DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday, unveiled the nominees for the Men’s Player of the Month Award for December 2024, including Australia’s Test captain Pat Cummins.
Cummins faces stiff competition from India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and South Africa’s Dane Paterson, who played a pivotal role in leading the Proteas to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
The right-arm pacer was instrumental in Australia’s 3-1 series victory over India in the recently-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) as he picked up 17 wickets across three Tests at an impressive average of 17.64.
His best bowling performance in December came in the Adelaide Test, where he registered 5/57 to help the hosts to seal a commanding 10-wicket victory.
Pat Cummins also made handy contributions with the bat, the highlight of which was his crucial knocks of 49 and 41 in Melbourne Test.
Meanwhile, Bumrah, who was India’s standout performer in the BGT, has also been nominated for the prestigious award, thanks to his consistent bowling exploits in the previous month.
The right-arm pacer 22 wickets in the three Tests in December at an astounding average of 14.22 and was subsequently named the Player of the Series.
His best performance came in the Brisbane and Melbourne Tests, where he picked up nine wickets each and single-handedly kept India in contention to retain the trophy.
South Africa’s Paterson was equally impressive in December as the right-arm pacer claimed 13 wickets in two Tests at an average of 16.92.
His brilliant bowling figures of 5/71 against Sri Lanka and 5/61 against Pakistan were pivotal in securing the WTC final spot for South Africa.
- Pat Cummins
