DUBAI – The International Cricket Council (ICC) has nominated Pakistan captain Babar Azam and star batsman Fakhar Zaman for the “Player of the Month” title for April.
The cricket body shared the nominations to recognize the outstanding performances from both men and women players across all the three formats of cricket.
The nomination of Pakistani players comes after the striking performance of duo during South Africa tour.
The ICC Men's Player of the Month nominees for April are in 👀
Fakhar Zaman 🇵🇰 302 ODI runs at 100.66, two centuries
Babar Azam 🇵🇰 228 ODI runs at 76.00; 305 T20I runs at 43.57
Kushal Bhurtel 🇳🇵 278 T20I runs at 69.50Vote now: https://t.co/ZYuKhVxbHF 🗳️#ICCPOTM pic.twitter.com/7dyVhwkFOo
— ICC (@ICC) May 5, 2021
Besides Azam and Zaman, the ICC has also nominated Nepalese batsman Khushal Bhurtel in the men’s category.
Last month, following a fantastic spell in the recently-concluded South Africa, Pakistan captain Babar Azam has become the No. 1 ODI batsman to end Kohli’s reign.
Babar Azam reaches the top of ICC’s ODI batsman rankings with 865 points and Virat Kohli is number 2 with 857 points.
Fakhar Zaman also joined the top 10 of the ODI rankings after displaying excellent performance against South Africa last month.
Zaman is currently ranked seven after his back-to-back centuries against South Africa in the last two ODIs of the series.
He had increased within the rankings after his compelling round of 193 runs against South Africa within the second game of the three-match ODI series at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.
Zaman protected his 193-run innings with a 101 off 104 balls within the third ODI. He shares the seventh position with South Africa’s Faf du Plessis.
