Mohammed Siraj among nominees for ICC Men’s Player of the Month Award

DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday unveiled the nominees for the Men’s Player of the Month Award for August 2025, including India’s pacer Mohammed Siraj.

Siraj, who helped India draw the five-match away Test series against England, faces stiff competition from experienced New Zealand pacer Matt Henry and West Indies’ Jayden Seales.

Henry was instrumental in Black Caps’ 2-0 away Test series victory over Zimbabwe, while Seales played a pivotal role in leading West Indies to a historic ODI series triumph over Pakistan.

Although Siraj played only one international fixture – the Oval Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy – his sensational performance earned him the nomination for the prestigious award.

The right-arm pacer, who led India’s bowling attack in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence, picked up nine wickets at an average of 21.11 to clinch the must-win game to draw the series.

Mohammed Siraj claimed four wickets in the first innings and followed it up with a stellar five-wicket haul in the second, and was thus named the Player of the Match.

Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Henry, who bagged the Player of the Series award for taking 16 wickets at an astounding average of just 9.12 in their away series victory over Zimbabwe, was also nominated for the award.

Henry dismantled Zimbabwe in the first innings of the series opener by registering magnificent bowling figures of 6/39 and followed it up with three more scalps in the second. He finished with match figures of 9/90 and consequently bagged the Player of the Match award.

He carried his form in the subsequent fixture, registering another five-wicket haul in the first innings. The right-arm pacer added two more to his tally in the second innings and led New Zealand to a commanding 359-run victory.

West Indies’ pacer Seales was equally impressive in the previous month as he bagged 10 wickets in three matches during their ODI series victory over Pakistan after a 34-year hiatus.

Seales had a contrasting start to the series as he could make one scalp in the opening fixture and went for 59 runs as Pakistan cruised to a comfortable victory.

The right-arm pacer bounced back in the subsequent fixture and took three wickets, including the prized scalps of Babar Azam and Saim Ayub, helping West Indies to force the series into the decider.

Seales registered his career-best bowling figures of 6/18 in the third and final ODI of the series, which was also the third-best figures by a West Indies bowler in the format.

The emerging pacer, as a result, finished with 10 scalps at an average of 10 and an economy rate of just 4.10.