Mitchell Santner appeals for a wicket during the second test against India in Pune in October 2024. Photo: Photosport
The award was in recognition of Santner's match winning haul of 13 wickets in the second test against India in Pune in October last year.
The win gave New Zealand an unassailable 2-nil lead in the series.
It marked India's first test series loss at home since 2012 with the Black Caps going on to claim a 3-nil series whitewash.
The Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, often called "the Bible of cricket", has been published every year since 1864.
India duo Jasprit Bumrah and Smriti Mandhana were named the world's leading cricketers in the latest edition of the Almanack.
Bumrah won the honour in the men's section after a stellar 2024 when he excelled across formats and was named player of the tournament as India won the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies.
"In an eventful year for Indian cricket, their success depended largely, if not entirely, on one factor: whether or not he had the ball," the publication wrote about the 31-year-old, who is considered the best all-format bowler of his era.
"Rarely has a cricketer stood out so overwhelmingly as he did in 2024."
Opener Mandhana won the women's honour after a prolific 2024 that included five hundreds - four of them in one-day internationals.
Mandhana also led Royal Challengers Bengaluru to their first Women's Premier League title last year.
Her win is possibly surprising given New Zealand's Melie Kerr was in January named the ICC's Women's Cricker of the Year.
Bumrah was named ICC's Men's Cricketer of the Year in January.
-RNZ/Reuters
