India's Deepti Sharma wins ICC Women's Player of the Month for December

Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma won the ICC Women's Player of the Month award for December. She beat teammate Jemimah Rodrigues and Zimbabwe's 41-year-old spinner Precious Marange to win her first such honor.

Deepti starred for India in the back-to-back home series against England and Australia in the month. In India's massive innings win in the one-off Test against England, she picked up nine wickets with an exceptional display of classic off-spin bowling. She also contributed 67 runs with the bat at No. 7.

Against Australia, she was the fourth-highest run-scorer in the Test, which India won, with 78 runs and among the top two wicket-takers in both the ODI (seven scalps at an average of 20.86) and T20I (five wickets at an average of 15.60) legs.

India women don't get to play frequently enough for players to cement a sustained role in the side. However, December was crucial for Deepti to become an ever-so-important spinner and lower-order batter for the team.

It also showed, though, that she has some work to do on her lower-order hitting in white-ball cricket.

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"It's an honor" - Deepti Sharma

In an official statement, Deepti said she was in a good space with her game and felt proud and honored to be recognized for her performances.

“It’s an honor 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.

“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,” Deepti added.

India women don't have an international series scheduled for the near future.