Blackcaps captain Kane Williamson has been nominated for the ICC's Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for 2021, awarded to the men's cricketer of the year.
As part of the ICC's end of year awards, Williamson has been included on the shortlist for the title of the best men's player, taking into account his displays across all three formats of the game.
Williamson, 31, enjoyed arguably his most successful 12 months in charge of the Blackcaps, captaining the side to the World Test Championship - New Zealand's first major men's title since 2000 - as well as leading his team to the final of the Twenty20 World Cup in the UAE.
With the bat, Williamson averaged 65.83 from his four tests played, scoring 395 runs. However, the bulk of Williamson's runs came in his first test of the year, where he scored 238 against Pakistan in Christchurch.
In Twenty20 cricket, Williamson scored 298 runs at an average of 29.80 with a best of 85 that came against Australia in the final of the T20 World Cup, which New Zealand lost.
New Zealand played just three one day internationals in 2021, with Williamson missing that one series against Bangladesh due to an elbow injury.
The Blackcaps captain faces competition from England test captain Joe Root, and Pakistan pair Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi for the award.
The award will be decided by the ICC's 'Voting Academy,' composed of broadcasters and journalists who will rank the nominees on a 1-2-3 basis. Fans can also cast their own votes through the ICC's social media channels, with the combination of both used to decide the overall winner.
The voting academy will make up 90 percent of the decision as to which player will win the award, with the last 10 percent coming from the fan vote.
Elsewhere, Blackcaps teammate Kyle Jamieson has been shortlisted for the men's test cricketer of the year award, facing competition from Root, Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne and India's Ravichandran Ashwin.
The winners of the ICC's end of year awards, consisting of 13 categories, will be announced sporadically from January 17 to 24.
