IND vs ENG: Even the pain of defeat from England did not go away, now ICC gave a big blow to Shubman Gill

New Delhi. The Indian team’s tour of England was disappointing. First faced defeat in the T20 series, then lost the ODI series also by 1-2. The target was certainly big at the historic Lord’s ground, but India lost by a close margin, which broke hearts even more. Captain Shubhman Gill had not even forgotten the sorrow of this defeat when the International Cricket Council gave him a bad news. Actually, not Shubman Gill has been selected as the ICC Player of the Month ‘June 2026’, but New Zealand fast bowler Nathan Smith, who played an important role in the 2-1 Test series win against England.

The Kiwi player has achieved this prestigious honor, leaving behind contenders like Indian captain and Bangladeshi all-rounder Mosaddek Hossain. 27-year-old Smith took the maximum of 16 wickets at an average of 23 in the 3-match Test series played in England. After many of New Zealand’s main fast bowlers were out due to injury, Smith took over the responsibility and performed well under pressure.

Smith expressed happiness
“It’s really special. It’s been a great tour of England for the team and it’s great. I don’t usually play for individual awards, but it feels good to get this recognition and more importantly, I contributed to the series win. Personally, it was very satisfying to contribute to the win. That’s all I want to do for New Zealand – to try my best and contribute in any way I can,” Nathan Smith said in an ICC statement on Monday. During this time some players got injured, so I had to come forward and start bowling with the new ball. I have done this in domestic cricket and for New Zealand before, but it felt good to take the responsibility and bowl some overs with the new ball.

Strong performance in Lord’s Test
Nathan Smith’s most brilliant performance was in the first Test match played at Lord’s, where he took 6 wickets for 70 runs in the second innings and broke the back of the host team. He took a total of nine wickets in this memorable match. In the second match, apart from taking 1 wicket, Smith also played an inning of 38 runs. In the series decider, Smith took 4 wickets for 91 runs in the first innings, giving New Zealand a significant lead of 82 runs. After this, he took two more wickets in the second innings and gave a memorable series win to the visiting team.