ICC unveiled the shortlist for the U19 World Cup 2024 Player of the Tournament award on Friday. As expected Indian players dominate the shortlist ahead of their upcoming final showdown against mighty Australia on Sunday, February 11.
Three Indians Uday Saharan, Musheer Khan and Saumy Pandey are included in the eight-player shortlist. Australian captain Hugh Weibgen, Pakistan's rising wonderkid Ubaid Shah, West Indies batter Jewel Andrew and two South African youngsters Kwena Maphaka and Steve Stolk also made the shortlist for the prestigious award.
Despite failing to make the final, South Africa's Maphaka left a big impact in this tournament. He tops the leaderboard with record-breaking 21 wickets in just 6 innings with the help of three five-wicket hauls. Maphaka also picked three wickets against India in the semifinal as he maintained a 3.81 economy rate throughout the tournament.
Apart from Maphaka, Indian captain Uday Saharan and in-form all-rounder Musheer Khan are top favourites to clinch the Player of the Tournament award. Saharan claimed the Player of the Match award for his match-winning 81-run knock in the semifinal which came after his century against Nepal. Saharan is leading the scoring chart in the tournament with 389 runs in six innings at an average of 64.83 with one century and three fifties.
On the other hand, Musheer Khan is the only batter to record two centuries in this tournament so far. Musheer scored big hundreds against Ireland and New Zealand and is also in the race with Saharan for the leading run-getter title. Musheer has also taken six wickets in five innings at an impressive economy rate of 3.32 to impress everyone with his all-round skills.
ICC U19 World Cup 2024 Player of the Tournament shortlist:
- Kwena Maphaka (South Africa) - 21 wickets in 6 innings
- Ubaid Shah (Pakistan) - 18 wickets in 6 innings
- Saumy Pandey (India) - 17 wickets in 6 innings
- Musheer Khan (India) - 338 runs and 6 wickets
- Jewel Andrew (West Indies) - 207 runs in 4 innings
- Hugh Weibgen (Australia) - 256 runs in 6 innings
- Uday Saharan (India) - 389 runs and 1 wicket
- Steve Stolk (South Africa) - 228 runs in 6 innings
