The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday today announced the winners of the player of the month September award. India’s women's team captain Harmanpreet Kaur who has taken India to unprecedented heights, is one of the winners of the award alongside Pakistan’s Mohammed Rizwan.
Kaur with this new feather in her illustrious cap becomes the first Indian woman player to win the prestigious award on the back of a prolific ODI series against England. Kaur amassed a total of 221 runs in the three ODIS while being dismissed only once, keeping up with a striking strike rate of 103.47. In the first ODI, she played the second fiddle with an innings of 74 not out while her counterpart Smriti Mandhana was going great guns, which helped India chalk up 228 targets against England.
In the second ODI, she had all the leeway to express herself and express herself she did when she doubled the first innings score as she was seen at her brutal best with a knock of 143 runs not out from 111 balls. There were fireworks of boundaries from the skipper’s willow which smacked 18 fours and four sixes. The knock helped India post a daunting target of 334 which proved a bridge too far for England and India humbled England and won the ODI series in England for the first time since 1999.
Kaur wins this award after eclipsing her teammate Smriti Mandhana and Bangladesh’s Nigar Sultana who also were the likely winners for their stunning display on the cricket field. Kaur on winning the award stated “It was great to be nominated for the award, and to win it is an amazing feeling. To come out as a winner when being nominated alongside Smriti and Nigar is very humbling.
"I have always taken immense pride in representing my country and achieving the historic ODI series win in England will remain a landmark moment for me in my career.
"The game of cricket is blessed to have some of the finest athletes on the sporting circuit and to be chosen the ICC Women’s Player of the Month amongst them is a special recognition for me as an individual and the captain of the Indian cricket team."
Kaur without question had an unforgettable month studded with achievements one after the other, both as a player and as a captain. From being the highest run-getter of the ODI series, being named the player of the series to going into the history books for beating England in an ODI series in England since 1999. It’s a true reflection of how she was worthy of the laurel.
