Dubai: In-form India opener Sanju Samson figured in the eight-man shortlist for the T20 World Cup Player of the Tournament announced by the ICC on Friday.
The other nominees are England all-rounder Will Jacks, Pakistan opener Sahibzada Farhan, South Africa’s pacer Lungi Ngidi and captain Aiden Markram, New Zealand’s all-rounder Rachin Ravindra and batter Tim Seifert, and American bowler Shadley van Schalkwyk.
Samson, who did not play in the early part of the tournament, lit up the T20 World Cup with consecutive player-of-the-match performances.
The opener smacked a 42-ball 89 against England in the semifinals to be the hero of India’s seven-run win on Thursday. Before that, his 50-ball 97 laid the foundation of the defending champions’ five-wicket win over the West Indies in a virtual quarterfinal.
The wicketkeeper-batter has so far amassed 232 runs at an average of 77.33 and a strike rate of 201.73 in four matches that he had played in the tournament.
Jacks has been instrumental in his team winning six of their eight matches at the T20 World Cup. He won four player-of-the-match honours, and has scored 226 runs and picked up nine wickets from eight matches.
Farhan made 383 runs in six innings to record the most runs scored in a single edition of a T20 World Cup. He also became the first player to score two centuries at a single edition of the tournament as he scored a hundred each against Sri Lanka and Namibia.
With 12 wickets from seven matches at an economy rate of 7.19, Ngidi proved to be the vital cog in South Africa’s pace battery and was their most consistent fast bowler.
South Africa skipper Markram was central to Proteas’ performances at this T20 World Cup, with the right-hander compiling three half-centuries across eight matches, amassing 286 runs and also picked up a wicket.
New Zealand all-rounder Ravindra has proved valuable for his side with both bat and ball, scoring 128 runs and scalping 11 wickets from eight matches.
Even though the USA exited after the opening group stage, van Schalkwyk set the benchmark for bowlers at this T20 World Cup. In just four matches, the American pacer claimed 13 wickets from four matches at a respectable economy rate of 6.80.
Wicketkeeper-batter Seifert has played a major part in New Zealand’s run to the T20 World Cup decider, with the right-hander having amassed 274 runs across eight matches with a total of eight half-centuries.
India will take on New Zealand in the summit clash in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
