ICC receives criticism for not naming Babar Azam T20 World Cup ‘Player of the Tournament’

Several people have criticised the decision to award David Warner the ‘Player of the Tournament’ at the T20 World Cup, with Babar Azam, the competition’s leading run scorer, going unrewarded.

Babar’s campaign ended at the hands of Australia at the semi-final stage, but he had already had a tournament to remember. An unbeaten half-century in Pakistan’s opener sealed a historic 10-wicket win against India.

He added three more fifties, meaning he sits tied with Matthew Hayden and Virat Kohli for the most half-centuries at a T20 World Cup, while only Kohli and Tillakaratne Dilshan have scored more runs at a single edition.

Warner was 14 runs short from Babar, and only managed three half-centuries, falling one run short of the landmark against Pakistan in the semis. But he maintained a significantly higher strike-rate of 146.70, more than 20 runs per 100 balls higher than the Pakistan opener, and arguably made his runs at more high-impact intervals.

Former Pakistani speedster Shoaib Akhtar called the decision “unfair”.

Was really looking forward to see @babarazam258 becoming Man of the Tournament. Unfair decision for sure.

— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) November 14, 2021

West Indies’ Sherfane Rutherford said he was “shocked” at the “tired decision”.

Leading run-scorers in Men’s T20 world cup 2021 are:

Babar Azam: 303

David Warner: 289

Moahmmad Rizwan: 281

Netizens were also unhappy that Kohli’s Player of the Tournament win in 2016 is an evidence that Babar should have been rewarded, as the Indian side was also knocked out in the semi-final, like Pakistan.

David Warner player of the tournament:

Innings 7
Runs 289
Average 48.16
Fifties 3

Babar Azam:

Innings 6
Runs 303
Average 60.60
Fifties 4#T20WorldCup

— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) November 14, 2021

#playerofthetournament
Babar Azam is man of the tournament so far –

Most runs
Most fifties
Joint most wins

If it's a bad day for David Warner & Adam Zampa, then it's well enough for Babar Azam to win his first-ever player of the tournament award in an ICC tournament. pic.twitter.com/q5DZfqpqKD

— Muhammad Ahsan 🇵🇰(Stay Home, Stay Safe!) (@Ahsan0216) November 15, 2021

For me BABAR AZAM is the player of the tournament!!!!!
Scoring 303 in 6 innings.
King 👑♥️🇵🇰#babarazam pic.twitter.com/1DVbdMH8oJ

— masoomaaa (@masoomaaa21) November 14, 2021

player of the tournament David Warner
Very unfair decision by ICC
Thats call power of big 3 #playerofthetournament#T20WorldCupFinal pic.twitter.com/6pqkEGjxKH

— Hafiz sohail Fiaz (@HafizsohailFia1) November 14, 2021

Meanwhile, Australia made history on Sunday night by winning their first T20 World Cup when the Kangaroos trounced New Zealand by 8 wickets to win the final.

Australian batter Mitchell Marsh was declared the Player of the Match for his unbeaten 77.