The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday (November 6) announced the ICC Player of the Month nominees for October 2025 for both men’s and women’s categories. Rohit Sharma has been overlooked despite his Player of the Series performance in Australia ODIs.
In the men’s category, three world-class spinners, Senuran Muthusamy, Noman Ali and Rashid Khan, are set to compete for the ICC Men’s Player of the Month award for October 2025 after excellent performances throughout the month.
On the other hand, three batting stars who excelled in the recent ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 shone and were nominated for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for October 2025. Laura Wolvaardt, Smriti Mandhana and Ash Gardner are fighting for the top honours.
ICC announces Player of the Month nominees for October 2025
South African all-rounder Senuran Muthusamy was recently nominated for the award for his dream all-round performance against Pakistan in the WTC Test series. The 31-year-old left-arm spinner bowled a career-best 11 for 174 in the first Test in Lahore, where he took six wickets in the first innings and five in the second.
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Muthusamy made a strong comeback in the second Test in Rawalpindi. His unbeaten inning of 89 helped the Proteas to a hard-fought win. In the two Tests, he scored 106 runs at an average of 53 and took 11 wickets at an excellent average of 18.36, earning him the Player of the Series title.
Meanwhile, Pakistan spinner Noman Ali has once again proved why he is one of the best red-ball spinners in the world at the moment. He finished the South Africa series as the highest wicket-taker, taking 14 wickets at an average of just 23.07. His brilliant spells of 6/112 and 4/79 led Pakistan to a memorable 93-run win in Lahore.
Rashid Khan is in the running to win the ICC Men’s Player of the Month award
The third contender is Afghanistan’s spin sensation Rashid Khan. The star spinner remained unbeaten in consecutive series against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. In five T20Is, Rashid took nine wickets at a very poor economy rate of 4.82.
He was also lethal during the ODI series against Bangladesh, where he took 11 wickets at an economy of only 2.73 to help Afghanistan win the series 3–0.
Laura Wolvaardt, on the other hand, led South Africa in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 with her calm leadership and consistent batting. Wolvaardt finished the tournament as the leading run scorer with 571 runs in 9 matches at an average of 71.38 and a strike rate of 98.79.
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Laura Wolvaardt, Smriti Mandhana and Ashley Gardner nominated for ICC Women’s Player of the Month award
She played one of the finest innings in World Cup history – a brilliant innings of 169 which took South Africa to a spectacular victory and into the Women’s World Cup final for the first time. The second nominee for this award is Indian star Smriti Mandhana. In the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025, she once again proved why she is India’s most reliable batsman.
After a slow start, he regained his momentum with strong innings of 80 runs against Australia and 88 runs against England and kept India in the contest till the end. Her best moment came in the match win against New Zealand, where she scored a brilliant 109 and shared a match-winning 212-run partnership with Pratika Raval.
Mandhana finished the 2025 World Cup as the second leading run scorer with 434 runs. The third candidate is Australian all-rounder Ashley Gardner. She performed brilliantly for Australia in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025, performing brilliantly with both bat and ball.
Gardner scored two brilliant centuries – 115 against New Zealand and 104 not out against England. Gardner finished the tournament as the third leading run scorer with 328 runs, and his performances helped him break into the top three in both the ODI batting and bowling rankings.
