Bhuvneshwar Kumar nominated for ICC monthly award after exploits against England
Dubai: Experienced India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar was among the cricketers nominated for the ICC 'Player of the Month' award for March following his standout performances in the limited overs matches against England.
The ICC on Thursday announced the nominees to recognise the best performances from both male and female cricketers across all forms of international cricket.
Besides Bhuvneshwar, the others in the men's category included ace leg-spinner Rashid Khan of Afghanistan and Zimbabwe's Sean Williams.
The nominees among the women's comprised Rajeshwari Gayakwad of India, South Africa's Lizelle Lee and India's Punam Raut.
Last month, Bhuvneshwar played three ODIs against England where he took 6 wickets with an economy rate of 4.65. He also went on to play five T20Is against them where he took 4 wickets with a fantastic economy rate of 6.38.
He was the standout bowler on either side in the white ball series between India and England.
Rashid took 11 wickets as his team won the second Test against Zimbabwe and followed up with six wickets in a 3-0 T20I victory for his side.
From Zimbabwe, Williams played two Tests against Afghanistan where he scored a total of 264 runs and took 2 wickets. He also went on to play three T20Is against them wherein he scored 45 runs with a strike rate of 128.57.
In women's cricket, Rajeshwari played five ODIs against South Africa and has been their leading wicket-taker in both the white ball series.
She took 8 wickets with an economy rate of 3.56 in the ODIs and in the three T20Is against the same opponent she took 4 wickets with an economy rate of 4.75.
Raut played five ODIs against South Africa where she scored a total of 263 runs at 87.66 with a strike rate of 71.66. Raut has been India's top run-scorer in the ODI series against South Africa, scoring a century and two half-centuries in these games.
From the South African camp, Lizelle played four ODIs against India where she scored a century and two half-centuries to move to the top of the ICC batting rankings.
The three nominees for each of the categories are shortlisted based on the on-field performances and overall achievements during the period of that month (the first to the last day of each calendar month).
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OpenAI reportedly developing social media platform to rival Elon Musk’s X
San Francisco: In a development that could reshape the AI-driven social media landscape, OpenAI is reportedly in the early stages of creating its own social media platform, one that closely resembles Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter).
According to sources cited by The Verge, the new platform features an experimental feed built around ChatGPT’s image generation capabilities. The project is still in its infancy, and it is unclear whether it will debut as a standalone app or as an extension of the ChatGPT interface.
While OpenAI has not yet issued an official statement, CEO Sam Altman is said to be personally involved in reviewing and discussing the platform’s potential. This move, if confirmed, could escalate existing tensions between Altman and Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI who left the company in 2018.
Relations between the two tech leaders have become increasingly hostile. In February, Musk attempted a $97.4 billion unsolicited takeover of OpenAI, an offer that was firmly rejected. He later filed a lawsuit against Altman and OpenAI, accusing them of betraying the company’s original non-profit mission. In response, OpenAI filed a counter-suit accusing Musk of harassment and attempting to derail its evolution into a for-profit enterprise. The legal confrontation is expected to go before a jury in 2026.
Observers say OpenAI’s possible entry into the social media space could create a new front in the ongoing rivalry, not only with Musk, but also with Meta. Mark Zuckerberg’s company is also reportedly working on AI-powered social platforms. Altman previously hinted at OpenAI’s interest in the domain, responding to Meta’s plans with a post on X: “ok fine maybe we'll do a social app.”
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