Johannesburg [South Africa], February 8 (ANI): South Africa women’s coach Hilton Moreeng heaped praises on Shabnim Ismail after the all-rounder was named as the inaugural winner of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s Player of the Month for January.

Shabnim won the award for her performances across three ODIs and two T20Is during the month. She took seven wickets in the victorious ODI series against Pakistan, before taking five wickets in the second T20I against the same opposition.

“Shabnim has been a colossal performer for the Momentum Proteas over the years and I have no doubt she will go down as one of the legends of the game. She continues to get stronger with each game for South Africa and I can see she is now really enjoying her cricket,” said Moreeng in Cricket South Africa (CSA) release.

“Her performances in January is testament to her maturity. She is at the peak of her game and you could see how dangerous she was throughout the series against Pakistan. Her winning this ICC Award is fully deserved and will only serve to inspire others around her to follow in her footsteps in the months and years ahead. We are very proud of her,” he added.

Amongst her outstanding performances was her career-best five for 12 in the second T20I. She also became the first Proteas player – male or female – to take 100 T20 international wickets.

“I’m really happy and grateful to be voted as the best in the month of January. It just shows that hard work during the lockdown has really paid off for me,” said Shabnim.

“This accolade would never have been possible if it wasn’t for my team-mates so I’m grateful and thankful that they are on my side and we have a really good team,” she added.

Last week, Shabnim overtook Megan Schutt of Australia to second place in the ICC Women’s T20I Player Rankings after playing an important part in a 2-1 series win over Pakistan. (ANI)