ICC nominates Mitchell Marsh, Shakib Al Hasan, and Hayden Walsh for men's player of the month award for July 2021
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced Mitchell Marsh (Australia), Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh), and Hayden Walsh (West Indies) as the nominees for the men's player of the month award for July 2021.
ICC started this new tradition in January this year, and since then, it has been announcing a player as the winner every month based on the fans' votes received by the nominated players.
Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant was the inaugural winner of the award. He won it in January courtesy of his epic match-winning knock for India in the fourth innings of the Gabba Test.
Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Babar Azam, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Devon Conway won the following months.
For the July edition of the award, fans can vote for either Marsh, Shakib, or Hayden Walsh on the ICC website. All three of them performed well for their respective nations to earn a nomination in this contest.
A look at how Marsh, Shakib, and Walsh have performed in international games during July
Mitchell Marsh scored 219 runs across five T20 games against the West Indies at an impressive average of 43.80 and a strike rate of 152.08, including three fifties.
In the following series against Bangladesh, he scored 156 runs on difficult batting pitches at an average of 31.20, including one half-century.
Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan had a good series when the Asian side toured Zimbabwe last month.
With the bat, he piled up 145 runs across three ODI matches, and in the bowling department, he scalped eight wickets in as many games to end as the leading wicket-taker of the ODI series.
West Indies leg-spinner Hayden Walsh was the leading wicket-taker across both teams during the five-match T20I series between West Indies and Australia last month.
He picked up 12 wickets in five contests at an average of 11.67, with 3/23 being his best figures.
It will be a tough fight between the three competitors, but Mitchell Marsh looks like a favorite to win the award considering the impactful knocks he played on the West Indies tour.
In women's cricket, Hayley Matthews (West Indies), Fatima Sana (Pakistan), and Stafanie Taylor (West Indies) were announced as nominees for the player of the month award for July 2021.