Umar Gul recognised for T20 feat

Pakistan fast-bowler bestowed with ICC performance of the year award.

KARACHI:

Pakistan fast-bowler Umar Gul said things have started moving in the right direction for him after he was given the Twenty20 performance of the year award by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Gul was awarded for his performance when he took five wickets and gave away just six runs against South Africa in Centurion earlier this year.

The 29-year-old expressed relief that after a tough phase in his career, good things have started to come his way.

“It’s an honour to get any international award and I think good times are ahead for me,” Gul told The Express Tribune.

“Recognition is always important for any player because it gives him an incentive to do better.”



Gul sits second in the list of top wicket takers in the format, having collected 74 from 52 matches. Only Saeed Ajmal is ahead of him.

Recalling his performance against South Africa, Gul revealed that he was aiming to break Ajantha Mendis’ world record of picking up six wickets for 16 but was unable to do so. He also urged pacers around the world to work on yorkers.

“My success in Twenty20s is a result of bowling yorkers which is now a dying art. Fast-bowlers around the world should use it if they want to be successful.”

Australia’s Clarke dominates ICC awards

Australia captain Michael Clarke stole the honours in the ICC awards, winning both player of the year and the Test cricketer of the year.

Clarke, whose Australia team have taken a firm grip of the ongoing Ashes series, beat five other nominees including England skipper Alastair Cook to bag the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the player of the year.

“I was very surprised, to be honest, probably because there are so many guys who are playing so well around the world at the moment,” Clarke told the cricket.com.au website.

“I definitely didn’t expect to have won this award but it is a prestigious one and an honour, and something I’m certainly proud of.”

Hashim Amla, James Anderson, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kumar Sangakkara were the others on the shortlist to miss out.

The awards are based solely on performances over a 12-month period that ended on August 25, 2013 and included the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, the Champions Trophy in England and the women’s World Cup in India.

Clarke won despite a lean time for Australia in that period when they were thrashed 4-0 in India, before losing the Ashes series against England 3-0.

During the voting period, Clarke was the world’s leading run-scorer with 1,559 runs at an average of 70.86, including two double centuries and three other hundreds.



Sri Lanka’s Sangakkara was named the one-day player of the year, while Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara was voted the emerging player of the year.

For the first time since the awards were introduced in 2004, they were not presented at a function but announced through a media release by the ICC. 

Winners                                             Awards

Michael Clarke                        Best cricketer

Michael Clarke                        Best Test cricketer

Kumar Sangakkara                Best one-day cricketer

Suzie Bates                              Best women’s one-day cricketer

Cheteshwar Pujara                 Emerging cricketer

Umar Gul                                Best Twenty 20 performance

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2013.

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