Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kane Williamson and Pathum Nissanka nominated for February's ICC Player of the Month award

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has released the nominations for February’s Player of the Month award and it includes two Asian players and one from New Zealand.

India’s opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, Lankan top order batter Pathum Nissanka, and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson have made it to the shortlist. All 3 of them are in a sensational form and have been key players for their respective nations last month.

How did February pan out for Yashasvi Jaiswal?

The month of February proved to be a very successful one for the left-hand batter and at the receiving end of his wrath was the England team led by Ben Stokes. Yashasvi Jaiswal has been an imperative asset for the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team in their 5-match Test series versus England.

In the 1st Test at Hyderabad, Jaiswal had scores of 85 and 10 across innings and even though India lost, the stage was perfectly set for Jaiswal to keep up with his performance in his maiden red-ball series on home soil. The 22-year-old showed what he’s capable of in the 2nd Test itself when he smacked a 1st innings double century in Vishakhapatnam before getting out for 17 in the 2nd.

It paved the way for India to set up a 399-run target which England failed to chase and lost by 106 runs. Then in the 3rd Test after scoring just 10 in the 1st innings, Yashasvi Jaiswal made amends in the 2nd innings at Rajkot with another wonderous double hundred. This time his 214 off 236 balls helped India post a 500+ target before eventually coming out on top by a whopping 434-run margin.

In the 4th Test at Ranchi where India triple their lead and claimed the series, Jaiswal scored 110 runs across innings – 73 in the 1st and 37 in the 2nd. In total, the UP-born batter scored 560 runs from 6 Test innings and also earned himself a number of records.

Kane Williamson’s performance in February

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson too, had a successful month of February. Although it didn’t finish off well towards the end of the month but Williamson is a very good contender for the ICC Player of the Month award. He led the Kiwis towards their first-ever Test series win against South Africa in a 2-match Test series on home soil.

The 33-year-old had immense contributions in both of those Test match wins at Mount Maunganui and Hamilton. Williamson scored two back-to-back centuries across innings in the 1st Test where the hosts claimed victory by 7 wickets. He had scores of 118 and 109.

Then in the 2nd Test, Kane Williamson missed out on a half-century in the 1st innings but he made amends with a 2nd innings 133* as New Zealand completed the whitewash with another 7-wicket win at Hamilton.

Pathum Nissanka’s magical month of February

Last but not least, Sri Lankan top-order batsman Pathum Nissanka is the 3rd player who can possibly win the ICC Player of the Month award. Nissanka had smacked 210* off just 139 balls in the 1st of a 3-match ODI series against Afghanistan last month and capped off the series with another century.

His double century helped him overtake Sanath Jayasuriya’s record for most runs by a Sri Lankan in an ODI match of 189.