The ICC Men’s Player of the Month Award for October 2022 has a shortlist of three players, one each from India, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.
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- Virat Kohli (India)
Last month, Virat Kohli only played four innings but produced three unforgettable hits, including a spectacular 82* against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup.
It was the best T20I knock Kohli has ever played, as he acknowledged in the interview. When India was reduced to 31/4 while chasing 160, they appeared to be out of the game. However, Kohli stepped up and played a match-winning hand of 82* from only 53 deliveries to lead them to victory.
In addition, the 33-year-old had a fantastic knock against South Africa in Guwahati at the beginning of the month, scoring 49* off just 28 deliveries. He also followed up his magnificent T20 World Cup performance against Pakistan with a cool-headed 62* from 44 pitches against the Netherlands. The only hiccup was his dismissal for only 12 against South Africa in Perth. Over the course of the month of October, Kohli collected 205 T20I runs at a staggering average of 205 and a fantastic strike rate of 150.73.
- David Miller (South Africa)
David Miller has had an incredible run of form this year, and in October, he took it to another level. Miller began the month with a disappointing 47-ball 106* against India in a T20I in Guwahati, and he finished it with a match-winning 59* against Rohit Sharma’s team once more in Perth, this time on a significant platform like the T20 World Cup.
In the ODI match against India in Lucknow that was sandwiched between these two performances, another remarkable inning of 75* was played. Last month, Miller played a total of seven innings in ODIs and T20Is, and he went undefeated in six of them.
The left-hander scored his runs at an equally impressive strike rate of 146.37 and tallied 303 runs overall throughout this time at a fantastic average of 303. After several trying years, Miller appears to have rehabilitated himself and is now emerging as South Africa’s most reliable batter.
- Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe)
For Zimbabwe in October, the seasoned all-arounder put up some outstanding all-around performances. Raza continued his strong run into the T20 Globe Cup and demonstrated his talent to the world.
He kicked off the month with a spectacular performance in their T20 World Cup opening match against Ireland. Raza contributed to Zimbabwe’s early success by scoring 82 runs in just 47 balls and later recording bowling stats of 1/22 in the encounter. Against Scotland, he continued to put up an outstanding all-around performance as he scored 40 runs off of 23 deliveries and then recorded numbers of 1/20 with the ball.
The 36-year-old played a significant role with the ball, recording figures of 3/19 and 3/25 against West Indies and Pakistan, respectively, although he struggled with the bat against tougher teams like West Indies and Pakistan. In their victory over Babar Azam’s team, Zimbabwe benefited from his spell.
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