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Mumbai: Kolkata Knight Riders? bowler Sayyed Iqbal Abdulla has been named Winner of the 2011 Citibank Rising Star Award. The Citibank Rising Star Award recognizes the best under-23 player of the DLF IPL season. The trophy is adjudicated by an eminent jury including former Indian cricketers Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar. Sanjeev Kapur, Chief Marketing Officer, Citi India presented Iqbal Abdulla with the trophy and cheque.
The twenty-year-old, Iqbal Abdulla was named the best young player of this year‘s season ahead of other strong contenders including Virat Kohli and Ravi Jadeja. He ended the season with 16 wickets at 19.06 with an economy rate of only 6.1.
Mr. Chirayu Amin, Chairman, IPL said "The Citibank Rising Star Award highlights a valuable benefit of the DLF IPL to Cricket in India. This is a league in which talent meets opportunity and Iqbal Abdulla has taken full advantage of playing with and against the world‘s best to show his potential in the T20 form of the game. We congratulate him on an outstanding season and wish him all the best in his future endeavours on the field. He has now become a role model for many young cricketers."
Sanjeev Kapur, Chief Marketing Officer, Citi India said, "Our association with IPL goes much beyond brand-building. Through the Citibank Rising Star Award, we hope to encourage young cricketing talent for their outstanding contribution in the Indian Premier League. Our young players are full of promise, talent and the way they are putting in their efforts, it indicates a bright future for the game. We are delighted to recognize Iqbal Abdulla as the Citibank Rising Star this season, who is truly deserving of the award. We hope that he will make both his country and his fans across the globe proud in the years to come.?
Receiving the award, Iqbal Abdulla said, "It is a great honour to receive the Citibank Rising Star Award and be recognized for my performance so early on in my career. I am thankful to Citibank and the jury members who have held me worthy of this award. I enjoyed playing alongside some of the legends of the game and hope to perform even better in the future.?
Previous winners of the Citibank Rising Star Award have been Shreevats Goswami (2008), Rohit Sharma (2009) and Saurabh Tiwary (2010).
