Azmatullah Omarzai named ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year

Afghanistan’s all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai, who took his team to a new level with his right-arm pace bowling and multi-faceted batting game, was on Monday named the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year 2024.

The 24-year-old built on an impressive 2023 to become one of the world’s leading One-Day International performers last year.

Omarzai also enjoyed a strong year in T20Is and franchise cricket, but it was in ODIs where he proved most influential.

He finished the year as his national team’s second-highest run scorer behind Rahmanullah Gurbaz and second-highest wicket-taker behind AM Ghazanfar, with Afghanistan winning four of their five ODI series in 2024.

His individual excellence wasn’t enough to earn Afghanistan a series win away in Sri Lanka at the start of the year, but he was central to four straight ODI series wins for Afghanistan, as his team won against Ireland, South Africa, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

The Afghanistan all-rounder was a standout performer with bat and ball throughout the year, scoring his runs at an average of 52.12 and bagging his wickets at 20.47.