• Source:JND
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India all-rounder Deepti Sharma has won the ICC Women's Player of the Month for December 2023 beating teammate Jemimah Rodrigues and Zimbabwe’s Precious Marange after the all-round performance in the home season. In the men's category, Australia skipper Pat Cummins clinched the award outclassing Taijul Islam of Bangladesh and Glenn Phillips of New Zealand.

Deepti won the accolade for the first time for his batting and bowling brilliance in all three formats securing notable victories for India over strong opposition in England and Australia.

In the one-off Test against England, the all-rounder struck 67 &20 and returned with the figures of 9-39 in the match as India registered the historic win at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

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She continued this run in the following Test triumph against Australia, top-scoring with a crucial 78 runs in the middle order as India won by eight wickets.

The subsequent ODI matches against Australia also provided plenty of highlights for Sharma, including figures of five for 38 in the second encounter as India fell agonisingly short of victory.

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“It’s an honour to be voted the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for December. I feel very good about my game at the moment and I’m glad that reflected in my performances for India last month against strong opponents. I’ll continue to work hard so that I can have more moments like this in the future," she said in a statement.

“I’m grateful to have been chosen for this award and the fact that fans around the world also voted for me makes it extra special. I want to thank them and my teammates for helping me win this award,” she added.

Meanwhile, Cummins was rewarded for his efforts in the recently concluded three-match Test series against Pakistan. In the second Test against Pakistan, he bagged 10 wickets to rattle Pakistan's batting order and snatched victory in the match after leading his side to ODI World Cup title in India in November last year.

Cummins is nominated for the top men’s award in the ICC Awards 2023 for his performances during the calendar year – the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy – and will be hoping to add to his collection of personal accolades following a fine year in all formats.

It’s been a great year for the group across all formats and to cap it off with a strong performance against a challenging Pakistan side was a nice way to finish 2023. Overall we are very pleased with the summer so far and looking ahead to the West Indies and New Zealand series," Cummins said.