ICC announces the Men's Player of the Month nominees for September 2023
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the list of nominees for September 2023 Player of the Month. The set of players has been in excellent form in the lead-up to the ongoing 2023 ODI World Cup in India. Two batters and one bowler from India and England constitute the list, namely Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj, and Dawid Malan.
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam is the current holder of the ICC award after being crowned as the Player of the Month for August 2023. He thus became the first batter to be adjudged Player of the Month on three separate occasions.
Shubman Gill
The No. 2-ranked batter in the ICC ODI Rankings had an exceptional month in national colors. He was part of the squad that won the Asia Cup 2023 as well as the three-match bilateral series against Australia at home.
He began the month on an uneventful note, scoring only 10 runs in Team India's washed-out encounter against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2023 group stage. The opening batter responded with consecutive fifties and scored an excellent hundred in the Men in Blue's narrow loss to Bangladesh in the Super Four stage.
Gill scored a fifty and a hundred in Team India's 2-1 series win over Australia on home soil. Overall, he scored 480 runs in September 2023 at an average of 80.
Mohammed Siraj
Currently placed at the top of the ODI rankings for bowlers, Mohammed Siraj has been in fine form and has been rewarded with a nomination for the ICC award. His crowning moment in the month came during the Asia Cup 2023 final.
The right-arm pacer ran through the Sri Lankan team with figures of 6-21 to bowl them out for just 50. Team India won the clash by 10 wickets and won the title for the first time since 2018.
Siraj had claimed three wickets in India's Asia Cup 2023 group stage win over Nepal as well. Overall, he finished the month with 11 wickets to his name at an average of 17.27.
Dawid Malan
The left-handed batter has slotted in at the top of the order for England in their ODI setup. Malan had a prolific home ODI series against New Zealand in the lead-up to the World Cup.
Playing three out of the four ODIs in the series, Malan scored two fifties and a hundred as England compiled a 3-1 win over the Blackcaps. With scores of 54, 96, and 127, Malan scored a total of 277 runs at a strike rate of 105.72.
Who will be crowned as the ICC Player of the Month for September 2023? Let us know what you think.