West Indies skipper Stafanie Taylor, Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan named ICC Players of the Month

Dubai: Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and West Indies skipper Stafanie Taylor were on Wednesday named the ICC Player of the Month for July in men’s and women’s categories respectively. Shakib’s contributions in all three formats of the game helped Bangladesh win their series against Zimbabwe last month. He had scored an unbeaten 96 in Bangladesh’s three-wicket win over Zimbabwe in the second ODI at the Harare Sports Club. In the T20Is, Hasan took three wickets at an economy rate of seven, leading his country to a series win against Zimbabwe. He is also the top all-rounder in the latest ICC men’s T20 Rankings. “It is very humbling to be voted ICC Men’s Player of the Month for July 2021. There have been many outstanding performances during the month and that is why this is special for me,” said Shakib, who edged out Australia’s Mitchell Marsh and West Indies’ Hayden Walsh Jr, in an ICC release. “I find most pleasure and satisfaction when I contribute to wins and therefore, I am very happy to have helped in Bangladesh’s successes over the last few weeks.” West Indies all-rounder Taylor, who led her team in the ODI and T20I series win against Pakistan in July, was nominated for the award alongside teammate Hayley Matthews and Pakistan’s Fatima Sana but her all-round performance in the series helped her claim the most votes. [caption id=“attachment_9879941” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  File image of Stafanie Taylor. AFP[/caption] “This is a bit surprising to me, winning ICC Player of the Month award for July, but I’m happy. It shows that the hard work you put in, will pay off and it did, against Pakistan, to help us win that series. We played well in both formats,” Taylor said. “I’m over in England now playing in The Hundred, which is a different kind of competition, played at a faster pace, but I’m still working hard. We’re also looking forward to the series against South Africa at home, and we will be looking to win that as well. I want to thank the fans for all their support, as it is always appreciated.” In the four ODIs against Pakistan, Taylor scored 175 runs with a strike rate of 79.18 and took three wickets with an economy rate of 3.72. She was also on top of the rankings for batters and all-rounders in the ICC Women’s ODI Rankings earlier in July.