The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the nominations for the T20 World Cup Player of the Tournament (POTM). The exciting T20 World Cup is in its final stage as New Zealand take on favourites India in the summit clash on March 8, Sunday. But two days before the epic encounter, the ICC has shortlisted eight players who can bag the POTM award. Fascinatingly, only one Indian is part of the list, and he isn’t Jasprit Bumrah.
Sanju Samson, & Will Jacks headline POTM nominations
Two players who were part of the run-fest that was the second semi-final between India and England are Will Jacks and Sanju Samson. In fact, Will Jacks is ahead in the race of winning the POTM as he dished out an incredible all-round performance. England, who didn’t play their best cricket but still managed to end up in the semis, were largely helped out by Jacks, who contributed phenomenally.
He fit into the ‘finisher’ role superbly, striking 226 runs at a strike rate of 176.56. However, it was with the ball, where Jacks helped England out. He picked up 9 wickets for the two-time champions, including 3/22 against Sri Lanka and 2/23 against New Zealand.
As for India, Sanju Samson has been nominated. Before the tournament began, he wasn’t even starting for India. However, Abhishek Sharma’s awful form meant India had to bring Samson to rejig the top order and Samson’s career has turned for the better. He was going through a lean patch before turning up in big games for India. In a virtual quarter-final, he smashed 97* against the West Indies before playing another whirlwind knock of 89 off 42 in the semi-final to setup the win. Despite playing just 4 games, he has racked up 232 runs but more importantly, at a strike rate of 201.7
T20 World Cup player of the tournament nominees
| Player | Team | Matches | Runs | Bat Avg | Batting SR | Wickets | Economy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Will Jacks | England | 8 | 226 | 56.50 | 176.56 | 9 | — |
| Sahibzada Farhan | Pakistan | 7 | 383 | 76.60 | 160.25 | — | — |
| Lungi Ngidi | South Africa | 7 | — | — | — | 12 | 7.19 |
| Aiden Markram | South Africa | 8 | 286 | 47.67 | 165.32 | 1 | — |
| Rachin Ravindra | New Zealand | 8 | 128 | — | — | 11 | 6.88 |
| Shadley van Schalkwyk | USA | 4 | — | — | — | 13 | 6.80 |
| Tim Seifert | New Zealand | 8 | 274 | 45.66 | 161.17 | — | — |
| Sanju Samson | India | 4 | 232 | 77.33 | 201.73 | — | — |
No Jasprit Bumrah in 8-man list
As mentioned above, the list includes eight players. All have been star performers for their respective teams at this T20 World Cup. However, could the ICC have sneaked in Jasprit Bumrah’s name, especially after his wondrous performance in the semi-final against England? He took 1/33 on paper in the semi-final but bowling at an economy of 8.20 in a match where the average run rate was 12.5 is just match-defining.
No player has a better economy than Bumrah’s 6.62 in the T20 World Cup 2026. This is outstanding, while also considering the fact that he always bowl the most difficult overs for India. With 10 wickets across 7 outings, Bumrah has averaged 15.90 with the ball. Perhaps the ICC could’ve added him.
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