Mehidy Hasan Miraz has made it to the shortlist for the ICC Player of the Month for the first time. Following his all-round performance and Player of the Series award in the recent Test series against Zimbabwe, the all-rounder has achieved this new feat.
His competitors for the April Player of the Month title are Zimbabwe’s Blessing Muzarabani and New Zealand’s Ben Sears. On Monday, the ICC announced the names of the male and female cricketers nominated for the award for the past month.
The three players shortlisted among the women are Hayley Matthews from the West Indies, Kathryn Bryce from Scotland, and Fatima Sana from Pakistan.
Although Bangladesh lost the first Test of the two-match series in Sylhet by 3 wickets, Miraz delivered a record-setting bowling performance. He claimed the final 5 wickets of Zimbabwe’s first innings singlehandedly. In the second innings, he struck again at the top order, taking another 5 wickets with brilliant bowling.
The experienced off-spinner achieved the milestone of taking 10 wickets in a Test for the third time — a feat no other Bangladeshi cricketer has accomplished. Among Bangladeshis, only left-arm spinners Shakib Al Hasan and Taijul Islam have taken 10 wickets in a match, and both have done it twice.
In the second Test in Chattogram, which Bangladesh won by an innings and 106 runs, Miraz emerged as the hero. He scored 104 runs, giving Bangladesh a crucial lead, and later took 5 wickets in Zimbabwe’s second innings.
With this outstanding performance, he was named Player of the Match. He became only the third Bangladeshi cricketer to score a century and take five wickets in the same Test, following Shakib Al Hasan (twice) and Sohag Gazi. Miraz also became the seventh cricketer in Test history to score a century and take 10 wickets in a single series.
The ICC Player of the Month is selected through combined votes from the ICC Voting Academy and cricket fans. The Voting Academy consists of senior sports journalists, former cricketers, and commentators, who cast their votes via email. Registered ICC fans can vote on the ICC website.
In determining the winner, 90% of the decision is based on the Voting Academy’s votes, while the remaining 10% comes from fan votes.
