Yashasvi Jaiswal amongst nominees for ICC Men's Player of the Month award for February 2024

NEW DELHI: India’s in-form opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has been nominated for the ICC Men's Player of the Month award for February 2024 alongside New Zealand’s Kane Williamson and Sri Lanka’s Pathum Nissanka.

Jaiswal is nominated for the first time in the ICC Player of the Month awards following a sensational month in Tests against England. India began the month trailing 1-0 after losing the Hyderabad Test by 28 runs, but overturned the deficit with thanks in large part to the remarkable form of Jaiswal.

He smashed back-to-back double centuries in Visakhapatnam and Rajkot – the latter equalling the record for most sixes in a Test innings with 12. With more runs coming in the fourth Test at Ranchi, including a half-century in the first innings, Jaiswal, 22, ended February having amassed 560 runs at an average of 112.

The back-to-back double hundreds at the age of 22 years and 49 days also made him the third youngest batter in the world to record two double centuries in Tests after Sir Donald Bradman and Vinod Kambli. Jaiswal has also rose to the top of the leading run-scorer list in the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle.

On the other hand, Williamson is nominated for the honour for the first time since March 2023 after another series of century scores dominated the headlines in New Zealand’s first-ever Test series victory over South Africa.

Williamson’s two Tests during February heralded 403 runs and the Player of the Series accolade, as he hit twin centuries in the first Test at Mount Maunganui (118 and 109) before his 133 in the second innings at Hamilton helped the hosts chase down 267 to seal a series whitewash.

Meanwhile, Nissanka excelled in Sri Lanka’s recent three ODIs and three T20Is against Afghanistan, smashing the first ever ODI double-century for his country at Pallekele (210 not out in 139 balls) to begin the month in a blistering fashion.

More runs came in the third ODI, as Nissanka hit 118 in 101 balls to seal another convincing win for Sri Lanka, before a half-century in the final T20I showdown capped a fine month. In all, Nissanka hit 346 ODI runs and 91 T20I runs to earn his first nomination for the award.

In the ICC Women's Player of the Month award for February 2024, UAE duo of Kavisha Egodage and Esha Oza have been shortlisted alongside Australia all-rounder Annabel Sutherland.

All-rounder Kavisha hit 218 runs and took eight wickets during the course of the Asian Cricket Council’s Women’s Premier Cup won by the UAE. Esha, the UAE skipper, claimed the Player of the Tournament award, topping the run-scoring charts with 249 runs at an average of 62.25.

Annabel, meanwhile, unleashed fireworks in her record-breaking 210 off 256 balls– the fastest ever in women’s Tests when Australia faced South Africa in the one-off Test at Perth earlier this month. She proved to be a valuable asset with the ball in hand too, taking 3-19 in the first South Africa innings, followed by 2-11 in the second, as the home side won by an innings.