ICC Player of the Month: India’s all-format batsman Shreyas Iyer has been nominated as one of the three men’s cricketers for the ICC Player of the Month award for February following Iyer’s stellar performances with the bat against the West Indies and Sri Lanka.
Shreyas Iyer gets nominated for the ICC Player of the Month Award
Shreyas Iyer played 5 white-ball internationals last month – one ODI and four T20Is – and slammed four half-centuries in those. He started his month with a match-winning 80 against West Indies in the third ODI and a 16-ball 25 in the final T20I of the subsequent series.
Then came his breakthrough series – against Sri Lanka – where he returned with three unbeaten fifties, while batting at number 3, and finished with 204 runs at a staggering strike rate of 174.35.
The other two nominees for the ICC player of the month award along with Iyer are UAE’s Vriitya Aravind, who was the top international scorer in February with 459 runs in 11 games, and Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee, who shone with his all-round skills for Nepal.
Vriitya Aravind, the youngest member of the squad, took the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier A by storm, playing a vital role in UAE booking their place in the T20 World Cup later this year in Australia.
In five matches in the Qualifier A tournament, Vriitya blasted 267 runs at an average of 89.00 and a strike rate of 154.33, including a 67-ball 97* thunderous knock in their opening game against Ireland. He was named the Player of the Tournament.
Dipendra Singh Airee helped Nepal finish third in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier A in Oman, making significant contributions with both bat and ball; he finished the tournament with 159 runs and three wickets. The 22-year-old thumped a 47-ball 83 against Philipinnes.
Prior to the tournament, he was in scintillating form during the Quadrangular T20I series involving Oman, Ireland, and UAE. He whacked 53-ball 73 against hosts Oman. He tallied142 runs in three games and grabbed a four-for in the last match against Ireland.