He outshined Pakistan’s batting superstar Babar Azam, explosive Australian batter Travis Head, and Zimbabwe’s star all-rounder Sikandar Raza to clinch one of the biggest honour of his career so far.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced Arshdeep Singh as the winner of the T20I Cricketer of the Year 2024 award on Saturday (January 25). The 25-year-old played a key role in India’s historic T20 World Cup 2024 triumph and emerged as a dominant force in T20 cricket last year.

Also Read: ICC Women’s T20I Team of the Year 2024 announced, Smriti Mandhana among 3 Indians featured

Really grateful and thankful to the god: Arshdeep Singh

The Indian pacer has expressed his elation and gratitude after winning the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year award. Arshdeep thanked everyone who supported him and picked the T20 World Cup final win as a special moment for him in 2024 and now wants to create many more.

Arshdeep Singh said in a video posted on the ICC’s website: “I feel great to win the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year. Really grateful and thankful to the god. Thank you to everyone who worked behind the scenes, and credit goes to the support staff and players who helped me to get the best of me. The special moment, as you would say, every Indian, the T20 World Cup final win, and I am looking forward to making such more memories.”

With 36 wickets in just 18 T20I matches, Arshdeep was India’s top wicket-taker in 2024 in the shorter format of the game. The lanky pacer has a reputation for being a key weapon in the powerplay and death-overs. The left-armer proved his class across different conditions.

Arshdeep Singh among Top-5 wicket-takers in T20I Cricket

In 2024, only four bowlers took more wickets than Arshdeep Singh in T20I cricket, and they are Saudi Arabia’s Usman Najeeb (38), Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga (38), UAE’s Junaid Siddique (40), and Hong Kong’s Ehsan Khan (46 wickets).

Read Also: BCCI forced to draft Shivam Dube into T20I squad as star all-rounder suffers injury

However, all of them played more matches than Arshdeep. The Indian pacer was exceptional with the white ball last year, taking 36 wickets at an average of just 15.31 and a strike rate of 10.80 which shows his impressive wicket-taking ability.

His economy rate was a solid 7.49 despite mainly bowling during the powerplay and death overs, making him one of the most dangerous bowlers in T20 cricket. Meanwhile, Arshdeep Singh is currently playing in the ongoing five-match T20I series against England at home.

Arshdeep Singh set to play in ICC Champions Trophy 2025

The India National Cricket Team pacer continued his stunning form in the first T20I at the Eden Gardens, where he scalped two wickets to help India beat England by seven wickets on January 22. He will be next seen in action in the second T20I match against England at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Saturday, January 25.

Arshdeep was also named in India’s squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 ahead of Mohammed Siraj despite playing only 8 ODIs so far. He recently became India's leading wicket-taker in the T20I cricket.