ICC announces Men's and Women's Player of the Month for January

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has named the men's and women's players of the month. Shubman Gill and Grace Scrivens upstaged their rivals to pocket the ICC award for the month of January.

Gill had enjoyed a magnificent run in January, especially in ODI cricket, hammering 207 in three innings against Sri Lanka, including 70 and 116 in the first and third ODI.

Nominated alongside Devon Conway and Mohammed Siraj, the right-handed batter scored his maiden Test hundred against Bangladesh in December 2022. However, he had a lean run in the T20 series against Sri Lanka.

The Punjab-born batter's standout performance came against New Zealand, smashing 208 against them in the first ODI against Hyderabad to power India to 349-8.

The 23-year-old finished the series with scores of 40* and 112 in the next two games. India beat the Black Caps by 3-0 as Gill finished with a staggering 360 runs.

Grace Scrivens beats Phoebe Litchfield and Beth Mooney to win ICC Player of the Month award

Grace Scrivens. (Image Credits: Getty)

England all-arounder Grace Scrivens remains uncapped at the international level but led England to the final of the U-19 T20 World Cup last month. The Kent player played a starring role with both bat and ball, earning the ICC Player of the Tournament award.

Her 293 runs at 41.85 and striking at 129.07 was the second-highest of the tournament, while Scrivens' off-spin amounted to nine scalps at 7.11. The youngster also maintained a stunning economy rate of 3.09. She hit three consecutive half-centuries, including a best of 93 off 56 deliveries against Ireland.

The finest performance in the tournament came in the semi-final against Australia when she scored a run-a-ball 20 to propel England to 99. Scrivens also picked up figures of 2/8, including the crucial wicket to stun the opposition.

Nevertheless, England fell short against India in the final, losing by seven wickets. However, Scrivens seems to have all the makings of a fantastic international player.