Dubai, March 9 : The Indian women’s cricket team skipper Mithali Raj, all-rounder Dipti Shrama and men’s batter Shreyas Iyer were nominted for ICC Players of the Month as the ICC on Wednesday announced the nominees for February in men’s and women’s international cricket. In the women’s category, Mithali and Dipti were nominated alongside New Zealand all-rounder Amelia Kerr for the award. Shreyas Iyer was nominated along with UAE batter Vriitya Aravind and Nepal’s Dipendra Sing Airee in the men’s category. Mithali Raj was one of the few shining lights for India in the ODI series against New Zealand. She was the highest run-scorer for India and the second-highest overall with 232 runs, including three 50s, averaging 77.33 with a strike rate of 82.56. In the final ODI, she played the role of the finisher to perfection, remaining unbeaten on 54 as India chased down 252 with four overs to spare. Deepti was brilliant with both the bat and ball in the series against New Zealand. She took the most wickets (10) in the ODI series and was handy with the bat as well, aggregating 116 runs in five matches. She grabbed a four-for in the second ODI and followed it up with a 69* in the next match. Shreyas played a vital role in India’s white-ball domination. He scored 80 against the West Indies in the final ODI and a 16-ball 25 in the last T20I. He scored three unbeaten fifties in three games and finished with 204 runs at a blistering strike rate of 174.35 and was awarded the Player of the Series. Shreyas was also promoted to No.3 in the T20I series against Sri Lanka. BAV MR
