Cricket's highest governing body, ICC has been honouring the 'Best Player of the Month' since 2021. In continuation of this, Bangladesh's Mr. dependable batsman Mushfiqur Rahim has been nominated for the Award for the month of May. Mushfiqur was awarded Man of the Series for his great performance against Sri Lanka in the last bilateral series. Thanks to this he has earned a place on the month's top players list. The other two nominees are Pakistan's Hasan Ali and Praveen Jayawickrama of Sri Lanka. This article discusses who is going to finally bag the 'ICC Player of the Month' Award for May.
The front-runner for the ICC's Player of the month for May award
Nominees Mushfiqur Rahim, Hasan Ali, and Praveen Jayawickrama each played well for their respective countries in May. So they are worthy contenders for this award. Let's take a look at how they performed.
Mushfiqur Rahim (Bangladesh)
Test: 2 | Runs: 148 | Ave: 74.00 | HS: 68* | 100s: 0
ODI: 3 | Runs: 237 | Ave: 79.00 | HS: 125 | 100s: 1
Source: ESPNCricinfo
Mushfiqur Rahim was outstanding in the first two matches of the Sri Lanka series, and he was instrumental in Bangladesh's 2-1 ODI series victory. Thanks to his prudent batting, Bangladesh won the bilateral ODI series against Sri Lanka for the first time with a game in hand. Mushfiqur shared a 109-run partnership with veteran Mahmudullah Riyad after the Tigers lost four wickets for 99 runs in the first match of the series. As a result, Bangladesh were able to put up a challenging 256-run on board to defend.
The hosts eventually won the match by 33 runs. Mushfiqur turned even more destructive in the second match. He batted aggressively for 125 runs, helping Bangladesh in putting up a fighting score. Bangladesh secured the series victory by winning the rain-affected match by 103 runs (D/L method). He also played well in the Test series against the Lankans. That's why the best middle-order batsman of Bangladesh, Mushfiqur Rahim is the favourite to win the best player of the May award.
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Praveen Jayawickrama (Sri Lanka)
Test: 1 | Wkts: 11 | Ave: 16.18 | BBI: 6/92 | 5W: 2
Source: ESPNCricinfo
Sri Lanka's Praveen Jayawickrama guided his country to a 1-0 series win grabbing 11 wickets in the second and final Test against Bangladesh. Bangladesh's batters had failed to deal with his spinning bowling. Bangladesh went down by a massive margin of 209 runs in the series-deciding match. This rising Lankan spinner is one of the leading contenders for May's ICC best player award of the month.
Hasan Ali (Pakistan)
Test: 2 | Wkts: 14 | Ave: 8.92 | BBI: 5/27 | 5W: 2
Source: ESPNCricinfo
Pace bowling all-rounder, Hasan Ali was instrumental in Pakistan's 2-0 Test series victory over Zimbabwe. Hasan Ali has been in excellent form since returning from injury. He has taken 14 wickets in two encounters against Zimbabwe. The host batters were unable to do well in both Tests because of his precise bowling. Zimbabwe lost to Pakistan by an innings and 118 runs in the first Test and by an innings and 148 runs in the second Test. So it will not be a surprise if Hasan Ali is named the best player for May.
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Verdict
Mushfiqur Rahim is the leading contender for the ICC’s Player of the Month for May award. Bangladesh won the first two matches and the bilateral ODI series against Sri Lanka thanks to Mushfiqur Rahim's outstanding performance. On the other hand, Pakistan's Hasan Ali played a key role in winning the Test series against Zimbabwe and Praveen Jayawickrama played well for the Lankans against Bangladesh. While earning a name on the top list is a great honour, we would expect the ICC to choose the best athlete for the award.