JOHANNESBURG – Farhaan Behardien was named the Titans’ Player of the Year at the franchise’s end of season awards ceremony on Tuesday evening.
Behardien won three other awards, including T20 Player of the Year, First Class Player of the Year and the Most Valuable Player, underlining the role he played for a franchise which claimed two of the three titles on offer in domestic cricket in the season that just finished.
Much maligned when wearing Proteas green, 34 year old Behardien, has for many seasons been one of the outstanding contributors when clad in blue, and has been a central figure in the Titans’ dominance of domestic cricket in the last decade.
He was the Titans’ leading run-scorer with an aggregate of 568 runs, and while that is not a huge figure - he’s at 17 on the list of leading run-scorers in the competition this season - it was when he made his runs that was so important.
His sole century in the competition came against the Cape Cobras in the penultimate round of the tournament, amidst a collapse in which his team last four wickets for 18 runs. Behardien batted for nearly five hours, stabilising the innings and ensuring they earned some crucial bonus points along the way.
In the RamSlam, despite being in a team featuring AB de Villiers and Aiden Markram, Behardien’s contribution in the ‘finisher’ role made him a stand out. He averaged 234 with the bat, at a strike rate of 165.95 - that latter figure topped only by De Villiers who scored his runs at a strike rate of 200.77.
@fudgie11 has had a stellar season and tonight he walks away with 🏆🏆🏆🏆 awards
1. T20 Player of the Year
2. First Class Player of the Year
3. MVP of the Year
4. Player of the Year
What was your favorite fudgie moment this season? #TitansAwards pic.twitter.com/GReXKRwNAR
— The Titans (@Titans_Cricket) March 27, 2018
Tabraiz Shamsi was named One-Day Player of the Year, for an outstanding season in the Momentum One-Day Cup in which his 26 wickets saw him top the wicket-taking table in a competition, where the Titans were defeated in the semi-finals.
Shamsi was also recognised by his peers, picking up the Players Player Award.
All the winners:
Player of the Year: Farhaan Behardien
Players Player: Tabraiz Shamsi
Most Valuable Player: Farhaan Behardien
First Class Player: Farhaan Behardien
Newcomer: Andrea Agathangelou
T20 Player: Farhaan Behardien
One-Day Player: Tabraiz Shamsi
Fan’s Player: Aiden Markram