Three players — one from India, one from South Africa, and one from Zimbabwe — have been included in the ICC Men’s Player of the Month shortlist for October 2022.
David Miller (South Africa)
David Miller has had a fantastic run of form this year, and he took it to the next level in October. Miller began the month with a 47-ball 106* against India in Guwahati, which regrettably resulted in a loss, and ended it with a match-winning 59* against Rohit Sharma’s side in Perth, this time on a major platform like the T20 World Cup.
Between these two centuries, he played a magnificent 75* in an ODI against India at Lucknow. Miller played seven innings of ODI and T20I cricket last month, going undefeated in six of them. During this time, the left-hander scored 303 runs at a fantastic average of 303 with a strike rate of 146.37. Miller appears to have remade himself after some difficult years, and he is now South Africa’s most consistent batter & shortlisted in ICC Men’s Player of the Month in the top 3 batters.
Virat Kohli (India)
Virat Kohli only batted four times this month, but he produced three memorable centuries, including an 82* against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup. Kohli himself said that it was the finest T20I innings he has ever played. When India was reduced to 31/4 while chasing 160, it appeared like they were out of the game, but Kohli came up and played a match-winning knock of 82* from only 53 deliveries to take them home.
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Aside from that, the 33-year-old batted brilliantly against South Africa in Guwahati earlier this month, scoring 49* off 28 deliveries. He also backed up his magnificent T20 World Cup knock against Pakistan with another disciplined 62* from 44 deliveries against the Netherlands & shortlisted in ICC Men’s Player of the Month in the top 3 batters. His lone hiccup occurred against South Africa in Perth, when he was dismissed for 12 runs.
In total, Kohli collected 205 T20I runs in October, with a mind-boggling average of 205 and a strike rate of 150.73.
Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe)
In October, the experienced all-rounder put in some outstanding efforts for Zimbabwe. Raza extended his strong form into the T20 World Cup, demonstrating to the world what he is capable of. He kicked off the month with a bang in their T20 World Cup opener against Ireland. Raza hit 82 off 47 balls and then went on to collect bowling stats of 1/22 to help Zimbabwe get off to a winning start. He then went on to put on another outstanding all-round performance against Scotland, scoring 40 off 23 deliveries and recording figures of 1/20 with the ball that’s why he is shortlisted in ICC Men’s Player of the Month in the top 3 batters.
The 36-year-old couldn’t do much with the bat against better sides like the West Indies and Pakistan, but he played a huge impact with the ball, with scores of 3/19 and 3/25 against the two nations. His performance against Babar Azam’s men aided Zimbabwe in gaining a stunning victory on such a huge platform.