Yastika Bhatia, a left-handed wicketkeeper, and Renuka Thakur, a right-arm fast bowler, both of India, have been nominated for the ICC Women's Emerging Cricketer of the Year 2022 award. Along with the pair, Australian tearaway pacer Darcie Brown and English all-rounder Alice Capsey were also nominated.
Renuka, who replaced the great pacer Jhulan Goswami in 2022, collected 40 wickets for her nation in just 29 matches across the two white-ball formats. Renuka will probably be one of India's most dependable bowlers in the future because of her ability to swing the ball or locate deviation off the surface.
Renuka excelled in ODIs, taking 18 wickets at just 14.88 per game, eight of which came in two matches against England and seven of which came in India's series against Sri Lanka. When cricket returned to the Commonwealth Games, she had her greatest performance against Australia, taking 4/18 with 16 dot balls and leaving them at 34/4, albeit the eventual victors ended up chasing down India's 154.
She claimed eight wickets in the seven T20I matches against Australia throughout the year, and her achievements at the Commonwealth Games and Women's Asia Cup demonstrated that she is no coward in tournament play, collecting 17 wickets in 11 matches at an economy rate of just 5.21.
Yastika established the middle order for India's middle order throughout 2022 with a number of solid performances. Yastika was a steady player in the 50-over game. Prior to the Cricket World Cup, she scored 41 and 31 before hitting powerful half-centuries against Australia and Bangladesh.
Yastika went on to get another fifty in India's away 3-0 ODI victory over England at Hove, and he or she will undoubtedly continue to appear on the team roster for India for many years to come. The 130-run partnership she had with Mithali Raj against Australia at Eden Park was her best performance of the year.
She had a good recovery in the game, hit six boundaries, and helped the team reach 158/3 in the 32nd over of play. Yastika was only surpassed as the top scorer in the innings by her captain Mithali as India went on to total 277.
At the age of 17, Alice made international headlines when she made her England debut. She adapted to international cricket with ease, scoring 119 runs in her first three T20I appearances at a strike rate well over one run per ball.
In order to secure a solid start to her team's home Commonwealth Games campaign, she scored two of those runs early on, including a half-century off only 37 balls against South Africa. She kept scoring runs during England's home T20I series with India, and soon after that, she was called up for an ODI match.
Her performance versus South Africa at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 was her best. Following the loss of Sophia Dunkley, Alice, who is also a useful off-spinner, entered the match at 10/1. She blasted seven fours and a six to ensure that the momentum switched in the hosts' favour.
Her contributions, including a 36-ball first-ever T20I fifty, helped England go on to win by 26 runs. Alice joined the legendary Sarah Taylor, a wicketkeeper, as the only players to score a half-century for England while still a teen.
Darcie, who was expected to break speed records in women's cricket, claimed 24 international wickets in 2022. Darcie began the dramatic Test match between Australia and England by taking a wicket in each innings. She then switched her attention to the ODI series as part of the Women's Ashes, taking 4/34 to completely destroy the long-time rival in Adelaide.
She emulated the form at the ODI World Cup with two three-wicket hauls against New Zealand and India on the way to Australia's trophy-winning campaign. In the shortest format, Brown was a consistent performer, taking wickets in 10 of her 13 appearances, including all but one of Australia's Commonwealth Games gold-medal winning campaign.
The ICC Awards 2022 will comprise a total of 13 categories, with awards honouring individuals who shone in specific formats, and also across multiple formats in the overall categories -- the coveted Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year, and the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy for ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year.