ICC Player of the Month 2023: Babar Azam and Arlene Kelly Bag August Awards

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The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday (September 12) revealed the latest recipients of the ICC Player of the Month awards, given in recognition of impressive international performances in August.

The two winners were chosen via fan votes from icc-cricket.com registrants and adjudication reviews from a panel of ICC Hall of Famers, ex-international players, and media members.

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam earned the accolade of ICC Men’s Player of the Month after an outstanding series of games in August, which featured significant scoring achievements against Afghanistan and an impressive century against Nepal.

This marks Babar’s third receipt of the award, following his initial wins in April 2021 and March 2022. Babar's recent performances have seen him amass numerous individual recognitions, culminating with a wave of excellent performances in August just before the World Cup.

As holder of the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, Babar notably turned around his initial slow start in the ODI series against Afghanistan, hitting 53 and 60 in his last two games, thus ensuring a clean sweep for Pakistan.

He then delivered his best performance of the month in the initial Asia Cup match against Nepal in Multan, where he skilfully steered Pakistan out of a tight spot with a score of 151 from 131 balls.

In all, Babar accumulated 264 runs in August, averaging 66 with a strike rate of 92.30. Babar said, "I am thrilled to be recognised as the ICC Player of the Month for August 2023." He edged out Shadab Khan, who had an excellent performance in Pakistan, and Nicholas Pooran, who was instrumental in West Indies' T20I series victory against India.

Meanwhile, Ireland’s energetic bowler Arlene Kelly secured the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award, thanks to her exceptional performance that resulted in numerous wickets during their 3-0 series triumph over the Netherlands in T20I.

Kelly presented an exemplary Player of the Match performance in the first game, posting her personal best figures. Kelly claimed her inaugural Player of the Month award after her exceptional performance that saw Ireland defeat the Netherlands 3-0 in Amstelveen.

Across three T20I matches, she took ten wickets at an impressive 4.30 average, causing trouble for the Dutch lineup throughout. Her standout moment was her career-best spell of 5-12 in the first match, leading Ireland to a ten-wicket victory.

Kelly said, “I’m honoured to win the award for the month of August and am thankful for the opportunities that cricket has given me.” She beat off Malaysia’s all-rounder Ainna Hamizah Hashim and Netherlands’ opening batter Iris Zwilling to secure the Women’s Player of the Month award.