Cape Town - Proteas Test No 3 Keegan Petersen has been named ICC Player of the Month on Monday.
Petersen, who was nominated alongside South Africa Under-19 star Dewald Brevis and Bangladesh pacer Ebadot Hossain, took home the award after a phenomenal Test series against India.
Petersen played a pivotal role as South Africa came back from 1-0 down to win the three-match series 2-1. In the second Test, he scored 62 in the first innings, helping the Proteas gain a slender lead. In their chase of 240, he scored a crucial 28 runs.
In the final Test, Petersen scored a fifty in each innings, including a superb 82 in a challenging fourth-innings chase of 212 that helped South Africa complete their comeback.
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He ended the series as the highest run-scorer with 276 runs and was named the Player of the Series.
"With the hype of the series and the high expectation, the composure he showed while batting in a pivotal No 3 position was simply staggering," said former Proteas star and member of the ICC voting panel JP Duminy.
Petersen will unfortunately not be able to build on the momentum gained during the India series in the upcoming serious against the Black Caps starting on Thursday at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. He tested positive for Covid-19 prior to the Proteas' departure to New Zealand and was unable able to board the flight with the rest of teammates due to the strict quarantine procedures Down Under.
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Such is the unique current circumstances that Covid-19 has created with Petersen having fully recovered a week ago ago already and is currently playing for his provincial union, the Dolphins, in the CSA T20 Challenge in Gqeberha.
He will have therefore have to wait for another opportunity in the Proteas Test side when Bangladesh arrives in South Africa for a two-match series next month.