October’s ICC Player of the Month nominees

Three spinners – Noman Ali, Senuran Muthusamy and Rashid Khan – are in contention for the ICC Men’s Player of the Month award for October while ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup stars Ash Gardner, Smriti Mandhana and Laura Wolvaardt have made it to the women’s shortlist.

Left-arm spinners Noman of Pakistan and Muthusamy of South Africa have been shortlisted after helping win a match each for their respective teams in the two-match ICC World Test Championship series in Pakistan that ended in a 1-1 draw. Leg-spinner Rashid makes it based on performances in white-ball cricket.

Openers Mandhana of India and Wolvaardt of South Africa are in contention for the coveted women’s monthly award after making significant contributions in big matches of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. Australia all-rounder Gardner is there on the dint of her all-rounder performances to complete a trio consisting of players who made it to the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 Team of the Tournament.

Men’s shortlist:

Noman Ali (Pakistan)

Noman finished with a 10-wicket haul in the first Test against South Africa in Lahore, where he started operating with the new ball in both innings. He picked six for 112 in the first innings and four for 79 in the second to move up to a career-best second position in the ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings. He also took two wickets each in both innings of the second Test in Rawalpindi.

Senuran Muthusamy (South Africa)

Muthusamy took 11 wickets in Lahore in a losing cause but then top-scored in South Africa’s first innings with an unbeaten 89 in the second innings of the Rawalpindi Test as his team won by eight wickets and he was named the Player of the Series.

Rashid Khan (Afghanistan)

Rashid showed why he is a premier bowler in white-ball cricket all these years, grabbing 11 wickets at an average of 6.09 and an economy rate of 2.73 as Afghanistan beat Bangladesh 3-0 in an ODI series and taking nine wickets at an average of 9.11 and an economy of 4.82 in five T20Is during the period.

Women’s shortlist:

Ash Gardner (Australia)

The off-spinning all-rounder reached the top three of the ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings in all three lists during the period–for batters, bowlers and all-rounders. She bagged seven wickets and scored 328 runs, the highlight being knocks of 115 against New Zealand and 104 not out against England at the World Cup.

Smriti Mandhana (India)

Mandhana is in line for a second consecutive award after scoring 381 runs in seven ODIs at the World Cup. She helped India reach the final with a string of crucial knocks – 80 against Australia, 88 against England and 109 against New Zealand.

Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa)

Laura was the leading run-scorer in the World Cup and scored 470 runs in eight matches during October. She struck three half-centuries and helped win the semifinal against England with a colossal 169 to set up an epic final against hosts India.

India all-rounder Deepti Sharma could not make it to the shortlist despite being the Player of the Tournament at the World Cup because two of her best performances were not in the month of October – 53 and three for 54 in the tournament opener against Sri Lanka and 58 and five for 39 in the final against South Africa.