NEW DELHI: India's in-form opener
Yashasvi Jaiswal
has earned his first nomination for the
ICC Men's Player of the Month
award for February 2024. His outstanding performances in Tests against England played a crucial role in India's comeback after trailing 1-0 following the loss in the Hyderabad Test.
Jaiswal's remarkable form was pivotal as India overturned the deficit, making this nomination well-deserved. He shares the nomination with New Zealand's
Kane Williamson
and Sri Lanka's
Pathum Nissanka
.
He displayed an exceptional performance by hitting consecutive double centuries in Visakhapatnam and Rajkot during the month, with the latter equaling the record for the most sixes in a Test innings, achieving an impressive 12.
Continuing his prolific run, Jaiswal added more runs in the fourth Test at Ranchi, which included a half-century in the first innings. At the age of 22, by the end of February, Jaiswal had accumulated a total of 560 runs at an outstanding 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.
(With inputs from IANS)