The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday (May 10) named the winners of the ICC Player of the Month Awards for April. The newly-introduced award recognizes the best performances from both male and female cricketers across all forms of international cricket.

For his stellar showing in the white-ball series against South Africa, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam won the ICC Men's Player of the Month for April.

Last month, Babar replaced Indian captain Virat Kohli as the No. 1 ODI batsman. His match-winning 82-ball 94 in the third ODI against South Africa helped him gain 13 rating points to reach a career-best 865 points.

Babar also slammed 122 off 59 balls in Pakistan’s successful chase of 204 in the third T20I versus South Africa at SuperSport Park, Centurion.

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Commenting on Babar's performance in April, Ramiz Raja representing the ICC Voting Academy said: "The world bats in two ways in white-ball cricket. One way is to destroy attacks with muscle and force and then there is the Babar Azam way, like conducting a batting symphony with punch, panache and flair, and he deserves to win this award."

In the women’s category, Australia’s Alyssa Healy bagged the prestigious award for her consistency with the bat.

Healy featured in three ODIs versus New Zealand last month, amassing 155 runs at an average of 51.66 and a strike rate of 98.72. She finished as the leading run-scorer while Australia clinched the series victory over New Zealand and extended their record-winning streak to 24 ODIs.

Commenting on Healy's performance in April, Ian Bishop representing the ICC Voting Academy added: "Healy deserves to win the ICC Women's Player of the Month -- April as she added the runs at the top consistently and at a good tempo to help set up Australia's scoring in chases and target setting across all three games of their record-breaking series."

(With ICC inputs)