Nigar Sultana is the third nominee in the women's category.
Indian cricketers Akshar Patel, Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur have been nominated for the ICC ‘Player of the Month’ award in the women's and men’s categories for the month of September.
It presented Kaur and Mandhana a chance to become the first-ever Indian players to win the Women’s Player of the Month award. India’s captain and vice-captain have been shortlisted for the very first time following their impressive performances on the England tour.
If either of Kaur or Mandhana goes on to win, she will become the first ever Indian player to win the Women’s Player of the Month award. Notably, Kaur and Mandhana were the leading run scorers in the three-match ODI series against England with 221 and 181 runs, respectively.
They helped India Women to record a historic first ODI series victory for their side in England since 1999. Mandhana also scored 111 runs in 3 T20Is on the England tour.
On the other hand, Akshar has been nominated for the Men’s Player of the Month award for his impressive bowling performance in the recent T20I series against Australia and South Africa at home.
With eight scalps, Patel was the highest wicket taker in the three-match T20I series against Australia. The spinner took a total of nine wickets at an average of 11.44 with a superb economy rate of just 5.72 in September and made it to the India squad for the T20 World Cup 2022.
Notably, apart from the Indian duo, Bangladesh's Nigar Sultana is the third nominee in the women's category, while Australia’s Cameron Green and Pakistan wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan are the other nominees in the men’s category for the award.