PCB unveils nominees for 2021 awards

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board has unveiled the categories and the nominees for its annual ‘PCB Awards 2021 with pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi nominated in five categories, Hasan Ali and Mohammad Rizwan in three categories each and Babar Azam, Fawad Alam and Haris Rauf in two each.

The winners will be announced in a virtual digital show, which will be live-streamed on the PCB YouTube and Facebook Channels on Thursday (tomorrow) at 7pm.

The 21-year-old Shaheen has been nominated in the all three formats of the Year and Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year by an independent 10-member jury, which comprised former international cricketers, broadcasters and journalists.

Shaheen had a stellar 2021 across all formats. In nine Tests, he took 47 wickets and 23 wickets in 21 T20Is. His three for 31 against India in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 made him one of the four candidates for the Impactful Performance of the Year award.

Rizwan and Hasan also had a year to celebrate. Rizwan has earned nominations for the Impactful Performance of the Year, T20I Cricketer of the Year and Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year. Hasan has been shortlisted for the Impactful Performance of the Year, Test Cricketer of the Year and Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year awards.

Babar, who was the Most Valuable Cricketer of 2020, has once again been nominated in this category, while his other nomination is in the ODI Cricketer of the Year.

Fawad also makes a second successive entry in the Impactful Performance of the Year. His second nomination is in the Test Cricketer of the Year.

Haris has been shortlisted in the T20I and ODI Cricketer of the Year categories.