India’s star pacer Jasprit Bumrah was on Tuesday nominated for the ICC Men’s Player of the Month award for December 2024 following his standout performance against Australia in the just-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy, reported PTI.
Earlier on December, Bumrah picked up 22 wickets in the three Tests at a phenomenal average of 14.22. He finished the five Tests with 32 wickets in his hands, even though he could not bowl in Australia’s second innings at Sydney because of a back spasm.
Bumrah’s standout spells, including nine wickets in both the Brisbane and Melbourne Tests, kept India in the competition. He also won the Player of the Series award for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
In the first innings of the fifth Test against Australia at Sydney, Bumrah scored 22 off 17 balls, which is the highest score by an Indian captain in BT 2024-25.
His remarkable performances also earned Bumrah the highest rating points by any Indian bowler in the ICC Test Player Rankings.
Other players in the list:
Along with Jasprit Bumrah, the other player who has been nominated for the prestigious award is Australian skipper Pat Cummins, who led his team to win BGT series against India by 3-1. In three Tests, he played in December, Cummins claimed 17 wickets at an average of 17.64.
In addition to his bowling exploits, Cummins contributed with the bat, and scored 49 and 41 in Melbourne. He also picked up 6 wickets in the match as Australia secured another important win.
The third in the list is South African seamer Dane Paterson, who took 13 wickets in two Tests at an average of 16.92 and helped the Proteas seal a place against the Aussies in the World Test Championship final later this year.
His figures of 5/71 against Sri Lanka and 5/61 against Pakistan played a key role in South Africa’s victories.
