DHAKA: Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman has won the ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year award.

In the period under consideration, Mustafizur played three ODIs and took eight wickets, while he yielded 19 wickets in 10 T20Is.

He is the first Bangladesh cricketer to win an annual ICC award.

Mustafizur commented, “This award is the best gift of the year for me and will encourage me to do even better in the coming years. I’m delighted and proud to win this award, especially since it’s the first time that a Bangladesh player has won an ICC award.

“To play international cricket is the dream for every budding cricketer and it has indeed been a dream come true for me too. I want to thank everyone who has supported me over the years and promise to give my best at every opportunity.”

Besides, Ravichandran Ashwin has become the third India player and 12th player overall to win the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy after being named as the ICC Cricketer of the Year 2016.

South Africa’s wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock has been named as the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year. He is the second South Africa player after AB de Villiers (2010, 2014 and 2015) and ninth overall to clinch this award.

Afghanistan’s flamboyant wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Shahzad has been named as the ICC Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year after he finished as the leading ODI run-scorer with 699 runs in 16 one-day matches.

The player awards were judged by a voting academy, which was entirely independent of the ICC and in which members of the media from all the 10 Test playing countries were eligible to vote. 
The voting period ran from 14 September 2015 to 20 September 2016. 

BDST: 1402 HRS, DEC 22, 2016
SMS/ AP