Deepti Sharma earns ICC Player of the Month nomination after Zimbabwe series

Dubai: India’s Deepti Sharma is among the six players shortlisted for the ICC Player of the Month awards, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Thursday.

Deepti scored an unbeaten 106 in her only batting appearance in a home ICC Women’s Championship series match against Zimbabwe and took five wickets at an economy rate of 3.42.

India blanked Zimbabwe 3-0 in the three-match ODI series.

In the three T20Is that preceded the ODIs, Deepti batted only once, scoring 49 off 37 balls, and chipped in with two wickets with her off-spin.

The other players shortlisted include South Africa’s Marco Jansen, Pakistan’s Arafat Minhas, West Indies captain Shai Hope, Australia’s Annabel Sutherland and Bangladesh’s Sobhana Mostary.

Jansen topped the bowlers’ and all-rounders’ tables in the ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings during the period, while Arafat was named Player of the Series in the Pakistan Tri-Series. Hope made the shortlist on the back of some outstanding performances in white-ball cricket.

The three nominees in each category are shortlisted based on performances from the first to the last day of each calendar month. The shortlist is then put to a vote by the independent ICC Voting Academy and fans around the world.

The ICC Voting Academy comprises prominent members of the cricket fraternity, including well-known journalists, former players, broadcasters and members of the ICC Hall of Fame.

The winners are announced every second week of the following month.