ICC Player of the Month: Ben Stokes, Sikandar Raza, Mitchell Santner among nominees for August

August saw some strong men candidates staking their claim with some brilliant performances. The ICC Player of the Month nominations in the men’s category features England Test captain Ben Stokes, Zimbabwe batter Sikandar Raza and New Zealand all-rounder Mitchell Santner.

England Test

Ben Stokes completes the lineup following his heroics at Old Trafford in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) second Test which saw the England skipper restore parity for his side against South Africa.

Stokes played a crucial role in his side’s comeback in the ongoing series at home against South Africa.

In the second Test at Manchester, Stokes broke the back of the South African middle-order with the wickets of Aiden Markram and Rassie

Dussen as the visitors were bundled out for 151. His knock of 103 was studded with six boundaries and three sixes, helping his side attain a massive lead of 264.

Sikandar Raza becomes the first Zimbabwe player to be nominated since Sean Williams back in March 2021, thanks to a series of excellent knocks against Bangladesh and India.

Sikandar Raza has enjoyed a fantastic 2022 and the month of August was no different. Going head to head against India and Bangladesh, Raza smashed up three centuries in the month.

All three centuries came when Zimbabwe were down before the 36-year-old came to the rescue, leading them to triumph twice against Bangladesh and almost pulling off the impossible win against India.

New Zealand all-rounder Mitchell Santner had a brilliant August 2022 both with the bat and ball, playing a crucial role in the Black Caps’ six victories out of eight in the month.

In the first match of the series against the Netherlands, Santner, the captain for the series, promoted himself up the order to No.3 in the second T20I and smashed a 42-ball 77* as New Zealand chased down 150 with six overs to spare.