Shubman Gill named ICC Player of the Month for September, becomes first five-time winner

Indian Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill was named ICC Player of the Month for September, becoming the first player to win the award five times, the announcement published on October 13, 2026.

September saw a packed schedule for Indian cricket: the men’s team swept Afghanistan 3-0 in a T20I series and then beat the West Indies in a three-match ODI series, while a separate Indian squad defended the Asian Games gold in Japan. In the Asian Games the men’s side defeated Sri Lanka in the semi-finals and Pakistan in the final, and India also claimed the Suzuki Cup with a 2-run victory over Japan; the Indian women won both the Asia Cup and the 2026 Asian Games.

Gill’s individual performances in the ODI series against the West Indies underpinned his selection, with scores of 110 in the first ODI in Thiruvananthapuram and 223 runs off 133 balls in the second match, which helped India chase a total of 406 and secure an eight-wicket win. He was chosen ahead of India’s Abhishek Sharma and Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza, who were also in contention for the monthly honour.

This is Gill’s fifth ICC Player of the Month award, following wins in January and September 2023, and in February and July 2025, a sequence that the announcement described as a record fifth time for any player.

Indian opening batter Shefali Verma claimed the women’s Player of the Month for the second time, credited to her performances in the Asia Cup and the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.

With Gill and Shefali Verma each taking the men’s and women’s monthly awards, it marks only the third occasion that Indian players have won both accolades in the same month; the previous instances were Jasprit Bumrah and Smriti Mandhana in June 2024, and Abhishek Sharma and Smriti Mandhana in September 2025.

The honours cite individual contributions across the fixtures India contested in September, with Gill’s batting in the India–West Indies ODI series singled out for the men’s award and Verma’s Asia Cup and Asian Games form recognised for the women’s award.