ICC names Arafat Minhas, Shai Hope among Player of the Month nominees
Minhas scored 61 off 31 balls in the tri-series final against Sri Lanka, while Hope made 261 runs in the T20I series against India.
Three cricketers, including Pakistan's Arafat Minhas, were nominated for October's ICC Men's Player of the Month award, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Thursday.
The ICC described a South Africa all-rounder whose series-defining performance against Australia helped the Proteas win the three-Test series 2-1.
In the second Test at Gqeberha, he scored 85 and took six wickets as South Africa won by an innings and 31 runs, the ICC said.
He followed with a half-century and three wickets in the series-deciding third Test, and his consistent form took him to the top of the ICC Men's Test All-Rounder Rankings, the ICC said.
Across five ODIs, he scored 149 runs at an average of 29.80 and took nine wickets at 23.22, the ICC said.
Minhas was one of the standout performers in Pakistan's home ODI tri-series triumph, the ICC said.
He scored a crucial 59 against England and then took figures of 6-40, the second-best ODI bowling figures by a Pakistan bowler on home soil, the ICC said.
In the final against Sri Lanka, he smashed 61 off just 31 deliveries as Pakistan chased down 326 to lift the trophy, and he was named Player of the Series.
West Indies batter Shai Hope also featured among the nominees after a strong month against India across the ODI and T20I series.
He struck an unbeaten 162 in the third ODI in New Chandigarh, leading the West Indies to a chase of 352, their highest successful ODI run chase.
In the five-match T20I series, Hope scored two centuries, including an unbeaten 102 off 50 deliveries in the fourth match, and finished with 261 runs at a strike rate of 190.51.
The ICC names a shortlist of nominees each month, and the eventual winner is chosen from that group.