An outstanding Zimbabwe outing brings Shakib the ICC Player of the Month award

Shakib Al Hasan, the world’s best all-rounder, has been named the ICC Player of the Month for July 2021. He has defeated Mitchell Marsh of Australia and Hayden Walsh of the West Indies to win the award. This announcement was published on the ICC website last Wednesday. Another Bangladeshi cricketer Mushfiqur Rahim was selected as the Player of the Month for May 2021.

Shakib was nominated for his consistent performance in the Zimbabwe tour. He was equally successful in all three formats. That is why Bangladesh has won the series against Zimbabwe in all three formats – Test, ODI, and T20I.

He could not take advantage of the batting in the only Test match of the tour but scalped 5 wickets. He became the highest wicket-taker with 8 wickets in the 3-match series including 5 wickets in the first ODI. In the second match, he played a great inning of unbeaten 96 runs. Shakib took 3 wickets in T20Is with an economy rate of 7. Bangladesh defeated Zimbabwe 2-1 in this format too.

After being named as the Player of the Month, Shakib told icc-cricket.com that he had been selected as the ICC Player of the Month for July 2021, which is a matter of great pride for him. He added that he had some pretty good performances this month. That is why this award is special for him.

He expressed his joy after performing well for his country saying that he could play a role in the team’s victory and that had given him immense pleasure. He further commented that he was really happy to have played a role in Bangladesh’s victory in the last few weeks.

Shakib received another recognition on the same day before receiving the Player of the Month award from the ICC. He is back at the top of the ICC T20I & ODI All-Rounder Rankings after a stellar performance against Australia at home. After October 2017, Shakib rose to the top of the all-rounders rankings again in these two formats.

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