Azmatullah Omarzai named ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year 2024
Published - 27 Jan 2025, 12:54 PM | Updated - 27 Jan 2025, 11:35 PM
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Afghanistan National Cricket Team all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai has been awarded the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year 2024. This comes after he displayed a staggering performance with the bat and ball in 50-over cricket last year for his team.
Azmatullah Omarzai was the second-highest run-getter for the Afghanistan National Cricket Team in ODIs behind Rahmanullah Gurbaz and the second-highest wicket-taker behind AM Ghazanfar. His staggering effort with the bat and ball helped the team win four of their five ODI series in 2024.
Azmatullah Omarzai was consistent with the bat and ball for his team throughout the year, ends year with 417 runs and picks 17 wickets
Azmatullah Omarzai was consistent with the bat and ball for his team throughout the year. He played a great role for his team during the series against Sri Lanka National Cricket Team. But his efforts went in vain as the Afghanistan National Cricket Team failed to win the series.
Azmatullah Omarzai then made sure that he helped his team win the series against Ireland, South Africa, Bangladesh, and Zimbabwe. In 2024, the all-rounder scored 417 runs at an average of 52.12 and picked 17 wickets at 20.47 in the 14 games that he played.
Azmatullah Omarzai started 2024 on a dominating note, played innings of unbeaten 149* against the Sri Lanka
Omarzai started 2024 on a dominating note as he played a breathtaking innings of unbeaten 149* against the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team. However, he didn't get support from his team, and they went on to lose the match.
Omarzai also played a vital hand for his team in the series against South Africa as well. He ended up with an innings of 86* from just 50 deliveries in the second match of the series to register their first-ever series win over the Proteas in the ODIs.
Azmatullah Omarzai's most memorable performance came during the last ODI of the series against the Bangladesh
Omarzai's most memorable performance came during the last ODI of the series against the Bangladesh National Cricket Team, which took place in Sharjah in November. The all-rounder first came up with a sensational effort with the ball as he registered the figures of 4/37 from seven overs.
After that, he bailed his team out of trouble as they were left reeling at 84/3 in the chase of 245. The all-rounder soaked in all the pressure and stitched a century partnership with Rahmanullah Gurbaz that brought the Afghanistan National Cricket Team back into the game.
Omarzai ended with the innings of unbeaten on 70* from 77 balls and finished the game in style with a massive six. His incredible effort with the bat saw Afghanistan National Cricket Team win the match with 10 balls to spare. He would be keen to carry on the same performance in 2025 and help his team win the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The tournament will begin from 19th Feburary with final all set to be played on 9th March.
