Shreyas Iyer voted ICC Player of the Month (February 2022)
The International Cricket Council (ICC) named Indian batter Shreyas Iyer the Player of the Month for February. Iyer delivered the goods in the white-ball series against West Indies and Sri Lanka last month. The Indian middle-order was nominated alongside UAE's Vriitya Aravind and Nepal all-rounder Dipendra Singh Airee. Meanwhile, New Zealand all-rounder Amelia Kerr has been voted the ICC Player of the Month (women).
Iyer slammed a match-winning 80 against West Indies in the third and final ODI. He then finished as the leading run-scorer of the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. The Indian middle-order batter recorded scores of 73*, 74*, and 57* at number three and was adjudged the Player of the Series. He recorded a strike rate of 174, having smashed 204 runs.
Praising Iyer, former Sri Lanka batter and voting panel member Russel Arnold said, "Throughout the month, Shreyas showed tremendous consistency and control. He totally dominated opposition bowlers and proved very hard to bowl at, scoring runs all around the wicket and attacking the bowlers." "What really stood out for me was his composure as he battles for a regular place in the India line-up."
After the T20I series against Sri Lanka, Iyer gained big in the ICC T20I Rankings for batters. He gained a massive jump of 27 places to number 18. Kohli, whose number three spot was occupied by Iyer, had dropped out of the top 10.
Among women, NZ's Amelia Kerr won the ICC Player of the Month (for February) award. She received the accolade ahead of India's Mithali Raj and Deepti Sharma. Ahead of the ongoing Women's World Cup, Kerr starred for White Ferns in the ODI series against India. She scored 353 runs at an incredible average of 117 and was the joint-highest wicket-taker of the series (7).
