Jasprit Bumrah, Shaheen Shah Afridi vie for ICC Player of the month award

Jasprit Bumrah, who has been exceptional with his fast bowling against England, took nine wickets in the first Test.

India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was on Monday (September 6) nominated for the International Cricket Council (ICC) ‘Player of the Month’ award for August following his brilliant performances with both the bat and ball in the ongoing Test series against England. Besides Bumrah, the others in the men's category included England Test skipper Joe Root and Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi, the ICC announced.

The nominees among the women were Thailand’s Nattaya Boochatham, and the Ireland duo of Gaby Lewis and Eimear Richardson. Bumrah, who has been exceptional with his fast bowling against England, took nine wickets in the first Test.

He received just as many plaudits for his role with the bat in the second Test at Lord's, when he contributed to an 89-run ninth-wicket partnership with Mohammad Shami that proved pivotal to India’s win. England went on to level the series in the third Test, mostly thanks to captain Root, who has plundered runs at will. He scored centuries in each of the three Tests against India in August, a purple patch that led him to the top of the Test batting rankings.

On the other hand, Afridi, in two Tests against West Indies in August, promised wickets every time he was thrown the ball. He ended the series with 18 wickets, taking 10 wickets in the second Test and helped Pakistan secure a series-levelling 109-run victory.

In taking 10 wickets in the Test, Afridi became the fourth-youngest paceman from Pakistan to achieve the feat, after Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Mohammad Zahid.

In women’s cricket, Boochatham made contributions with both bat and ball in the series against Zimbabwe, which propelled her to career-best positions across the women's T20I player rankings for batters, bowlers, and all-rounders. Her performances helped Thailand win their three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe 2-1.

While the Irish duo of Lewis and Richardson played a big part in Ireland's three wins out of four in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier in August. Lewis became the first Ireland player to score a century in women’s T20Is, during their 164-run win over Germany, in the opening game of the tournament. Her knock featured 11 fours and three sixes, and her 105 came off just 60 balls.

Richardson, meanwhile, was adjudged the Player of the Tournament in Europe Qualifiers, thanks to her contributions with both bat and ball. She finished the tournament with seven wickets at an economy rate of 4.19, and aggregated 76 runs with the bat.