Experienced India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar on Tuesday won the ICC Player of the Month award for his superlative show in the limited-overs series against England in March.
The 31-year-old Indian took six wickets at an economy rate of 4.65 in the three ODIs, while capturing four wickets at a fantastic economy rate of 6.38 in the five T20Is to emerge as the standout bowler on either side in the white ball series.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar had been sidelined from international cricket after he injured his thigh muscle during an Indian Premier League (IPL) game in October. However, the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowler made the cut for India’s limited-overs leg versus Eoin Morgan’s England.
“After what seemed like a really long and painful gap, I was delighted to be playing for India again. I used the time away to work on my fitness and skill and I’m happy to be back taking wickets for my country,” Bhuvneshwar is quoted in the ICC press release.
“I would like to thank each and every person who helped me in this journey starting from my family and friends and my team-mates. Also, a special thank you to the ICC voting academy and all the fans who voted for me and made me the ICC Men’s Player of the Month for March,” the seamer added.
Besides Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan and Zimbabwe’s Sean Williams were also nominated in the men’s category.
India great VVS Laxman, who is a part of the ICC voting academy, said,“Bhuvi missed nearly a year and a half of international cricket through multiple unrelated injuries, but you’d never have guessed. He was outstanding in both the powerplay overs and at the death in the white-ball formats against a powerful, aggressive England batting line-up. Economical and penetrative, he was instrumental in shaping Indian triumphs in both series.”
South Africa’s Lizelle Lee, who scored a century and two half-centuries against the Indian Women’s team, was named the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for March.
“I am happy and honored to receive this award. Such accolades are a great way to keep me motivated and to continue to work even harder on my game. A big thank you to my teammates for their support as this would never have been possible without them,” Lee said.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar became the third successive Indian player to claim the honors, after Rishabh Pant and Ravichandran Ashwin won the award in January and February respectively.
