New Zealand youngster Rachin Ravindra capped his sensational first ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in India by winning the ICC Player of the Month award for October 2023.

New Zealand's Rachin Ravindra claims his first ICC Men's Player of the Month award thanks to a series of memorable knocks in the group stage of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 in India, while Hayley Matthews takes the ICC Men's Player of the Month award for October, the came to the fore with brilliant individual performances in the West Indies' short format clashes in Australia.

Ravindra edged out Indian opener Jasprit Bumrah and South African opener Quinton de Kock to bag the coveted award after his blistering start to the ongoing Cricket World Cup.

The 23-year-old Ravindra scored an unbeaten knock of 123 against England in the tournament opener and added another knock of 116 against Australia later in the month.

He continued to shine with stylish half-centuries against the Netherlands (51) and India (75) before his next century came in the thrilling encounter against Australia in Dharamsala - he scored 116 in 89 balls and took New Zealand within touching distance of a mammoth 389 target , before eventually coming up five runs short. Overall, Ravindra scored 406 runs at an average of 81.20 during his six games in October.

In total, Ravindra amassed 406 runs at an average of 81.20 in New Zealand's first six games at the World Cup, helping to put the Kiwis on the verge of reaching the semi-finals of the tournament.

“I am very grateful to win this award,” said Ravindra from India.

“It was a special month for me personally and for the team. Being able to play a World Cup in India was very special.”

While Ravindra remains among the leaders with the most runs scored in the World Cup, the young left-hander praised his teammates for allowing him to move to the top of the New Zealand batting order.

“Having support from the team helps a lot, being able to go out with a lot of freedom and play your natural game,” Ravindra added.

“The fortunate thing is that it was really nice to hit on the wickets, which suits my game in terms of being positive and moving the game forward.”