New Delhi: India's young batter Shubman Gill was announced as the ICC Men's Player of the Month for September 2023 by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday thanks to his impressive outings in recent times. He amassed 480 ODI runs at an impressive average of 80 this month stitching a series of impressive knocks. Shubman Gill, who bats for Pubjab, trumped compatriot Mohammed Siraj and England's opener Dawid Malan to bag the award.
The 24-year-old scored 302 runs with an average of 75.5 in the Asia Cup, providing India some solid opening stands in the tournament. Also, he was prolific against Australia in bilateral series before the World Cup and also smashed a century in the second ODI. The batter reaped his reward for scoring three fifties last month and he played a knock of less than 50 runs only on a couple of occasions from the last eight innings.
Gill is at No. 2 in the ICC Men's ODI batting rankings currently and the credit goes to his remarkable record which reads 1,917 runs in 35 games at an average of 66.1 and a strike rate of 102.84. The batter had missed India's two matches of the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup as he was down with a fever but the team will be hoping for his return in the upcoming games.
Reacting on achieving the accolade, Gill expressed his delight saying the award will motivate him to excel. "I am delighted to have won the ICC Player of the Month award for the month of September. It's a great privilege to represent India at the international level and contribute towards the team's cause. This award will further motivate me to continue to seek excellence and make the country proud," Gill said.
"I managed to make a handy contribution towards the team which had the fortune of winning the Asia Cup 2023 and then, follow it up with an ODI series win against Australia in September. I take this opportunity to thank all my teammates, family and the coaches, without whom this achievement would not have been possible," the Punjab batter concluded.
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