2018 ICC Awards: Five players who could win Men's Emerging Cricketer of the Year

One of the most fascinating moments in cricket is when a young rookie breaks into the international circuit and takes giant strides. There are so many emerging players who have produced some stellar performances and has captured the hearts of cricket fans in 2018.

The most enjoyable aspect of these emerging players are, they approach the game with no fear and express themselves to the fullest, providing the much-needed entertainment for cricket lovers. Sometimes, a breath of fresh air is what needed in a team environment to get things going.

Here are five players who can win the ICC Emerging Player of the Year Award.

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Aiden Markram

Having made his debut in 2017 against Bangladesh in a rollicking fashion, it was in 2018 where Aiden Markram announced himself to the cricketing world with some remarkable performances against top quality sides.

Whilst the Test series against India was so tough on the batsman with bowling friendly pitches, Markram averaged just 23 for the series with a high score of 94 at Centurion. However, the turnaround came against the Aussies where the 24-year-old proved his mettle with some consistent performances. The right-handed batsman amassed 480 runs in the four matches he played with a highest score of 152 and an average of 60.

However, Markram couldn’t find much success in the limited overs of the game. The burden of captaincy in the absence of Faf du Plessis got to the youngster earlier in the year against India and hopefully, we’ll see him dominating all forms of the game sooner and bring more glory to Proteas cricket.

Shimron Hetmyer

Shimron Hetmyer

Shimron Hetmyer has the flair in his batting which one would associate with the West Indies batsman. The left-handed batsman caught the eyes of the people through CPL where he plays for the Guyana Amazon Warriors.

The 22-year-old made fine progress in his career when he came up against India. He took on the Indian bowlers and put them under constant pressure which only very few can do at the moment. And, this is where people recognized the talent of Hetmyer.

Hetmyer accumulated 259 runs in the five-match ODI series against India at an average of 51.80 with the best score of 106. But the most noticeable feature of his batting was his strike rate of 140 which is astonishing for a 50-over format.

And yes, the obvious thing happened. Hetmyer was picked up in the IPL auction for a whopping 4.2 crores by RCB and he’ll be looking to set the stage alight in the next edition of the IPL.

Lungi Ngidi

Lungi Ngidi

Lungi Ngidi has all the attributes that are needed for a fast bowler. He’s strong, tall and fast and poses a serious threat to the batsman by hitting the hard length on a consistent basis. Ngidi made his debut for South Africa in the T20I against Sri Lanka in 2017, but 2018 has been the breakthrough year for him where he found immediate success. Starting off from the Test series against India to the IPL, the 22-year-old has hardly put a foot wrong.

The absence of Dale Steyn due to injury made way for Ngidi in the Test arena. He ran through the Indian batsman and picked up a six-wicket haul which also earned a series victory for the Proteas. The 22-year-old soon earned his ODI debut and looked the most impressive of the lot while the rest struggled against the Indians.

Ngidi has picked up 26 wickets in the 13 ODI matches he’s played at a striking average of 23. In such a young career Ngidi has become the go-to bowler whenever there’s a need to pick up a wicket. He along with Rabada form a lethal combination for South Africa.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Mujeeb Ur Rahman is one of the finest talents Afghanistan cricket has produced along with Rashid Khan and 2018 has been a stellar year for him. The 17-year-old made his ODI debut against Ireland in December 2017 and has been magnificent so far. The right arm offie has 44 scalps to his name in the 23 matches he has played with best figures of 5/50.

The most striking quality about him is he averages just 19 at an economy of just 3.84. It shows how confusing it is to pick his variations and the pace at which he bowls make it even more difficult to dominate him.

Mujeeb landed a 4 crore deal from the Kings XI Punjab and it proved to be a tremendous buy for them as he was their trump card. He provided breakthroughs with the new ball and excelled in the middle overs and in the death overs as well. Ashwin rotated him well and hardly any batsman got the better of him.

The 17-year-old has been picked up by the Brisbane heat in the ongoing BBL and he’s putting up a show there as well.

Sam Curran

Sam Curran

Indians can’t forget his name, can they? Though Curran made his debut against Pakistan, it was against India he exhibited his all-around skills and in the end proved to be the difference in the outcome of the series. His valuable 63 runs in the second innings at Birmingham gave England enough runs to defend the target and that set the tone for the hosts.

Not only he was valuable with the bat, he even produced some wonderful spells to break a partnership. The 20-year-old was adjudged the Man of the Series for his heroics with both bat and ball and his batting along with the tail hurt India the most and they ended up losing the series 4-1.

Curran averages 38 with the bat 23 with the ball which is a glorious start to his Test career. From here on the Surrey cricketer is only going to get better and bring more laurels to England cricket.