Highlights
- Mohammad Rizwan has dedicated this award to flood affected people of Pakistan
- Rizwan beat competition from ace Indian spinner Axar Patel
- Harmanpreet Kaur beat her own compatriot Smriti Mandhana for the award
ICC Player of the Month Awards: Harmanpreet Kaur, the skipper of team India, and the prolific Pakistan opener Mohammad Rizwan have been felicitated by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for their stellar performances in the recent past. The ICC has selected both of them as the best players for September. Both Mohammad Rizwan and Harmanpreet Kaur have been felicitated with the Player of the Month award. Rizwan faced a stiff challenge from India's Axar Patel and emerging all-rounder Cameron Green.
As far as Pakistan cricket is concerned, Rizwan has been their lone warrior for quite sometime. Mohammad Rizwan is currently the No.1 T20I batter in ICC Men's Player Rankings and he has continued to dominate world cricket in the shortest format of the game. The Pakistan wicketkeeper was the highest run scorer in the Asia Cup. Rizwan surpassed Virat Kohli's 276 runs as he ended up scoring 281 runs in 6 matches with an average of 56.20. The 30-year-old Pakistan opener extended his stellar run in the England series and amassed a total of 316 runs in 7 matches.
On winning the award Mohammad Rizwan said:
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 floods and climate change.
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On the other hand, there is Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who has been in red-hot form lately. Against England, in swinging conditions, Kaur amassed a total of 221 runs in 3 matches. In the second ODI, Kaur scored a swashbuckling 143* off 111 deliveries. In this particular innings, Kaur smashed 18 boundaries and 4 sixes. Courtesy of Harmanpreet's form, India inflicted a 3-0 series defeat on Amy Jones and her troops.
