Another historic and proud moment has been recorded for Indian cricket at the global level, where the International Cricket Council i.e. ICC has officially announced the prestigious 'Player of the Month' awards for September 2026. Indian cricket's dominance remained intact in this prestigious international honor list. Indian men's cricket team's current Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill has been selected as the best international player of the month of September in the men's category and explosive female opener Shafali Verma in the women's category. By winning this title for a record fifth time, Gill has achieved the top position among the selected legends of the world, while Shefali Verma has hoisted the flag of Indian women's cricket by achieving this special feat for the second time at the international level. 223 runs on 133 balls and the fastest double century in ODI history: Shubman Gill's unprecedented storm Indian Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill has been awarded this international honor for his incredible and extraordinary batting performance in the historic ODI series played against West Indies. The 27-year-old Indian captain blew away the Caribbean bowling attack and made the whole world a fan of his technique and aggression. In the first match of the series, at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Gill played a brilliant century of 110 runs full of wisdom and finesse, due to which India defeated the visiting team by eight wickets. After this, in the very next match, he performed a historic feat which forced him to rewrite the pages of cricket history. Chasing the mountain-like target of 406 runs, Captain Gill played a stormy innings of 223 runs in just 133 balls. This proved to be the fastest double century in the entire history of ODI international cricket. On the basis of his magical innings, India easily achieved the mammoth target of 406 runs by losing just two wickets and with 39 balls remaining. With this latest crowning, Shubman Gill has equaled the world record of West Indies captain Hayley Matthews, who has won the title of ICC Player of the Month five times. Gill has become the first male cricketer in the world to win this prestigious monthly honor on five separate occasions. Earlier, he had received this award in January 2023 and September 2023, after which in the year 2025, he also received this honor in the months of February and July on the basis of his explosive innings. Sharing his reaction on the official ICC platform, Gill said that winning this award for the fifth time is a very happy and proud moment for him. Expressing his gratitude to the selection panel, he said that it always feels special to be a part of a historic run chase in front of our home fans, as the unmatched love of the Indian supporters always gives extra energy and motivation to the team on the field. Shefali Verma dominated in Asia Cup and Asian Games: History repeated with 360 runs and 6 wickets. In the women's category, India's strong opener Shefali Verma won the ICC Women's Player of the Month honor on the basis of her unmatched and multidimensional performance in continental tournaments. In the recently concluded Women's Asia Cup, Shefali was the top scorer of the entire tournament. He scored a total of 360 runs while thrashing the bowlers at an incredible strike rate of 184.61 and also took six important wickets with his spin bowling. Soon after this, Shefali's bat roared fiercely in the Asian Games also. In the semi-final knockout match, he played an unbeaten century against Bangladesh to get the team a ticket to the final, and then in the gold medal title match, he played a central role in India winning the historic gold medal by playing a blazing inning of 48 runs against Sri Lanka. This is the second Player of the Month award of her career, earlier she had received this honor after her match-winning performance in the Women's World Cup final against South Africa at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai in November 2025. India's double victory in a single month: A unique record created in world cricket. This joint achievement of Shubhman Gill and Shefali Verma has set another big record. This is the fifth time in the history of international cricket when men and women players of the same country's cricket board have won both the ICC Player of the Month awards in the same month. Even in this rare record, Indian cricket has dominated the most, because India has achieved this feat for the third time. Earlier in June 2024, fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and star female batsman Smriti Mandhana had won this honor together, while in September 2025, the pair of explosive young batsmen Abhishek Sharma and Smriti Mandhana had achieved this historic achievement. Now in 2026, the pair of Gill and Shefali have once again proved that Indian cricket has become the most powerful and consistently performing force in the world in the present era.