Indian cricketer Yashasvi Jaiswal won the ICC Player of the Month award for February 2024 on Tuesday for his exploits in the recently concluded India vs England Test series.
The left-hander scored 560 runs from three Test matches he played last month at a colossal average of 112.00 to win the award ahead of Kane Williamson of New Zealand and Pathum Nissanka of Sri Lanka, who were the other two nominees.
“I’m very happy to win this ICC award and I hope that there will be more in the future,” Jaiswal said. “It’s my first five-match series and it’s been an incredible experience with all my mates.”
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The India vs England series saw the 22-year-old Jaiswal accumulate 712 runs from five Tests, which is the third highest by an Indian batter in a bilateral series behind Sunil Gavaskar’s tally of 774 and 732, both of which came against the West Indies.
The Rajasthan Royals star’s run-scoring spree, which included two double hundreds, helped India win the series 4-1. It took Jaiswal to 10th in ICC’s latest Test batting ranking for men after starting the series in 69th position.
Jaiswal began the month with a double century in the second Test at Visakhapatnam, scoring 209 in the first innings as India levelled the series with a 106-run win.
In the second innings of the third Test in Rajkot, Jaiswal scored an unbeaten 214 to equal the record for the most sixes in a Test innings (12) and helped India seal a convincing victory. In the fourth match at Ranchi, Jaiswal scored a fifty.
The back-to-back double centuries also made Yashasvi Jaiswal the third youngest, after Vinod Kambli and Don Bradman, to reach two double hundreds in Tests.
“I continue to put in the hard yards in my practice sessions, learning from my seniors and trying my best on the ground,” Jaiswal pointed out. “My highlight was probably celebrating my double century in Rajkot. That was something I really enjoyed.
“I’m really enjoying this moment and I’m looking forward to the next series.”
The Indian cricket team stands on top of the World Test Championship 2023-25 table, courtesy of six wins from nine Tests, with Jaiswal being the overall leading run-scorer in the current WTC cycle with 1028 runs.
Jaiswal’s win sees him become the first Men’s Player of the Month winner from India since Shubman Gill in September 2023.
Kane Williamson scored 403 runs including three centuries from four innings to help his team win 2-0, in the Test series against South Africa. Pathum Nissanka became the first Sri Lankan player to score a double hundred in 50-over cricket, en route to his tally of 346 runs from three ODIs against Afghanistan.
Annabel Sutherland was named the ICC Women’s Player of the Month after her stunning efforts with bat and ball set new records in Australia’s Test victory over South Africa in Perth.
