Harmanpreet Kaur, Mohammad Rizwan bag ICC Player of the Month awards for September

Mohamamad Rizwan in action for Pakistan

Indian women’s skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Pakistan men’s opener Mohammad Rizwan have been crowned as ICC Players of the Month for September 2022.

While Kaur was pitted against teammate Smriti Mandhana and Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana; Rizwan pipped all-rounders Cameron Green and Axar Patel in the men’s category.

Harmanpreet Kaur and Mohammad Rizwan rewarded for stellar show

Harmanpreet Kaur led Team India to an emphatic ODI series win in England last month. Moreover, in the second match of the series, the right-hander clubbed an undefeated 143 off just 111 balls in Canterbury.

Kaur finished the three-match competition with 221 runs to her name. Having been dismissed just once throughout the series, the cricketer maintained an astonishing average of 221.00.

Upon receiving the September honour from the ICC, the seasoned campaigner said:

“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. 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.”

Meanwhile, Mohammad Rizwan kept piling up heavy scores throughout the 2022 Asia Cup in UAE, as well as in the subsequent home series against England. The Pakistan opener finished the Asia Cup tournament at the top of the run-scoring charts, with 281 runs to his name.

Even in the seven-match series against the visiting English side, Rizwan emerged as the highest run-getter with 316 of them at an alluring average of 63.20. He plundered four half-centuries, and achieved an all-time record of scoring most individual runs in a bilateral series.

After winning the ICC award for men’s player of the month for September, he said that he will look to carry his fine tune at this month’s T20 World Cup in Australia.

“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.”

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