Dubai, December 28: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday announced the 2021 edition of the ICC Awards, celebrating and rewarding the top performances across men's and women's international cricket throughout the year. "The ICC Awards 2021 recognise the outstanding performers following a year that comprised major international events such as the ICC World Test Championship Final and the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021, alongside numerous bilateral series in which records were broken," stated an official release. India vs South Africa 1st Test: Sourav Ganguly, Ravi Shastri, Sachin Tendulkar and Other Members of the Cricket Fraternity React to Virat Kohli’s Team Winning in Centurion (Check Post)

This year's awards will comprise a total of 13 individual awards in all, as well as five Team of the Year announcements for each format across men's and women's cricket. The individual award categories are as follows:  Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year, Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy for ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year, ICC Men's Test Cricketer of the Year, ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year, ICC Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year, ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of the Year, ICC Women's T20I Cricketer of the Year, ICC Emerging Men's Cricketer of the Year, ICC Emerging Women's Cricketer of the Year, ICC Men's Associate Cricketer of the Year, ICC Women's Associate Cricketer of the Year, ICC Spirit of Cricket Award and ICC Umpire of the Year.

The first seven categories listed above will feature a shortlist of four names, and these will be announced from December 28 to December 31. The shortlisted categories will recognize those players who have had the most impactful performances in the period under consideration - January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021. The names shortlisted for these awards will be decided by a specialist ICC Awards panel, comprising prominent cricket journalists and broadcasters from across the globe along with ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice.

The five ICC Teams of the Year will be also decided by the ICC Voting Academy via an online survey - with each voter selecting their teams in the batting order and nominating a captain for each format.

The winners for each category will be announced in January 2022. The five official ICC Teams of the Year are set to be announced on January 17-18, whereas the individual awards pertaining to women's cricket will be announced on January 23. The men's awards, as well as the ICC Spirit of Cricket and ICC Umpire of the Year award, will be announced on January 24.