Pakistan’s ace speedster Shaheen Afridi has been named among ICC Men’s Player of the Month nominees for April 2024.
Gerhard Erasmus of Namibia and UAE’s Muhammad Waseem are also in the running for the award.
Shaheen has been nominated after his impressive performance during the recently-concluded T20I series against New Zealand.
“The Pakistan pace spearhead showed some excellent signs on the eve of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup as he finished as the leading wicket-taker in his side's T20I series against New Zealand last month,” the ICC stated in a press release.
“Shaheen picked up the only wicket in the rain-affected opening match of the series with the Kiwis and then followed that up with two eye-catching efforts in the second and fifth games of the series in Rawalpindi and Lahore.
“The left-armer looked at his brilliant best when collecting figures of 3/13 to help bundle New Zealand out for just 90 in a Player of the Match performance in the second clash of the series and produced an even better game in the final contest of the series as Pakistan squared the series at two wins apiece.
“In that decisive game, Shaheen took 4/30 in another Player of the Match effort and his eight wickets overall for the series ensured he also claimed the Player of the Series award.”
Meanwhile, Namibia’s skipper, Erasmus, was in superb form during last month's tour of Oman as he bagged two Player of the Match performances during the five-match T20I series.
Waseem, the explosive right-hander, looked in great touch at the ACC Premier Cup and helped himself to a third T20I century. He also had scores of 65, 45 and 48 in three consecutive matches.
- Shaheen Afridi