Babar ICC’s player of the month

LAHORE: Pakistan captain Babar Azam was declared the ICC Men’s Player of the Month for April for his consistent performances across all formats.

The women’s award went to Australia’s Alyssa Healy.

The players are chosen by fans and the ICC voting academy.

Babar’s match-winning 82-ball 94 in the third ODI against South Africa helped him gain 13 rating points to reach a career-best 865 points. He also contributed 122 from 59 balls in Pakistan’s successful chase in the third match of the T20I series against the same opposition.

Commenting on Babar s performance in April, Ramiz Raja, representing the ICC Voting Academy, said: “The world bats in two ways in white-ball cricket. One way is to destroy attacks with muscle and force and then there is the Babar Azam way, like conducting a batting symphony with punch, panache and flair, and he deserves to win this award.”

From the Australian camp, Alyssa Healy bagged the women’s award for April for her consistency with the bat which was a significant part of Australia s dominance, showing her class in all conditions and against all types of bowling in the recent series against New Zealand.

Healy played three ODIs against New Zealand, scoring 155 runs at an average of 51.66 and a strike rate of 98.72.

Commenting on Healy’s performance, Ian Bishop, representing the ICC Voting Academy, said: “Healy . . . added the runs at the top consistently and at a good tempo to help set up Australia’s scoring in chases and target setting across all three games of their record-breaking series.”