Bumrah wins Player of the Month award for June

It was a double delight for the Indian cricket team as Jasprit Bumrah and Smriti Mandhana won the ICC Player of the Month award by the global body for their respective heroics in the month of June. 

Bumrah won the men's award following his stellar T20 World Cup 2024 campaign in which he claimed Player of the Tournament honours, while Mandhana won the women's award for an impressive run across formats the three ODIs and a Test match against South Africa at home.

Bumrah beat India captain Rohit Sharma and Afghanistan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz to win the award in what was an action-filled month where India went on to win the T20 World Cup title in June. 

The India fast bowler played a pivotal role in the USA and Caribbean, taking 15 wickets at an average of 8.26, and an astonishing economy of 4.17. He joined former India captain Virat Kohli (a two-time winner) in the elusive list of India cricketers to claim the Men's T20 World Cup Player of the Tournament award.

"I am delighted to be named the ICC Men's Player of the Month for June," Bumrah said in the ICC statement. "It's a special honour for me following a memorable few weeks spent in the USA and West Indies. We have had a lot to celebrate as a team, and I'm delighted to be able to add this personal accolade to the list."

One of Bumrah's best performances came in the T20 World Cup final, when Heinrich Klaasen had singled-handedly reduced the chase to 30 off 30. The right-armer bowled two overs in the death, conceding just six runs, while picking up a wicket, which was enough to put the pressure back on South Africa, from which they eventually failed to recover.

Upon receiving the award, Bumrah paid tribute to the other two nominees. He said: "I wish to congratulate my captain Rohit Sharma and Rahmanullah Gurbaz for their excellent performances in the same period, and I am humbled to have been chosen as the winner."

Mandhana, on the other hand, beat England's Maia Bouchier and Sri Lanka's Vishmi Gunaratne to win the ICC Player of the Month award for the first time in her international career.

The India opener was exceptional across the three-match ODI series against South Africa where the home team scripted a whitewash. She became the first Indian women's player to smash back-to-back tons in ODI cricket, scoring 113 and 136 in the first two matches, before hitting 90 in the final tie. After her heroics in white-ball cricket, Manadhana notched up 149 runs in 161 deliveries in the one-off Test against the Proteas, while lacing a record 292-run opening stand with Shafali Verma.

"I'm glad to be named ICC Women's Player of the Month for the month of June. I'm really happy with the way I think the team has performed and I'm happy to contribute for us, winning the ODI and the Test series. Hopefully we can continue our form, and I can even further contribute to win matches for India," she said.