Mushfiqur awarded ICC men's player of the month for May

Bangladesh's Mushfiqur Rahim was elected as ICC's Men's Player of the Month for May 2021, a press release from ICC read.

Mushfiqur played one Test and three ODIs against Sri Lanka in the month of May where he helped Bangladesh win their first ODI series against Sri Lanka by scoring 125 in the second ODI.

Former India batsman VVS Laxman said that Mushfiqur had been a 'picture of consistency' during the series against the Lankans. "Even after 15 years at the highest level, Mushfiqur has not lost his appetite for run-making. He was at his imperious best in the one-day series at home against Sri Lanka, a picture of consistency with the highlight being 125 in the second match which helped his side secure a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match series. What made his feat even more notable was that it was Bangladesh's first-ever ODI series triumph against the 1996 World Cup champions. To shore up the middle order and don the wicket-keeping gloves speaks volumes of his fitness and skills," Laxman was quoted as saying in ICC's website.

Mushfiqur struck 237 runs during the Lankan ODI series at home and most of them were rescue jobs with the team under pressure and his crucial runs helped Bangladesh seal the series.

Pakistan's Hasan Ali and Sri Lankan's Praveen Jayawickrama were the other short-listed players. Hasan had picked up 14 wickets in the Test series against Zimbabwe while Praveen picked up 11 wickets in the lone Test against Bangladesh which was also his debut Test.

All-rounder Kathryn Bryce from Scotland was voted the ICC Women's Player of the Month for May 2021. She is the first player from Scotland, male, or female, to make it to the top 10 of the batting or bowling lists in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings released recently. Kathryn played four T20Is against Ireland where she scored 96 runs and took 5 wickets with an economy rate of 4.76 in the month of May.