We talked about the best ICC Men’s Test, ODI and overall cricketer of the year award winners in the previous articles but it is also equally important to acknowledge the emerging players as well who have made a name on the world stage that following year.
This award was also first started in the year 2004 along with the other awards and this award is extremely important as it recognises the young and up and coming players who impress the world every year with their performance and arrive at the world stage. So, let’s look at the winners from all the previous years.
2004: Irfan Pathan -
Irfan Pathan was the first winner of the first ICC Men’s Emerging Cricketer of the year award and he very much deserved it because 2004 was his breakout year in Test and ODI cricket and since then there was no looking back.
2005: Kevin Pietersen -
In the year a rare feat happened as Kevin Pietersen was the first one who had won the ODI player as well as the best Emerging player of the year awards. It shows how incredible of a year it was this special batter and he very much deserved every award.
2006: Ian Bell -
Another England player won the ICC Men’s Emerging player of the year award and it was very deserving Ian Bell for his performances in Test cricket especially and he was the young man that impressed the most that year.
2007: Shaun Tait -
The first player from Australia to win this big prize and it was the express fast bowler Shaun Tait as he used to intimidate the batters with his sheer lace and he was the standout young player that year that had arrived.
2008: Ajantha Mendis -
2008 was the year of this mystery spinner called Ajantha Mendis as he ran over every batter that he faced that year as no one could read him and there was frankly no one else more deserving that year than him.
2009: Peter Siddle -
Another quick Australia bowler won this coveted prize in the year 2009 as Peter Siddle was the best Emerging performer that year and he helped Australia win a lot of matches as well and he had arrived.
2010: Steven Finn -
2010 was the year of Steven Finn from England and this young player stood out and everyone took notice of his talents and he very much was worthy of this honor.
2011: Devendra Bishoo -
Unfortunately this is one of the winners who was not able to achieve much after his breakout year in 2011 and he won the award over a lot of other worthy contenders and he deserved to win .
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2012: Sunil Narine -
This year’s winner did a lot of great things in his career after he won this award in the year 2012. He was another mystery spinner and unlike Ajantha Mendis he was able to continue his mystery for a lot of years after that as well.
2013: Cheteshwar Pujara -
One of the most worthy winners of this award came in the year 2013 in Cheteshwar Pujara as he was scoring lots of runs in test cricket and finally in 2013 he got his much deserved recognition and he won this award.
2014: Gary Ballance -
In 2014, another promising England batter won this award for his outstanding performances in that year and he was the right winner that year and sadly he could not do much after that but he will always have his name in this list.
2015: Josh Hazlewood -
Josh Hazlewood was there in Australian cricket for a few years before this year but this was his breakout season as he was a regular in the test and ODI teams and in 2015, he showed his true potential with the ball and he won this award as a result for his efforts.
2016: Mustafizur Rahman -
The first player from Bangladesh to win this honor and it was the left arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman who won it and he was an instant star in the year 2016 and no one else came close so he won this award in 2016.
2017: Hassan Ali -
Hassan Ali was the first player from Pakistan to win this high honor and in the year 2017, this bowler from Pakistan was the standout young star and he was a worthy winner that year and he has done really well after that year.
2018: Rishabh Pant -
Rishabh Pant is one of the most special young players to ever win this award and in 2018, this destructive batter had a breakout year as he got tons of runs in both Tests and ODIs and stood out among the pack and since that time he has got better and better and someday he will win the big one as well.
2019: Marnus Labuschagne -
He is one of the best test match players around at the moment and in the year 2019, he was easily the standout batter in the world as he arrived in the Ashes in England. He has since become number 1 in the world and only getting better.
2021: Janneman Malan -
The latest winner of this prestigious award is Janneman Malan from South Africa and his records in ODI and T20I cricket has been great and he is a future star in the making and hoping he gets to play more often.
