The Indian opening duo are both among the nominees to win the ICC award alongside Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu
The post Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana in contention to win ICC Women’s Player of the Month award appeared first on Cricket Country.
India openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma, along with Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu have been nominated for ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for July 2024.
Smriti who is also India’s vice-captain, won the ICC award back in June. Her performance was brilliant in the Women’s Asia Cup where she scored 200 runs and in the month of July, she scored a total of 273 runs. Smriti also shined in the Test match against South Africa where she scored her career-best score of 149. Along with fellow nominee Shafali Verma, she formed a 292-run opening stand which set the record for the highest-ever partnership for the first wicket in Women’s Tests.
On the other hand, Shafali earned a nomination after scoring 229 Test runs and 245 T20I runs in July, 2024. During her record-breaking opening stand with Smriti, Shafali became only the second Indian woman to score a double-century after Mithali Raj. She also set the record for the fastest double-century scored in Women’s Tests, doing so in 194 balls.
Meanwhile, Chamari enjoyed a career-defining moment when she captained Sri Lanka to their first-ever Women’s Asia Cup triumph in July. The left-handed batter was the highest run-scorer of the tournament with 304 runs. She played various impressive knocks in the tournament like the unbeaten 119 against Malaysia and half-centuries against both Pakistan and India in the semi-final and final respectively.
The post Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana in contention to win ICC Women’s Player of the Month award appeared first on Cricket Country.
