Abhishek Sharma and Kuldeep Yadav in action against Pakistan in the Asia Cup final. (AP)
India’s Abhishek Sharma and Kuldeep Yadav have been nominated for the ICC’s Men’s Player of the Month award for September. Both players have been nominated along with Zimbabwe’s Brian Bennett. who amassed 497 runs in nine T20Is last month.
Abhishek was one of the brightest stars for India at the recently concluded Asia Cup, where he made 314 runs in seven matches at a strike rate of 200. The southpaw also created history by reaching the highest batting rating recorded in men’s T20I history, with 931 points to his name.
Sharma made a 50+ score each against Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh in the Asia Cup, ensuring that India always got off the blocks quickly in the Powerplay and put pressure on the opposition bowlers.
A couple of India stars and Zimbabwe’s key batter from #T20WorldCup qualification in contention for the ICC Men’s Player of the Month honour ⭐
— ICC (@ICC) October 7, 2025
The 25-year-old made his T20I debut against Zimbabwe in July 2024 and has scored 849 runs in 24 matches at a strike rate of 196.08 with five fifties and two hundreds.
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If Abhishek was the batting mainstay, the bowling group was led by Kuldeep Yadav, who finished as the highest wicket-taker in the tournament. The 30-year-old left-arm wristspinner took 17 wickets in seven matches at an average of 9.29. The tournament marked Kuldeep’s return to India colours after he was not picked in any of the five Tests in England.
His best performance came in the tournament opener, when he took 4/7 in 2.1 overs against the United Arab Emirates, which helped bowl them out for a mere 57 runs. Kuldeep also played in the first Test match against West Indies at Ahmedabad, where he took a match haul of 4/48 as the hosts won by an innings and 140 runs.
Bennett had an excellent run in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Regional Final, where he made scores of 72, 65 and 111 in the first three matches. His batting form proved pivotal in Zimbabwe qualifying for the T20 World Cup in 2026.
