In the period stretching from Oct 14, 2015 to Sep 20 this year, the young seamer grabbed 27 wickets — eight from three ODIs and 19 from 10 Twenty20 International matches.
“This award is the best gift of the year for me and will encourage me to do even better in the coming years,” the ICC website quoted the soft-spoken 21-year-old maverick as saying on Thursday.
“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.”
The boy from Satkhira has played a total of 24 international matches so far across all three formats.
His wicket count is two more than 50. The tally is remarkable considering he made his debut in April last year and is yet to play for the Tigers this season.
He had a six-month injury lay-off with a shoulder injury which required a surgery in August, followed by rehabilitation.
Bangladesh have played six ODIs and two Tests this season and are in New Zealand at the moment for their first overseas tour in about two years.
He returned from injury, however, to grab two wickets in a warm-up match on Thursday. “Playing international cricket is a dream for every budding cricketer and the dream has definitely come true for me,” the left-arm seamer said.
“I want to thank everyone who has supported me over the years and promise to give my best at every opportunity,” he added.
India’s spin maestro Ravichandran Ashwin won the Cricketer of the Year award to lift Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy and become the third Indian cricketer to do so, following in the footsteps of compatriots Rahul Dravid (2004) and Sachin Tendulkar (2010).
He also won the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year, becoming only the second player from his country after Dravid (2004) to bag the two top prizes in the same year.
Jacques Kallis (2005), Ricky Ponting (2006), Kumar Sangakkara (2012), Michael Clarke (2013), Mitchell Johnson (2014) and Steve Smith (2015) are the others who to bag both the awards in a year.
Source : bdnews24
