Shreyas Iyer And Amelia Kerr Named ICC Players Of The Month For February 2022

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the winners of the Men’s and Women’s Players of the Month for February on March 14, 2022. The winners were Shreyas Iyer of India and New Zealand all-rounder Amelia Kerr.

Shreyas Iyer won the award for his superlative performance against the West Indies and Sri Lanka in the limited-overs series at home. He beat UAE batter Vriitya Aravind and Nepal all-rounder Dipendra Singh Airee for the monthly award.

Iyer contributed a match-winning 80 against West Indies in the final ODI, before following it up with a 16-ball 25 in the final T20I of the subsequent series. But it was in the following T20 series against Sri Lanka that Iyer really caught the eye.

Iyer remained unbeaten in the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka and scored half-centuries in all of the matches, to earn the Player of the Series award. He made three unbeaten half-centuries for the series and amassed an outstanding 204 runs from three hits at a strike rate of 174.

“Throughout the month Shreyas showed tremendous consistency and control. He totally dominated opposition bowlers and proved very hard to bowl at, scoring runs all around the wicket and attacking the bowlers at the right moments.

“What really stood out for me was his composure as he battles for a regular place in the India line-up,” Former Sri Lanka batter and voting panel member Russel Arnold said.

Amelia Kerr Has Been A World-Class Leg Spinner, But Now Her Batting Adds More Value To Her: Isobel Joyce

Meanwhile, the winner for the Female Player of the Month was New Zealand all-rounder Amelia Kerr, who beat competition from the Indian duo of Mithali Raj and Deepti Sharma. Thanks to her amazing performance with both the bat and the ball in the five-ODI series against India, she won the award.

Kerr helped herself to a century and a half-century and scored 353 runs at an average of 117 against India in what was seen as an important warm-up series for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. She also picked up seven wickets with her underrated leg-spin, finishing joint leading wicket-taker for the series with sister Jess Kerr in what was a dominant individual performance.

“Amelia Kerr is growing into her role as a genuine all-rounder in the New Zealand team. She’s been a world-class leg spinner for a number of years, but now her batting adds even more value to her spot in the team and makes her one of the best cricketers in the world,” ICC Voting Academy member Isobel Joyce said.

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