Left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh was on Saturday crowned the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year capping a spectacular year in the shortest format. He pipped the challenge from Travis Head, Babar Azam and Sikandar Raza to take the honour.

Arshdeep was by far India’s leading wicket-taker of the year with 36 scalps from 18 matches with Ravi Bishnoi being second having taken 22 wickets. The left-arm pacer also played a crucial role in India’s T20 World Cup 2024 win. He was India’s highest wicket-taker and joint-highest overall with 17 scalps alongside Fazalhaq Farooqi.

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In 2024, the 25-year-old left-armer established himself as a world-class bowler in T20 cricket, taking bucket-loads of wickets with the new ball and proving to be consistently economical at the death on a variety of surfaces.

Only four players in the world took more T20I wickets than Arshdeep in the calendar year – Saudi Arabia’s Usman Najeeb (38), Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga (38), UAE’s Junaid Siddique (40) and Hong Kong’s Ehsan Khan (46) – with all four playing more matches. Of those bowlers, only Hasaranga featured for a full-member nation.

Arshdeep bagged wickets at an average of just 15.31 and despite predominantly bowling in the powerplay and death overs, finished the year with an economy rate of 7.49. He was a constant wicket-taking threat, taking his wickets at a strike rate of 10.80.

Arshdeep had a number of impressive displays in the year, not least when he ripped through the USA in New York during the T20 World Cup group stage, bagging remarkable returns of 4/9 in his four overs. But Arshdeep’s most significant performance of the year came on the biggest stage of all, as he played a huge part in helping India successfully defend their total of 176 in the World Cup Final in Barbados.

As part of a pace trio with Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya that effectively won the game for India, Arshdeep’s terrific figures of 2/20 from four overs only tell part of the story.

Excellent with the new ball up top, Arshdeep struck in the powerplay to have the dangerous South African skipper Aiden Markram caught behind in just the third over. And when India were in need of a wicket in the middle overs it was Arshdeep that provided the breakthrough, dismissing a set Quinton de Kock when the Proteas looked to be in control of the chase.

India’s collective effort at the death was astonishing as South Africa pulled up seven runs short of their target, and Arshdeep played a huge role in that, returning to the attack to bowl the penultimate over with South Africa requiring 20 from 12 deliveries.

The Punjab pacer delivered a near-perfect death over under the greatest pressure, conceding just four runs to leave Pandya with 16 runs to defend in the final over, a job that he spectacularly did. Brilliance in the powerplay, a wicket in the middle overs, and economical excellence at the death – Arshdeep stepped up when it mattered most.