Arafat Minhas Misses ICC Player of the Month as Marco Jansen Wins for October 2026
Marco Jansen won the ICC Men's Player of the Month for October 2026, beating Pakistan's Arafat Minhas and Shai Hope. Pakistan stay on one win in 2026. Details.
Arafat Minhas did not win the ICC Men's Player of the Month award for October 2026. The ICC gave it to South Africa all-rounder Marco Jansen on Friday 13 November. Jansen beat Pakistan's Minhas and West Indies captain Shai Hope. It is the first time Jansen has won it.
So Pakistan stay on one win this year, Sahibzada Farhan's award for February. Minhas was the fourth Pakistan player shortlisted in 2026, and the third to miss out. In the women's award, India's Deepti Sharma won for October. No Pakistan player was on that shortlist.
Marco Jansen won the October award ahead of Arafat Minhas
The ICC named Marco Jansen its Men's Player of the Month for October 2026 on 13 November. He won for his all-round play in South Africa's 2-1 Test series win over Australia. Arafat Minhas and Shai Hope were the other two names on the shortlist.
South Africa lost the first Test of that series and came back to win it. Jansen was central to the comeback. The ICC listed his key numbers:
- 85 in South Africa's first innings of the second Test in Gqeberha.
- Six wickets in that Test, which South Africa won by an innings and 31 runs to level the series at 1-1.
- A half-century and three more wickets in the third Test, which decided the series.
Jansen is 26. "Winning the ICC Men's Player of the Month award is a great honour for me, particularly after such a competitive series against Australia," he said in the ICC announcement.
The win also lifted South Africa back to second in the World Test Championship, on 71.43% from seven Tests, the ICC said. Pakistan are much further down. The current WTC points table after the Rawalpindi draw has them ninth on 7.50%.
The three October nominees had very different months
Jansen played three Tests, Minhas five ODIs and Hope six white-ball matches in October. Jansen took the most wickets, 13. Hope scored the most runs, 423. Minhas sat in between, with 149 runs and nine wickets, the ICC award page showed.
| Nominee | Country | Matches | Runs | Wickets | Key game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marco Jansen (winner) | South Africa | 3 Tests | 198 | 13 | 85 and six wickets in the Gqeberha Test |
| Arafat Minhas | Pakistan | 5 ODIs | 149 | 9 | 59 and 6 for 40 against England |
| Shai Hope | West Indies | 6 white-ball games | 423 | None | 162 not out in a chase of 352 |
A Test all-rounder who turned a series has a strong case against any white-ball month. That is not a knock on Minhas. Jansen was also top of the ICC Test all-rounder rankings when the ICC named the shortlist.
Arafat Minhas was named for his tri-series all-round play
Arafat Minhas made the shortlist for Pakistan's home ODI tri-series win in October. He scored 59 and took 6 for 40 against England, then hit 61 off 31 balls in the final against Sri Lanka as Pakistan chased 326. He was player of the series.
The ICC called his 6 for 40 the second-best ODI bowling figures by a Pakistan bowler at home. His 61 in the final came at a strike rate of almost 200, in a chase Pakistan completed to win the series.
When the shortlist came out on 5 November, we set out how fans could vote for Arafat Minhas from Pakistan. Voting closed on 10 November. The ICC does not publish vote counts or say how much weight the fan vote carries, so there is no way to tell how close he came.
Pakistan have one Player of the Month win in 2026
Pakistan's only ICC Player of the Month winner in 2026 is still Sahibzada Farhan, for February. Four Pakistan players have been shortlisted this year: Farhan, Fatima Sana, Gull Feroza and now Arafat Minhas. Three of them lost.
| Month | Pakistan nominee | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| February (men) | Sahibzada Farhan | Sahibzada Farhan |
| February (women) | Fatima Sana | Arundhati Reddy, India |
| May (women) | Gull Feroza | Lauren Bell, England |
| October (men) | Arafat Minhas | Marco Jansen, South Africa |
The full month-by-month record, with every men's and women's winner, is in our ICC Player of the Month 2026 winners list. With October done, the men's list now has ten names. South Africa join it for the first time this year.
Deepti Sharma won the women's award for October
India's Deepti Sharma won the ICC Women's Player of the Month for October 2026, also announced on 13 November. She scored 155 runs and took seven wickets as India won all six games against Zimbabwe. It is her second award.
Her best game was the second ODI, where she scored her second ODI hundred and took three wickets. She beat Bangladesh's Sobhana Mostary and Australia's Annabel Sutherland. No Pakistan woman was on the October shortlist.
How the ICC Player of the Month award works
The ICC names three men and three women each month, then announces one winner of each, usually in the middle of the next month. Fans can vote on the ICC website while voting is open. October's voting closed on 10 November.
The process runs in the same order each month:
- Early in the month, the ICC publishes three nominees for the previous month, with their numbers.
- Voting opens on the ICC website.
- Voting closes a few days later. For October it closed five days after the shortlist.
- The ICC announces the winners, often in the second week of the following month.
November's shortlist will come in early December. One Pakistan performance from November so far stands out: Saqib Khan took 7 for 130 on debut in Rawalpindi. The first Test draw against Sri Lanka is where that began. The second Test, from 17 November, will matter just as much.
Common questions
Who won the ICC Men's Player of the Month for October 2026?
South Africa all-rounder Marco Jansen. The ICC announced it on 13 November 2026.
Did Arafat Minhas win the award?
No. He was one of three nominees, with Jansen and Shai Hope, and Jansen won.
Why was Arafat Minhas nominated?
For the home ODI tri-series in October. He scored 59 and took 6 for 40 against England, and hit 61 off 31 in the final.
How many Pakistan players have won in 2026?
One. Sahibzada Farhan won the men's award for February 2026.
Who won the women's award for October 2026?
India's Deepti Sharma, for 155 runs and seven wickets against Zimbabwe. It is her second award.
When is the November shortlist announced?
Early in December, if the ICC keeps to its usual pattern. Voting then stays open for a few days.
How we verified this
What we checked and where we read it.
Checked on 14 November 2026, about 2 pm PKT. The winner, Jansen's figures, his quote and South Africa's WTC percentage come from the ICC announcement of the Men's Player of the Month for October, published on 13 November. The women's winner and her figures come from the ICC's Women's Player of the Month for October announcement of the same day. Each nominee's matches, runs and wickets, the voting close date and the reasons Minhas was named come from the ICC shortlist announcement of 5 November and the ICC award page, read when the shortlist came out. The Pakistan nominations table is from our own 2026 winners list, built from each monthly ICC announcement.
About the author
Senior Writer, Public Services and Technology
Shahid joined us in 2024 as an author. He is a senior contributor to Pakistan's leading technology websites. He writes detailed articles, mostly covering his expertise in the latest tech, mobiles, apps, gadgets, and step-by-step guides. His ideology is to help people understand the latest trends and explain complex methods through very easy-to-understand guides.
