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The International Cricket Council (ICC) awards the best-performing male and female cricketers across international matches each month. Over the years, several cricketers have won this award, and now, for October, there have been three players who have been nominated as the ICC Player of the Month. All-rounder Marco Jansen and West Indies captain Shai Hope are two of the three competing against each other.
Apart from Marco Jansen and Shai Hope, Pakistan National Cricket Team player Arafat Minhas has also been included in the list. This is going to be a good fight, given that all of the cricketers have performed exceptionally well in October across different formats. The winner will not have much of a difference from the second-placed cricketer.
Marco Jansen named in ICC Player of the Month nomination
Marco Jansen, the South Africa National Cricket Team all-rounder, has been one of the consistent performers for the side across formats. Especially, he was brilliant in the recently concluded Test series against Australia, as Marco Jansen played some match-winning knocks in the lower-middle order and also picked crucial wickets in the three-match Test series.
After his exceptional performance in the traditional format against the Aussies, he was awarded Player of the Series as he scored 146 runs and picked 10 wickets in the series. Marco Jansen also earned the top spot in the ICC Test all-rounder rankings as he dethroned Ravindra Jadeja from the top spot and was also the No.1 Test bowler for some days before Mitchell Starc took over.
Shai Hope awarded for sensational series against India
Shai Hope is also on the list, as the West Indies white-ball captain was brilliant in the ODI and T20I series against India. He finished as the leading run-scorer in the T20I series, scoring 261 runs in the four innings he played, where he scored two hundreds and one fifty. As the wicket-keeper batter was in sublime form for the side.
Hope was also the second-highest run-scorer in the ODI series, finishing right behind Shubman Gill, with 278 runs and a breathtaking average of 139, as he smashed two hundreds in three innings against the Men in Blue, and thus has been added to the ICC Player of the Month nominations list. He helped the side to chase down their highest-ever total in the 3rd ODI.
Arafat Minhas the new star for Pakistan
Pakistan cricketer Arafat Minhas was excellent in the recently concluded tri-series at home, which featured England and Sri Lanka. The all-rounder produced impactful performances with both bat and ball. He played a superb innings against England, scoring 59 runs, and then took 6/40 in the same match.
In the final against Sri Lanka, he also played an excellent knock, scoring 61 off just 31 deliveries to help Pakistan chase down 326 and win the trophy. He is surely one of the upcoming talents for the national team if groomed properly. He also won the Player of the Series for his consistent performance.
Also Read: Shubman Gill becomes first cricketer to win ICC Player of the Month five times
