Four Proteas in race to be named Cricketer of the Year

Johannesburg, April 25 (PTI): South Africa's Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, Kagiso Rabada and Imran Tahir are vying for the prestigious CSA Cricketer of the Year Award. The awards night will be held at a banquet here on May 13. De Kock leads the list with nominations in multiple categories - Cricketer of the Year, Test Cricketer of the Year, ODI Cricketer of the Year and the Award of Excellence. In addition, he has secured his peers' vote as SA Players' Player of the Year and could be a contender for SA Fans' Cricketer of the Year. Du Plessis and Tahir have also been shortlisted for the ODI Cricketer of the Year category, while Tahir's only competitor in the T20 International Cricketer of the Year category is Lungi Ngidi. Rabada, who swept the board at last year's awards shortly after making his debut, has only one nomination this year. "It is my great pleasure and privilege to congratulate all the nominees as we celebrate a very successful year of superior achievement by our Proteas who had won all their Test series in the past 12 months on top of impressive 5-0 clean sweeps against both Australia and Sri Lanka in ODI cricket," said CSA Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat. "Our country continues to produce world-class players. We only need reflect on the superb way in which Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada, Temba Bavuma and Keshav Maharaj have shone over the past year and who continue to grow alongside established greats like AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn.