Nigar Sultana Nominated for ICC Women’s Player of the Month for Sept

Player of the series for Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier, Nigar Sultana Joty, has been nominated for the September 2022 ICC Women’s Player of the Month award. She will compete for the prestigious award against India’s Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana. Let's take a look at how each of the nominated players performed last month.

The three nominees for the Women's Player of the Month award for September 2022 are Nigar Sultana, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Smriti Mandhana. They all looked impressive for their respective nations last month. Let's evaluate their performance in September in more detail.

Nigar Sultana (Bangladesh)

Performance in September, 2022: T20I Inn: 5 | Runs: 180 | HS: 67 | SR: 105.26 | Ave: 45.00 | 50s: 2

Bangladesh Captain Nigar Sultana was the pillar of Bangladesh’s batting lineup in the recently concluded 2022 ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier. Joty played an important role in batting in almost every game and helped the Tigresses to win the competition. Nigar was among the top scorers in the tournament with 180 runs. She had a couple of fifties and more than 100 strike rates during the tournament. Therefore, Nigar Sultana was awarded Player of the Series.

Harmanpreet Kaur (India)

Performance in September, 2022: ODI Inn: 3 | Runs: 221 | HS: 143* | SR: 103.27 | Ave: 221.00 | 100s: 1

The Indian women's team made history in their away ODI series against England in September. In the limited-overs series, India women defeated England women 3-0. Harmanpreet Kaur played an important role in India’s batting, scoring 221 runs with a century in the crucial second match (143*). Kaur won player of the series for her magnificent performance in the bilateral series. However, the Indian skipper wasn’t really in the best of form in the T20I series, making only 54 runs in 3 outings.

Smriti Mandhana (India)

Performance in September, 2022: ODI Inn: 3 | Runs: 181 | HS: 91 | SR: 79.03 | Ave: 60.33 | 50s: 2

Opener Smriti Mandhana played two fifty-plus knocks in the ODI series, which were crucial for India to win matches. Besides, she was the second-highest scorer in September in WODI. Mandhana also played a match-winning knock of 79 against England in the second. She finished the 3-match series with 111 runs. Overall, Smriti Mandhana was one of the top performers in the India-England bilateral series.

Aftermath

The ICC Women's Player of the Month for September 2022 may not go to Nigar Sultana. However, Nigar's nomination for the award would surely motivate Bangladesh's female cricket players to perform better on the international stage. The hot favourite to win the coveted award is India's captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, who had an outstanding ODI series against England. On the other hand, Smriti Mandhana's one-day and T20 performances cannot be overlooked.