Miraz is competing for the ICC Player of the Month award for April alongside Zimbabwe’s Blessing Muzarabani and New Zealand’s Ben Sears.
Mehedi Hasan Miraz, who was named the Player of the Series for his all-round performance against Zimbabwe, has earned a spot in the ICC Player of the Month shortlist for the first time. His competition for the award includes Zimbabwe’s Blessing Muzarabani and New Zealand’s Ben Sears.
The ICC announced the nominees for the Player of the Month awards on Monday, with the men’s list including Miraz, Muzarabani, and Sears, while the women’s shortlist includes West Indies’ Hayley Matthews, Scotland’s Kathryn Bryce, and Pakistan’s Fatima Sana.
Miraz had a stellar performance in the series against Zimbabwe. Despite Bangladesh losing the first Test in Sylhet by 3 wickets, Miraz made history with his bowling, taking five wickets in the opponent’s first innings and another five in the second innings. He became the first Bangladeshi to take 10 wickets in a Test match, a feat previously achieved by left-arm spinners Shakib Al Hasan and Taijul Islam.
In the second Test in Chittagong, Miraz played a key role in Bangladesh’s victory, contributing with a brilliant 104-run innings and taking five wickets in the second innings, winning the Player of the Match award.
Miraz became the third Bangladeshi cricketer to score a century and take five wickets in a Test match, joining Shakib Al Hasan (twice) and Sohag Gazi. He is also the seventh player in Test history to achieve this feat in the same series.
Blessing Muzarabani played a crucial role in Zimbabwe’s first overseas Test win in four years. He took three wickets in the first innings of the Sylhet Test and claimed six wickets in the second innings, earning the Player of the Match award. However, he struggled in the second Test, with only one wicket and conceding 83 runs from his 10 overs.
Ben Sears impressed in New Zealand’s series against Pakistan, earning a spot in the Player of the Month race with his brilliant bowling. He took 10 wickets in three matches, with an average of 9.30 and an economy rate of 5.07. Sears was instrumental in New Zealand’s victory in the second ODI, taking 5 wickets for 59 runs, and repeated his performance in the final ODI, taking 5 wickets for 34 runs.
Hayley Matthews earned her place in the Player of the Month shortlist for her exceptional all-round performance in the Women’s World Cup qualifiers. She scored 240 runs at a strike rate of 116.50 and also took 13 wickets at an average of 15.84. Matthews was crucial in West Indies’ successful qualifying campaign.
Fatima Sana made a significant contribution to Pakistan’s World Cup qualification, taking 12 wickets at an average of 3.97 in the qualifiers. She was instrumental in Pakistan’s wins over Scotland, West Indies, and Thailand, and also played a key role with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 62 against Thailand.
Kathryn Bryce led Scotland with both bat and ball in the World Cup qualifiers, scoring 293 runs at an average of 73.25 and taking 6 wickets in 5 matches. She was named the best all-round player of the qualifiers.
All three women nominated for Player of the Month have been selected for the Women’s World Cup Qualifiers’ best XI.
The ICC Player of the Month is chosen through a combination of votes from the ICC Voting Academy and cricket fans. The Voting Academy consists of senior sports journalists, former cricketers, and commentators, with 90% of the decision coming from their votes and 10% from fans’ votes on the ICC website.
