ICC Player of the Month: The International Cricket Council (ICC) named Pakistan’s all-rounder Babar Azam and Australia’s run-machine Rachael Haynes the ICC Men’s and Women’s Players of the Month for March on Monday.
ICC Men’s Player of the Month:
Azam gave his best throughout March, with his outshining 196 runs in the second Test against Australia in Karachi a clear standout as he beat out West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite and Australia captain Pat Cummins for the coveted monthly award, becoming the first player to win the ICC Men’s Player of the Month award on two occasions, having won it in April 2021.
In Pakistan’s recent multi-format series against Australia, Azam had numerous spectacular batting performances. Azam was the third-highest run-scorer in the recently concluded Benaud-Qadir Trophy. He scored 390 runs at an average of 78 in five innings, including two half-centuries and a century.
“Babar Azam wins this award not only because of his significant glut of runs scored during the Pakistan v Australia tour, but he was also able to transition success with the bat across formats, from the Test Series into ODIs,” said former West Indies star and member of the voting panel Daren Ganga.
ICC Women’s Player of the Month:
Rachael Haynes put up a strong performance on her way to Australia’s seventh ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup title. Her exploits at the top of the order were important to her side’s unbroken run to the final, where they hammered England to win the cup in Christchurch, New Zealand, where she made 429 runs at an average of 61.28.
Her opening-game 130 against England set the tone for a powerful unbeaten run to the final, while her other highlight performance was a superb 85 against the West Indies in the semifinals.
Former Ireland cricketer and member of the voting panel Clare Shillington was full of praise for Haynes’ contributions, saying, “Rachael Haynes was the backbone of nearly every World Cup game for Australia, consistently set platforms for them to go on and set huge totals, or chase down any scores put up to them. She was paramount in them reaching the final.”
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