Mushfiqur Rahim receives nomination for ICC Men's Player of the Month May 2021

Former Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim is among three candidates for the ICC Men's Player of the Month award for May 2021. Pakistan fast bowler Hasan Ali and Sri Lanka's Praveen Jayawickrama are the other two in contention to win the award.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) initiated the Men's Player of the Month award in 2021. Indian wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant was the first cricketer to win the award, thanks to his excellent performances in January 2021.

Pant's compatriots Ravichandran Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar received the award in February and March respectively. In April 2021, Pakistan captain Babar Azam became the first non-Indian to be adjudged the ICC Men's Player of the Month.

On Tuesday (June 8), the ICC declared Hasan Ali, Praveen Jayawickrama and Mushfiqur Rahim as the nominees for the ICC Men's Player of the Month award for May 2021.

The ICC Men's Player of the Month nominees for May are in 👀Hasan Ali 🇵🇰 14 Test wickets at 8.92Praveen Jayawickrama 🇱🇰 11 Test wickets at 16.18Mushfiqur Rahim 🇧🇩 237 ODI runs at 79.00Vote now 🗳️ https://t.co/PPTfbb1PT5#ICCPOTM pic.twitter.com/C9IFIyI35A

— ICC (@ICC) June 8, 2021

How Mushfiqur Rahim, Hasan Ali and Praveen Jayawickrama performed in May 2021?

Mushfiqur Rahim scored 80 runs in the second Test against Sri Lanka and followed it up with 237 runs in three ODI matches against the Islanders. Rahim's fantastic performances took Bangladesh to the top of the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League standings.

Pakistan's Hasan Ali played two Test matches against Zimbabwe in Harare. The right-arm fast bowler scalped 14 wickets, including a couple of five-wicket hauls, to help Pakistan win the series quite comfortably. In addition, he also scored 30 runs in the first Test.

The first bowler to take twin five-wicket hauls on Test debut in 33 years.Take a bow, Praveen Jayawickrama 👏#SLvBAN pic.twitter.com/3IFL5hk7DZ

— ICC (@ICC) May 4, 2021

Meanwhile, Praveen Jayawickrama made his Test debut against Bangladesh. The Sri Lankan left-arm spin bowler picked up six wickets in the first innings and took five more in the second innings to end with 11 wickets on Test debut.

It will be interesting to see which Asian player manages to capture the ICC Men's Player of the Month award for May 2021.

---

How much are you enjoying Sportskeeda's cricket coverage? Please spend 30 seconds in answering this survey so that we can better understand how to serve your cricket needs.