Who is Noman Ali, Pakistan's 38-year-old spinner, who won ICC Men's Player of the Month award?

Losing the first Test by an innings and 47 runs to England on home soil was a humiliation like no other for Pakistan. Determined to turn it around in the next two Tests, the selectors led by Aleem Dar and Aaqib Javed, made a series of bold calls, the highlight of which was the axing of star batter Babar Azam.

But, the show-stopper proved to be a certain 38-year-old. Noman Ali, who was picked along with fellow spinner Sajid Khan, spun the daylights out of the English batters in the second and third Tests in Multan and Rawalpindi respectively, to inspire Pakistan to a historic come-from-behind series triumph.

Ali took 11 wickets in the second Test and followed it up with nine wickets in Rawalpindi. He also contributed 78 runs.

Ali, who took 20 wickets at an average of 13.85 in the series, was deservedly declared the ICC Men's Player of the Month for October, today. New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr, who was instrumental in her side’s win at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in the UAE last month, was voted ICC Women’s Player of the Month. The duo won after a vote held among fans registered at icc-cricket.com and a specialist panel comprising ICC Hall of Famers, former international players, and media representatives.

Left-arm spinner Ali entered the top 10 of the ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings for the first time. He is the first Pakistani male cricketer to win the ICC Player of the Month award since Azam in August 2023.

"I am delighted to be named the ICC Men’s Player of the Month and deeply grateful to all my teammates who helped me put my best performances forward to help Pakistan win a historic home Test series against England,” Ali said.

A late bloomer, Ali made his Test debut in 2021, against South Africa in Karachi. He has played 17 Tests, taking 67 wickets at an average of 27.65.

Interestingly, both Ali and leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood were released from the squad for the first Test in Multan after they failed the fitness test. Pakistan went on to lose it by an innings. Ahead of the second Test, too, Ali failed the fitness test conducted by the PCB team trainers twice but was still picked for the second Test upon Javed's insistence, primarily because the same pitch was reused for the second Test.