The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday (November 3) nominated India batter Virat Kohli for the player of the month award for October.

Apart from Kohli, South Africa’s David Miller and Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza have also been shortlisted for the month of October in the men's category.

Kohli played only four innings last month but he produced three memorable knocks, including a magical 82* against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup.

Chasing 160 to win, the Men in Blue were in dire straits at 31/4 when Kohli stepped up and played a match-winning hand of 53-ball 82* to take his over the line.

Besides, the 33-year-old also played an excellent knock of 49* from just 28 deliveries against South Africa in Guwahati towards the start of the month. He also followed up his majestic knock against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup with another composed 62* from 44 deliveries against Netherlands.

Overall, Kohli amassed 205 T20I runs in October at an incredible average of 205 and an outstanding strike-rate of 150.73.

On the other hand, Miller started the month with a 47-ball 106* in a T20I against India in Guwahati, which unfortunately came in a losing cause, and capped it off with a match-winning 59* against Rohit Sharma's men once again at the T20 World Cup in Perth.

Overall, Miller played seven innings in ODIs and T20Is combined last month and remained unbeaten in six of those, amassing a total of 303 runs in this period at a remarkable average of 303 and an equally good strike-rate of 146.37.

Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza delivered some stellar all-round performances in October. He started the month off with a sensational show in their T20 World Cup opener against Ireland, smashing 82 from just 47 balls and went on to claim bowling figures of 1/22 later in the match. He went on to deliver another superb all-round show against Scotland as he smashed 40 from 23 deliveries and then went on to register figures of 1/20 with the ball.

While Raza couldn't do much with the bat against West Indies and Pakistan, he played a massive role with the ball, registering figures of 3/19 and 3/25 versus them.

In the women's category, the Indian duo of Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma and Pakistan’s Nida Dar have been nominated for the month of October.

Rodrigues was the leading run-scorer in India’s triumphant Asia Cup 2022 campaign last month, with 217 runs from eight matches at an average of 54.25. Among her top displays was the 78 she scored against Sri Lanka in the opening game.

Deepti played eight matches last month and claimed 13 wickets at a spectacular average of 7.69, which included top spells of 3/7 and 3/27 against Thailand and Pakistan in the Women’s Asia Cup.

Nida Dar amassed 145 runs in six matches last month, at an average of 72.50, and also claimed eight wickets at a meagre 14.87 runs a piece.

(With ICC inputs)