ICC has announced the results of the inaugural Player of the Month awards on February 8. Rishabh Pant and Shabnim Ismail emerged as winners for this award. Earlier this week, cricket’s governing body named the six nominees of the inaugural award to recognize and celebrate the best performances of the cricketers.
ICC chose Rishabh Pant as the winner from the Men’s category. The Indian wicket-keeper has been applauded for his remarkable performances in Sydney and Brisbane against Australia. The flamboyant southpaw scored 93 runs in Sydney to help India save the game, while his innings of 89 runs helped India in breaching Australia’s 40 year old fortress at Brisbane.
After receiving this award, Pant said, “I am delighted to be receiving the inaugural ICC Men’s Player of the Month Award. For any sportsperson, contributing to a team win is the ultimate reward but such initiatives help motivate youngsters such as myself to do better each time. I dedicate this award to every member of Team India that contributed to our victory in Australia.”
The South African pacer Shabnim Ismail was rewarded the monthly award for her 14 wickets in the limited-over series win against the touring Pakistan side. The 32-year-old right arm fast bowler played three ODIs and two T20Is against Pakistan. She bagged 5 wickets in the 50-overs format and 7 scalps in the T20Is, including her career-best 5 for 12.
Reacting to her award win, Shabnim Ismail said, “Winning the ICC Women’s Player of the Month in January just shows that all the hard work I put in during the lockdown has paid off for me. This accolade would not have been possible if it were not for my teammates.”
Apart from the winners, ICC had nominated English Test skipper Joe Root, Irish opener Paul Stirling, Proteas all-rounder Marizanne Kapp, and Pakistan’s pacer Diana Baig for January’s monthly awards.