The ICC announced its Player of the Month nominees for October 2026 on November 5, with three men and three women shortlisted on the basis of performances recorded between October 1 and October 31. The men’s nominees are South Africa’s Marco Jansen, Pakistan’s Arafat Minhas and West Indies captain Shai Hope, while the women’s shortlist features Bangladesh’s Sobhana Mostary, Australia’s Annabel Sutherland and India’s Deepti Sharma.
Marco Jansen had a commanding October in Test cricket, accumulating 198 runs and claiming 13 wickets across the month. His standout contribution came in the 2nd Test against Australia, where he struck 85 runs and returned figures of 5/33 and 1/34. Those performances lifted him to the top of the ICC Men’s Test all-rounders’ rankings, making him the first South African to hold that position since Kagiso Rabada led the bowlers’ table in 2024 and since Vernon Philander topped the all-rounders’ list in August 2014.
Arafat Minhas, the 21-year-old left-arm spinning all-rounder, was named Player of the Series in the Pakistan Tri-Series. He scored 149 runs at a strike rate of 119.20 and took 9 wickets at an economy of 5.13 across the tournament. His most impactful individual displays came against England, where he took 6 wickets for 40 runs, and against Sri Lanka in Lahore, where he struck 61 off 59 balls and contributed 31 in the final.
Shai Hope produced three unbeaten centuries during October, amassing 261 runs across five T20Is against India at a strike rate of 190.51. He struck 162 not out in the first match at New Chandigarh and followed that with 102 not out in the second match at Ranchi. He also remained unbeaten in the fourth T20I at Hyderabad, underlining a remarkable run of form for the West Indies captain.
Who are the women’s nominees and what did they achieve in October?
Deepti Sharma earned her nomination through an all-round showing in India’s ICC Women’s Championship ODI series against Zimbabwe at home, which India won 3-0. She scored 106 not out with the bat and took 5 wickets at an economy of 3.42 across the three ODIs. In the T20I series that preceded the ODIs, Sharma also contributed 49 runs off 37 balls and picked up 2 wickets in three matches against Zimbabwe. She had previously won the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award in December 2023.
Sobhana Mostary made history for Bangladesh women during the ICC Women’s Championship series in Australia. She struck 118 off 134 balls in the 2nd ODI at Brisbane, which stands as the highest score by a Bangladesh woman batter against Australia. She finished the series with 129 runs at a strike rate of 73.71.
Annabel Sutherland contributed with both bat and ball as Australia swept Bangladesh 3-0 in the ODI series. She scored 99 runs at a strike rate of 132.00 and took 6 wickets at an economy of 4.12 across the three matches. Her best individual performance came in the 1st ODI, where she returned figures of 4/30, and she added 74 not out in the 3rd ODI. In the T20I series against New Zealand that also fell within October, Sutherland scored 19 runs and took 1 wicket across three matches.
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