Two England players and a Pakistan star have been shortlisted for the ICC Men’s Player of the Month Award for November 2022.
Leading his team to ICC Men’s T20 World Cup glory was Jos Buttler’s most significant moment of the month, but he also played a significant hand in their journey towards it, smashing an unbeaten 80 off 49 balls in the semi-final clash against India.
Studded with nine fours and three sixes, Buttler’s brilliant knock and unbeaten opening stand with Alex Hales led England to a 10-wicket win against India and booked their place in the T20 World Cup final.
Overall, Buttler made 207 runs in T20Is in the month, including two fifties, one each against India and New Zealand, across the four matches he played.
In the final against Pakistan, Buttler kickstarted England’s aggressive start in the run chase, helping them to 43 in five overs. His impressive captaincy earlier in the game had helped restrict Pakistan to just 137/8 in the first innings.
Wicketless in the first three matches of the Super 12 phase of the T20 World Cup, Adil Rashid turned the script around in extraordinary fashion in England’s final three matches of the campaign, playing a significant role in their title triumph.
In the must-win Super 12 clash against Sri Lanka, he delivered a Player of the Match performance, bowling a stringent spell of 4-0-16-1.
In the semi-final against India, he got rid of the opposition’s key batter – Suryakumar Yadav – and delivered another economical spell, conceding just 20 runs from his four overs.
His most important showing, though, perhaps came in the final when he dismissed Mohammad Haris and Babar Azam in quick succession to derail Pakistan’s innings. He finished with 2/22 including a maiden in the big game.
Shaheen Afridi returned from injury to lead Pakistan’s wicket-taking chart at the T20 World Cup, snaring 11 scalps at an average of 14.09 and an economy rate of 6.15.
His best performance came in the must-win clash against Bangladesh on the final day of the Super 12 phase. The left-arm quick picked up 4/22 in a searing four-over spell that won him the Player of the Match award.
Shaheen was brilliant in the semi-final against New Zealand too, conceding just 24 runs in four overs and picking up the key wickets of Finn Allen and Kane Williamson.
In the final, he once again struck early with the big scalp of Alex Hales, and his injury late in the game possibly cost Pakistan the title as mentioned by their skipper Babar Azam.
