Babar Azam and Rachael Haynes Announced As ICC Player Of The Month For March 2022

Pakistan captain Babar Azam and Australia opener Rachael Haynes have been voted the ICC Player of the Month for March 2022.

Azam was at his splendid best all through March, with his brilliant 196 in the second Test against Australia in Karachi an unmistakable champion as he beat West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite and Australia captain Pat Cummins for the award and also becomes the first one to claim ICC Men’s Player of the Month award twice, having brought home the award back in April 2021.

In the recent home series against Australia, Babar Azam scored the third-highest runs with only Usman Khawaja and Abdullah Shafique more. In his five trips to the center, he scored 390 runs at an average of 78, including two fifties and a century. The feature of the series was his match-saving 196 in the second innings of the second Test in Karachi.

Babar Azam proceeded with his exceptional structure in the ODI series, playing indispensable thumps in the initial two games. In the first ODI, he indented up a score of 57 in Pakistan’s 88-run loss prior to scoring a splendid 118 to lead Pakistan to a six-wicket win in the subsequent match.

Babar Azam Best Across Both Formats

“Babar Azam wins this award not only because of his significant glut of runs scored during the Pakistan v Australia tour, he was able to transition success with the bat across formats, from the Test Series into ODIs,” said former West Indies star and member of the voting panel Daren Ganga.

“Significantly, him being able to fulfil the burden of expectation as a captain and batsman for Pakistan being host to an Australian team visiting after 24 years is a monumental achievement.”

Rachael Haynes The Greatest Positive For Australia In 2022

Haynes’ month was similarly essentially as noteworthy as she guaranteed the ladies’ honor in front of England spinner Sophie Ecclestone and South Africa opener Laura Wolvaardt

Haynes’ commitment at the top of the Australian batting order was perhaps the greatest positive for Australia all through the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 in New Zealand, which they won for a seventh time in April.

Across eight ODI matches in March, Haynes scored a sum of 429 runs at an average of 61.28 with the feature being a comprehensive 130 against England in Australia’s initial match of the competition. She was the top-scorer for the side in March, and was just outperformed by Alyssa Healy before the finish of the competition.

Former Ireland cricketer and member of the voting panel Clare Shillington was full of praise for Haynes’ contributions, saying, “Rachael Haynes was the backbone of nearly every World Cup game for Australia, consistently set platforms for them to go on and set huge totals, or chase down any scores put up to them. She was paramount in them reaching the final.”

“Rachael Haynes has been very consistent for Australia,” said Sana Mir, former Pakistan captain and member of the voting panel.

“She set the tone for Australia with a big hundred in their first game of the tournament. Her contributions throughout the World Cup set the other batters to build on. Haynes is a quality batter and a leader in women’s game.” 

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