Gill, Abhishek and Raza Shortlisted for ICC Men's Player of the Month for September

India's golden September has been recognised by the ICC, with Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma both shortlisted for the Men's Player of the Month award alongside Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza. Gill's nomination was all but inevitable. The India captain piled up 333 runs in just two ODIs against the West Indies, beginning with 110 in the series opener at Thiruvananthapuram before unleashing a blistering 223 off 133 balls — the fastest double hundred in ODI history. India chased a mammoth 406 with eight wickets and 39 balls to spare. It was his second ODI double century, and it marked the fifth time Gill has been in contention for the monthly honour. Abhishek Sharma, who won the award last September, forced his way back into the race with 229 runs in four T20 Internationals. His 108 off 34 balls against Afghanistan at the Feroz Shah Kotla was the fastest T20I hundred by an Indian, eclipsing Rohit Sharma's 35-ball record from 2017, and the quickest by any batter from a Full Member nation. Zimbabwe's Raza was the leading run-scorer in the home ODI series against Australia with 57, 45 and an unbeaten 81, taking three wickets at an economy of 5.46, and also contributed 90 runs and two wickets in the T20Is. In the women's category, Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu was shortlisted alongside India's Shree Charani and Shafali Verma.