Asif Ali beat Shakib-Wiese to become ICC players of the Month

|| CF DESK ||

Pakistan’s Asif Ali and Laura Delany of Ireland have been named ICC Players of the Month for October.

Ali won the men's trophy over Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan and Namibia's David Wiese, while Delany won the women's prize over teammate Gaby Lewis and Zimbabwe's Mary-Anne Musonda.

Ali went undefeated in three matches for Pakistan at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in October, scoring with a strike rate of 273.68.

“Helping your team to win, especially from the jaws of defeat is what makes Asif Ali special. And he did that not just once but twice. Although he scored considerably less than other two nominated players, the contribution he made and the pressure situations from where he snatched the victories made all the difference” ICC Voting Academy member Irfan Pathan said.

He first grabbed headlines at the tournament by blasting 27 not out from 12 balls to help Pakistan defeat New Zealand, but it was what he did in the next game that made him a household name.

With Pakistan needing 24 runs off the final two overs against Afghanistan, Ali hammered four sixes in the 19th.

Shakib was nominated for the second time in October, earlier he was nominated for his performance in July and eventually won that award as first Bangladeshi cricketer.