Jasprit Bumrah is one of the nominations for the ICC Player of the Month award following his splendid exploits in the ongoing series against England while there are other players as well.
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The India vs England series is poised on an absolute knife-edge at The Oval. England is attempting a record chase in their history. India, on the other hand, is aiming to break their 14-year jinx in England. They last won a series in 2007 under Rahul Dravid. Since then, they have lost 0-4, 1-3, and 1-4 in three subsequent series. But, under Virat Kohli, they are now on the cusp of securing a win in two Tests in England for the first time since 1986.
Before the final day at The Oval, Jasprit Bumrah has been nominated by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for a special award. He is one of the nominees of the Player of the Month award, along with Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi, Thailand’s Nattaya Boochatham, and the Ireland duo of Gaby Lewis and Eimear Richardson.
Bumrah has been one of the best players on the Indian cricket team during the current series against England. He has taken 16 wickets so far, including nine wickets in Trent Bridge. During the Lord’s Test, he shared a crucial partnership with Mohammed Shami that helped India win only for the third time in Lord’s. Jasprit Bumrah has staged a magnificent comeback after his poor show in the ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand in June.
Apart from Bumrah, Shaheen Afridi of Pakistan is also one of the contenders. Shaheen was one of the stars in the recent series against West Indies, taking 18 wickets. This included a haul of 10 wickets in the second Test in Jamaica that saw Pakistan leveling the series. The visitors had lost the first Test by one wicket. His 10 wickets in Jamaica made him the fourth-youngest paceman from Pakistan to achieve the feat, after Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Mohammad Zahid.
Nattaya Boochatham, the Thailand cricket team skipper, played yet another major role in the development of the sport in the country. Boochatham took a total of 10 wickets in the three-match series against Zimbabwe as they won 2-1. Thailand had earlier held a winning streak in the shortest format of the game. During the 2020 World T20 in Australia, Thailand had made their debut and they impressed everyone with their skills.
Gaby Lewis and Eimear Richardson also starred during the recent World Cup qualifiers for Ireland. Lewis, who made her debut at the age of 13 for Ireland, hit a century against Germany. The 20-year-old thus became the first Irish player to hit a century in Twenty20 Internationals. Richardson, on the other hand, impressed with the ball by taking seven wickets. What was notable in her effort was that her economy rate was 4.19.
The efforts of all the players have been sensational in the month of August. But, one gets a feeling that the award will boil down to who votes the most between Bumrah and Shaheen. If social media is any indicator, then Bumrah might win the Player of the Month award.
