Asif Ali nominated for ICC Player of Month Award along with Wiese, Shakib

Big-hitting Pakistan batter Asif Ali was, on Thursday, nominated for the ICC Player of the Month award along with Bangladesh's star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and Namibia's David Weise for the month of October. In the women's category, Ireland all-rounder Laura Delany and batter Gaby Lewis made the cut along with Zimbabwe captain and all-rounder Mary-Anne Musonda.

Asif Ali played three T20Is last month also in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World 2021 where he scored a total of 52 runs with a strike rate of 273.68. His breakthrough performance was when he scored 27 out of just 12 balls to help defeat New Zealand. He went on to also hit four sixes in the next game against Afghanistan in the nineteenth over and sealed a victory against them.

Shakib Al Hasan, who played six T20Is last month, has been ruled out of the T20 World Cup due to an injury. He scored 131 runs at a strike rate of 109.16 and took a total of 11 wickets at an economy rate of 5.59. Shakib had two spectacular all-round matches at the tournament last month, scoring 42 and taking three wickets against Oman before striking 46 and taking four wickets against Papua New Guinea. This is Al Hasan’s second nomination in the year. 

Impressive Namibia all-rounder batter Wiese has had a spectacular T20 World Cup so far. He played eight T20Is, scoring 162 runs with a strike rate of 132.78 and took seven wickets with an economy rate of 7.23. His match-winning performances helped Namibia qualify for the Super 12s stage of the tournament, where he scored a 66 not out against the Netherlands and 28 not out against Ireland, while also contributing with the ball.

An independent ICC Voting Academy and fans around the world will now vote to decide the winners, which will be announced next week.