KABUL (SW): Two Afghan cricketers have been awarded the ESPNcricinfo Awards 2016 that recognise the best individual batting and bowling performances in cricket over the calendar year.
All-rounder Mohammad Nabi won the award for best Associate bowling performance of the year while Mohammad Shahzad won the prize for the best Associate batting performance of the year. The players were voted on by an independent jury of former cricketers, commentators, and ESPNcricinfo's senior writers. Previous winners have included Dale Steyn, Lasith Malinga, Mitchell Johnson, Shahid Afridi and Kumar Sangakkara.
The ESPNcricinfo has praised Afghanistan as a team full of entertainers. It has dubbed Shahzad as the biggest showman in the squad. He won the award for his match winning innings of 118 runs in a T20 against Zimbabwe in Sharjah. Mohammad Nabi won the award for his impressive all-round performance against Bangladesh in Mirpur. In this second One Day International of the series, Mohammad Nabi took two wickets by giving away only 16 runs, and then scoring 49 runs with just 61 balls.
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