The ICC Emerging Men’s Cricketer of the Year Award is an important honour in the context of the game. Many youngsters do well throughout the year and it becomes important to encourage them. This way, more youngsters start to play cricket in the right spirit. Most times, players who win this award go on to do well for their country. Some of the famous examples include Cheteshwar Pujara, Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell amongst others. However, some players fade away. Here, we take a look at two players who won the ICC Emerging Men’s Cricketer of the Year Award but faded away.
1) Gary Ballance – 2014
Gary Ballance had a sensational start to his career. Playing for England, he was in top form and within a short time, he rose to the top. He played more than 20 Tests and ODIs for England. However, there was a racism incident and after that, Ballance struggled to make a comeback.
In 2022, he returned to play for Zimbabwe, his birth nation. He did do well but Zimbabwe could not progress a lot. Later, in 2023, he retired from all forms of the game.
2) Devendra Bishoo – 2011
Devendra Bishoo is one of the players who won the ICC Emerging Men’s Cricketer of the Year Award but faded away. If you take a look at the recent years, barring Samuel Badree and to an extent Sunil Narine, not many spinners could do well for the West Indies. Especially in Tests, West Indies struggled a lot.
However, rising through the ranks, Devendra Bishoo was seen as the future of the spin attack for West Indies across formats. He did well in the initial years but later dropped his form completely. Sunil Narine and Shane Shillingford offered competition and Bishoo could not make a return. He now spends his time playing in the post-retirement leagues.
