Mayank Agarwal, Ajaz Patel among nominees for ICC Player of the Month December 2021

The ICC Player of the Month nominations for the month of December 2021 are out. As for the men's category, the three nominees happen to be Indian opener Mayank Agarwal, along with New Zealand spinner Ajaz Patel and Australian seamer Mitchell Starc. Let us analyse their performance last month that led to their nomination.

Mayank Agarwal
During the home Test series against New Zealand, opener Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and KL Rahul missed out. Mayank stepped up to the occasion and slammed a century. In the two Tests, he scored 276 runs at an average of 69.00, including a couple of half-centuries. During the final Test in Mumbai, he was the Man of the Match, as the Indians defeated the Kiwis to win the series 1-0. He also was involved in a decent 117-run stand with Rahul during the Boxing Day Test in Centurion against South Africa, as India won it.

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Ajaz Patel
Ajaz created history during the Test series in India. In the Mumbai Test, he claimed a ten-for in an innings, thus becoming only the third bowler in the format after Jim Laker and Anil Kumble to do so. In total, he claimed 14 wickets but was overshadowed by the underperformance of the Kiwi batters. It happened to be his only Test in the month.

Micthell Starc
Starc has been impressive for Australia in the ongoing Ashes Test series against England. Australia already has an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-Test series, while he claimed 14 wickets in the three Tests last month at 19.64 to get the job done. He also contributed effectively with the bat, scoring 117 at 58.50. As a result, Australia has retained the prestigious Ashes urn.