India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Pakistan wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan won the ICC Player of the Month awards for September in women and men’s categories respectively.
Harmanpreet received the award for her memorable showing in the ODI series in England.
The Indian skipper beat her deputy Smriti Mandhana and Bangladesh counterpart Nigar Sultana, who also came up with some stunning displays.
“It was great to be nominated for the award, and to win it is an amazing feeling. To come out as winner when being nominated alongside Smriti and Nigar is very humbling,” Harmanpreet said after winning award.
“I have always taken immense pride in representing my country and achieving the historic ODI series win in England will remain a landmark moment for me in my career,” she added.
Harmanpreet had a memorable month not just with the bat but also as a captain, leading India to a memorable 3-0 ODI series sweep over England. This was India’s first series win in England since 1999.
She led by example during the series and finished as the highest run-getter with 221 runs at an average of 221 and a strike rate of 103.27.
In the first ODI, her well-paced innings of 74 not out guided India to a win while chasing 228. She followed that up with a splendid unbeaten 143 off just 111 balls in the second ODI, her second-highest score in the 50-over format.
Among men, Rizwan defeated Indian left-arm spinner Axar Patel and Australian all-rounder Cameroon Green to claim the award. Rizwan was in stunning form in September, churning out some sizzling performances in T20Is.
“I want to give my high appreciation to all my teammates as they made things easy for me. These achievements boost your confidence. I am happy with my performance and I would like to take this momentum forward in Australia,” an elated Rizwan said.
“I would like to dedicate this award to the people in Pakistan who are affected by the floods and climate change. Hopefully this will bring smiles on their faces,” he added.
In the 10 games that he played last month, Rizwan scored seven fifties. His month began with two scores of 70 plus against Hong Kong and India in the Asia Cup. He finished the tournament with yet another fifty and as the leading run-scorer.
In the first five T20Is of the seven-match series against England, Rizwan registered four scores of 60 plus.
Both the winners will receive gold medallions from the ICC.
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