Overview
- Men’s nominees are three spinners — Pakistan’s Noman/Nauman Ali, South Africa’s Senuran Muthusamy and Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan — named for standout October returns across Tests and white-ball cricket.
- Noman Ali earned his place with a 10-wicket match in Lahore that set up Pakistan’s win over South Africa, adding further wickets in Rawalpindi to finish as the series’ leading bowler.
- Muthusamy followed career-best figures of 11 wickets in Lahore with an unbeaten 89 in Rawalpindi to level the series, securing the Player of the Series award.
- Rashid Khan dominated limited-overs series, taking 11 wickets in Afghanistan’s 3-0 ODI sweep of Bangladesh and nine more across T20Is against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
- Women’s shortlist features India’s Smriti Mandhana, South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt and Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner for World Cup displays, with Mandhana’s 80, 88 and 109 in key games, Wolvaardt’s 169 in the semifinal, and Gardner’s two centuries and seven wickets; media also notes no Indian men on the list and reports differing run totals for Wolvaardt, underscoring the month-specific criteria.