Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah was crowned the winner of the Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year 2024. Bumrah has become the fifth Indian to be named the Best Cricketer of the Year after Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Ravichandran Ashwin and Virat Kohli.
Bumrah has given his first reaction after bagging the yearly honour. "I feel really good. As a youngster, I have seen my childhood heroes winning this great award, so yeah, very happy to be at the 'receiving end'," Bumrah cheekily told broadcasters.
The speedster said that the T20 World Cup win was a special moment for him. "So winning the T20 World Cup was really special, and the memories that we made after that are going to be close to me forever," said Bumrah, who played a pivotal role in India’s T20 World Cup campaign in the Americas.
"So I will always pick us winning the T20 World Cup first," he said. Bumrah is only the fifth Indian to be named the Best Cricketer of the Year. He feels very honoured to find himself in an elite list. "I'm very happy with the honour, but I don't let myself get too high. My feet are on the ground, and I'm really happy with the accolades that I get."
Bumrah pipped the challenge from Travis Head, Harry Brook and Joe Root to be crowned the ICC Men's Cricketer of 2024. The speedster took 86 wickets in 21 matches at an average of 13.76 as he was the star for the Indian team during the T20 World Cup 2024 win and several other series.
Bumrah was a vital cog in India ending their ICC trophy drought and lifting the T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and West Indies. He picked up 15 wickets at a brilliant average of 8.26 and an economy of just 4.17. He was also on song in the final against South Africa, picking up two wickets for 18 runs in his four overs as India defeated South Africa by seven runs. For his 15 wickets in the tournament, Bumrah was named the Player of the Tournament.