India batter Shreyas Iyer and New Zealand all-rounder Amelia Kerr have been named announced the winners of the ICC Men’s and Women’s Players of the Month for February on March 14, 2022.
Shreyas Iyer beat out the likes of UAE batter Vriitya Aravind and Nepal all-rounder Dipendra Singh Airee for the monthly award, thanks to his superlative performance against Sri Lanka in the recent T20I series.
Before the Sri Lanka T20I series performances, Iyer contributed a match-winning 80 against West Indies in the final ODI, before following it up with a 16-ball 25 in the final T20I of the succeeding series.
But in the three-match T20I series, Iyer made three unbeaten half-centuries for the series and amassed an outstanding 204 runs from three hits at a strike rate of 174 and was named the Player of the Series for his performance as India whitewashed Sri Lanka 3-0.
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"Throughout the month Shreyas showed tremendous consistency and control. He totally dominated opposition bowlers and proved very hard to bowl at, scoring runs all around the wicket and attacking the bowlers at the right moments. What really stood out for me was his composure as he battles for a regular place in the India line-up,” former Sri Lanka batter and voting panel member Russel Arnold said.
On the other hand, New Zealand women’s team all-rounder Amelia Kerr was named the ICC Female Player of the Month Award beating out the Indian duo of Mithali Raj and Deepti Sharma. She won the award for her amazing outing with both the bat and ball against India in the five-ODI series before the Women’s World Cup.
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Kerr helped herself to a century and a half-century and scored 353 runs at an average of 117 against India and also picked up seven wickets with her underrated leg-spin, finishing joint leading wicket-taker for the series with sister Jess Kerr in what was a dominant individual performance.
"Amelia Kerr is growing into her role as a genuine all-rounder in the New Zealand team. She’s been a world-class leg spinner for a number of years, but now her batting adds even more value to her spot in the team and makes her one of the best cricketers in the world,” ICC Voting Academy member Isobel Joyce said.
(ICC inputs)
