Cricket / ICC Men's Player of the Month nominations for April

Cricket Desk: The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced the nominees for the ICC Player of the Month Awards for April to recognise the best performances from both male and female cricketers across all forms of international cricket.

The ICC Men’s Player of the Month April Nominees: Babar Azam (PAK), Fakhar Zaman (PAK), and Kushal Bhurtel (NEP)

Babar played three ODIs against South Africa, stringing together fantastic performances. He returned scores of 103 and 94, which won him two Player of the Match awards in Pakistan's series victory. He finished the series with 228 runs at a strike rate of 104. His performances helped him move ahead of Virat Kohli as the No.1-ranked ODI batsman, becoming the fourth Pakistan player to do so after Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad, and Mohammad Yousuf.

Babar played seven T20Is in April, four against South Africa and three against Zimbabwe, scoring a total of 305 runs at 43.75 with a strike rate of 126.55 with two half-centuries and a 59-ball 122 at the centurion. Among the highlights was a 197-run partnership with Mohammad Rizwan, the highest partnership in a T20I run chase.

Fakhar Zaman, Pakistan

Fakhar accompanies his fellow countryman in the list of nominees after a string of impressive outings. He scored a total of 302 runs at 100.66, with a strike rate of 111.43 in the three ODIs against South Africa. In that series, he scored two centuries, including an inspired knock of 193 in the second ODI. His two centuries enabled him to jump  to a career-best seventh position in the ICC ODI batsmen's rankings.

Kushal Bhurtel, Nepal

Nepal's opening batsman Kushal Bhurtel created history – he scored three consecutive half-centuries, and became the first player in T20I history to do so. The 24-year-old was the leading run-scorer of the tournament with 278 runs as Nepal won their tri-series against Netherlands and Malaysia, scoring four half-centuries in the process.

Bhurtel's brilliant showing granted him an entry into the top 100 of the MRF Tyres ICC Men's T20I Batting Rankings – he currently sit at the 93rd position.