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The International Cricket Council (ICC) has declared the nominees for the Player of the Month award for the month of December (2021). Indian batsman Mayank Agarwal has found his name in the list as the other two players in the list are- Australia pacer Mitchell Starc and New Zelaland spinner Ajaz Patel.
Agarwal was in terrific form against New Zealand in the second Test that was played in Mumbai. In the first innings of the second Test match Agarwal scored a brilliant innings of 150 runs and in the second innings also he managed to carry his superb form as the right-handed batter notched another half-century and eventually scored 62.
Good form in South Africa
In the second Test match of the month of December the opener scored 60 runs in the first innings against South Africa in the first Test that took place in Centurion. In the second innings though Agarwal could not do much with the bat as he was dismissed after scoring 4 runs.
In total, Agarwal bagged an impressive a total of 276 runs from four innings. In that period, the Bengaluru-born batter claimed two half-centuries and a century. Agarwal also won the Man of the Match award for his terrific batting performance against New Zealand in the second Test.
Ajaz Patel the second nominee
The other member of the list, Kiwi spinner Ajaz Patel, was recently in the headlines after he dismissed all the 10 batsmen of the Indian team in an innings. Patel achieved this terrific in the second Test of the series that took place in Mumbai. Coincidentally, Patel was born in Mumbai as well.
Patel became only the third bowler in the history of Test cricket to claim all 10 wickets in an innings. He joined England off-spinner Jim Laker and Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble in that elite list.
In the second innings of that Test, the 33-year-old spinner scalped four more wickets.
Starc in the list
The third player to feature in the list is Australia pacer Mitchell Starc. The Aussie pacer has been in a lethal form against the English side in the ongoing Ashes Test series. The 31-year-old pacer picked up 14 wickets in the three Test matches that he played in December 2021 and all of those Test matches were against the Joe Root-led England team.
