On Monday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the winners of the ICC Player of the Month Awards for May 2021. All-rounder Kathryn Bryce from Scotland and Bangladesh’s Mushfiqur Rahim have been voted as the ICC Player of the Month in the women and the men categories, respectively across all forms of international cricket.
Kathryn Bryce is the first player from Scotland, male, or female, to make it to the top 10 of the batting or bowling lists in the ICC Player Rankings released recently. The 23-year old all-rounder has featured in four T20Is against Ireland last month where she scored 96 runs, registering the highest score of an unbeaten 45runs and also picked up five wickets with an economy rate of 4.76.
Commenting on Kathryn’s performance in May, Ramiz Raja representing the ICC Voting Academy said: “Kathryn’s all-round game came through in a series that her team lost. She batted with flair and bowled well too and deserved to be the player of the month for May.”
Mushfiqur played one Test and three ODIs against Sri Lanka last month. He played an instrumental role in the victory of Bangladesh their first ODI series against Sri Lanka by scoring 125 in the second ODI.
Commenting on Rahim’s performance in May, VVS Laxman representing the ICC Voting Academy said: “Even after 15 years at the highest level, Mushfiqur has not lost his appetite for run-making. He was at his imperious best in the one-day series at home against Sri Lanka, a picture of consistency with the highlight being 125 in the second match which helped his side secure a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match series. What made his feat even more notable was that it was Bangladesh’s first-ever ODI series triumph against the 1996 World Cup champions. To shore up the middle order and don the wicket-keeping gloves speaks volumes of his fitness and skills.”
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