• Home
  • Cricket News
  • Harmer Maharaj In Contention For Icc Player Of The Month Award For April

Harmer, Maharaj in contention for ICC 'Player of the Month' award for April

The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced its 'Player of the Month' nominees for the month of April, on Tuesday.


South African spin-duo Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer have received well-deserved nominations for their stellar show against Bangladesh in the recent two-match series on home soil.


The Proteas duo, notably Maharaj, were at the top of their game against a helpless Bangladeshi batting unit.


Maharaj started slowly as he returned wicketless in the first innings of the 1st Test in Durban. However, the left-arm orthodox came back strongly in the second game of the series, claiming a barely believable 7/32 in 10 overs to help the Proteas shoot down the visitors for 53 and claim a 220-run victory.


Maharaj took the confidence from his outing in Durban to Port Elizabeth as he returned with figures of 2/52 & 7/40 to end up with 16 scalps in four innings.


Besides, he also scored a belligerent 95-ball 84 in the first innings. The left-arm orthodox was rightfully adjudged the 'Player of the Match' as well as 'Player of the series' for his all-round exploits.


Meanwhile, his fellow nominee Simon Harmer, the right-arm off-spinner, enjoyed an equally good outing on his comeback to international cricket.


Harmer claimed 13 wickets in two games at an average of 15.15, enthralling everyone with his wily skills. The third player nominated by the ICC is Oman opener Jatinder Singh, who was in blistering form all through the month during the tri-series against Scotland and PNG in Dubai.


In four games, Jatinder hammered 259 runs, with the help of four 50+ scores, including a brilliant 118* (116) against PNG.

Discover more
Top Stories
news

'Career trajectory can't be determined by one or two bad performances', asserts Hasan Ali

Pakistan speedster Hasan Ali's recent performances in international cricket has not been according to expectations. Hence, the pacer has accepted the criticism and stressed that a few sub-standard performances can't decide his career. The Pakistan pacer said that he could only stop people from criticising him by delivering quality performances but also reminded the critics about being a performer since his debut in international cricket across all formats. Taking about the critics, Hasan said, "There is no other way to silence the critics except performances. Unfortunately, I couldn't take wickets in the home series against Australia, but this does not mean that my career is decided based on that. I am a fighter and will make a strong comeback." Cricket Pakistan held an exclusive interview with the 27-year-old player, who's in England for County Championship playing for Lancashire. "Overall, I have performed well in all formats. If I see, I am the second-best bowler in the national team since my debut, if not the first. A player cannot perform well in every match or series, in the past, many great cricketers have faced criticism during their careers, only hard work and efforts are in my hands. I will try to rectify my shortcomings," he remarked. The spearhead bowler also mentioned about the support received from Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, despite him not being able to demonstrate his potential at all times. Hasan also added that the criticism has hiked since the catch drop in the 2021 T20 World Cup semi-final against Australia and that it is not right to attempt to target a player's family just because of the allegations. "Criticism by the fans of dropping a catch in the T20 World Cup semi-final is justified, I could not even sleep for two nights as the Pakistan team was playing so well and could not reach the final because of me, but it is not right to target families," he added. Representing Lancashire in County Championship 2022 Division One, Hasan is the second-highest wicket-taker with 20 wickets in three games.