Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma nominated in ICC Women's Player of the Month for July

India's opening pair of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma have been named in the nominees for ICC Player of the Month for July 2024. The duo is also joined by veteran Sri Lankan opener Chamari Athapaththu to complete the list of nominees.

Athapaththu had an inspirational Women's Asia Cup campaign that helped Sri Lanka be crowned as champions for the first time, beating India in the final. She scored a sensational 119* against Malaysia, which is also her career-best score.

The southpaw then scored 63 in the semifinal against Pakistan and also 61 in the final against India to round up an incredible tournament for her. In five innings, she scored a staggering 304 runs at an average of 101.33 and a strike rate of 146.85. Such staggering numbers helped her win the Player of the Tournament and become a contender for the ICC Player of the Month award.

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Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma also had impressive performances in the Women's Asia Cup

Smriti Mandhana kickstarted the month of July with a sensational 149 against South Africa in the one-off Test. She then had scores of 46 and 54* in the two innings of the T20Is against the same opposition. The southpaw continued her red-hot form in the Women's Asia Cup as well.

In four innings, Mandhana scored 173 runs which is the second most from the Indian team in that tournament, at an average of 57.66 and a strike rate of 137.30. She also top-scored for India in the final with 60 runs off 47 balls albeit in a losing cause. Mandhana has already won the ICC Player of the Month award in June.

Shafali Verma also had a memorable one-off Test against South Africa as she scored a sensational double-hundred, becoming only the second Indian women's cricketer to do so after Mithali Raj. Thanks to her 205, India scored 603/6 dec. which is the highest score ever in Women's Tests.

The swashbuckling right-hander was the second-highest run-scorer at the Women's Asia Cup, behind Chamari Athapaththu with 200 runs at a strike rate of more than 140. Her blazing knock of 81 off just 48 balls against Nepal is her highest T20I score.