Cricket News: Mohammad Rizwan and Harmanpreet Kaur named ICC player of the month

Mohammad Rizwan overcame Axar Patel of India and Cameron Green of Australia to win his maiden ICC Men's Player of the Month award after a series of excellent performances throughout September.

The star batsman racked up a whopping 553 runs from ten games across the Men's Asia Cup and T20I series against England. Mohammad Rizwan also scored seven half-centuries with an eye-catching batting average of 69.12 to reach the top of MRF Tyres ICC Men's T20I batter rankings.

Mohammad Rizwan scored 71 runs in the Asia Cup clash against India and 55 against eventual winner Sri Lanka in the championship match. He continued with his excellent performance in the ODI series against England, racking up four half-centuries, including the 88* alongside captain Babar Azam in the second match.

After receiving the award, Mohammad Rizwan said, "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. I would like to take this momentum forward in Australia."

He added, "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 to their faces."

Harmanpreet Kaur rightfully earned the award owing to her brilliant performances during the three-match ODI series against England. 

The honour made Harmanpreet Kaur the first Indian woman to win the ICC Women's Player of the Month award. She was selected for the honour after leading the Indian women's squad to their first ODI series victory in England since 1999.

Harmanpreet Kaur racked up 223 runs from three games with a strike rate of 103.47. She helped India chase England's total of 228 in the first match with a brilliant 74-not-out performance to win by seven wickets.

In the second match of the series, she scored an impressive 143 not out from 111 balls, firing four sixes and 18 fours to set a monumental 334 target for the home side.

In a press release issued by ICC, Harmanpreet Kaur said, "The game of cricket is blessed to have some of the finest athletes on the sporting circuit and to be chosen the ICC Women's Player of the Month amongst them is a special recognition for me as an individual and the captain of the Indian cricket team."