Harmanpreet Kaur Becomes India’s First Winner Of ICC Women’s Player Of The Month

In September, Harmanpreet-led India attained a historic 3-0 clean sweep over England in ODI series. This was India women cricket team's first series win in ODIs in England since 1999.

ICC Player of the month award: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday announced winners of the ICC Player of the Month Awards for September 2022. India women's cricket team's inspirational skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was named the recipient of the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award, while Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan won the ICC Men’s Player of the Month award. Notably, Harmanpreet Kaur became India’s first winner of the ICC Women’s Player of the Month.

The women cricketers who were shortlisted for the women's cricket award included Bangladesh's Nigar Sultana, who performed brilliantly in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier in the United Arab Emirates, and India's captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana.

In September, Harmanpreet, under her captaincy, helped India attain a historic 3-0 clean sweep over England in the ODI series. This was India women cricket team's first series win in ODIs in England since 1999. Harmanpreet Kaur scored 221 runs in three ODIs against England. She scored an unbeaten 74 in the first ODI, followed by 143 off 111 balls in the second ODI.

The ICC Men's Player of the Month candidates included Australia's Cameron Green and India's Axar Patel, but Pakistan's Mohammed Rizwan managed to bag the ICC Men’s Player of the Month award for the first time ever after a brilliant performance with the bat. Rizwan was superb with the bat for Pakistan in recently-concluded seven-match T20I series between Pakistan and England. The star batter scored over 300 runs in this T20I series and scored over 500 runs last month in international cricket.

Reacting to claiming the latest ICC Men’s Player of the Month crown, Rizwan commented: “I would like to thank Almighty Allah and express my heartfelt delight to all that enabled me to achieve this award.

“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.

“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"