Indians ignored: ICC announces Player of the Month Award nominees for August 2024

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday, September 5, unveiled the nominees for the ICC Player of the Month Award for August 2024. No Indian player could make the cut for the award this time.

The shortlisted candidates are South African spinner Keshav Maharaj, West Indies fast bowler Jayden Seales, and Sri Lankan all-rounder Dunith Wellalage for the ICC Player of the Month Award for August.

Nominees for ICC Player of the Month Award for August 2024 unveiled

Keshav Maharaj (South Africa)

The South African left-arm spinner from Maharaj is competing for his second ICC Men’s Player of the Month award after his outstanding performance in the recent two-match Test series against the West Indies.

He played a crucial role in reviving South Africa's ICC WTC 2023-25 campaign. Maharaj finished with 13 wickets to help South Africa win the Test series by a 1-0 margin against the West Indies.

In the first Test in Port of Spain, which ended in a draw, Maharaj took 8 wickets for 164 runs. He then excelled in the second Test, taking 5 wickets for 45 runs, including a crucial three-wicket haul in the second innings against the West Indies.

His key breakthrough dismantled the West Indies’ big partnerships and helped South Africa win the second Test by 40 runs to win the series.

Jayden Seales (West Indies)

West Indies might have lost the Test series to South Africa, but Seales managed to steal the show with his talent, emerging as the top wicket-taker for his team. The pacer scalped claimed 12 wickets at an impressive average of 18.08, with nine of those coming in the second Test.

In the absence of senior pacers Alzarri Joseph and Kemar Roach during the second Test in Providence, Seales made the most of the conditions, extracting significant movement off the pitch and taking the Caribbean pace attack from the front.

His standout performance came in the second inning, where the South Africans were dominating the game, but Seales dismantled their batting line-up with his career-best figures of 6/61. He consistently broke through the Patriots' lineup to bowl them out for 246 runs in the second inning.

However, the West Indies failed to chase down the target of 263 runs, getting bowled out for 222 to lose the game and series to South Africa last month. Seales will join fellow West Indians Shamar Joseph and Gudakesh Motie to win the ICC Player of the Month award if he manages to beat Maharaj and Wellalage.

Dunith Wellalage (Sri Lanka)

The Sri Lankan all-rounder Wellalage delivered a breakout performance in the three-match ODI series against India last month. Facing a formidable Indian batting line-up featuring the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Wellalage’s all-around brilliance helped Sri Lanka to win the ODI series.

In the three-match ODI series, Wellalage made significant contributions with both bat and ball. He amassed 108 runs and took seven vital wickets across three ODIs. His standout moment came in the first ODI, where his 67* and two wickets led to a thrilling tie against India.

In the second ODI, Wellalage's gritty 39 helped Sri Lanka post a competitive total of 240/9, and later the hosts restricted the tourists to 208 runs to win the game by 32 runs. However, the star all-rounder struggled with the bat in the third ODI, but his bowling performance stole the show.

Wellalage recorded career-best figures of 5/27 while dismantling India’s top order, including the prized wickets of Kohli, Rohit, and Shreyas Iyer, with India being restricted to just 138 runs while chasing 249 runs to level the ODI series. That’s how Sri Lanka had won the historic ODI series against India.