India’s senior off-spinner R Ashwin and wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant were nominated for the newly-introduced player of the month awards by the International Cricket Council. Besides Ashwin and Pant, two other Indians, Mohammed Siraj and T Natarajan are also in the fray.
Fans are invited to vote online every month to award their favourite male and female cricketers across all formats of international cricket played in that month. The Voting Academy will submit its votes by email and will retain a 90 per cent share of the vote. Subsequently, on the first day of each month, fans registered with the ICC will be able to submit votes via the ICC website and will have a 10 per cent share of the vote.
The awards will recognise the best performances of both male and female cricketers across all forms of international cricket throughout the year.
England captain Joe Root, Australian batsman Steve Smith, Rahmanullah Gurbaz of Afghanistan, Marizanne Kapp and Nadine de Klerk of South Africa and Nida Dar of Pakistan are the other players named for the awards for the month of January.
An independent ICC Voting Academy comprising former players, broadcasters and journalists from around the world will team up with fans to vote for the winners.
The three nominees for each of the categories will be determined by the ICC Awards Nominations Committee based on on-field performances and overall achievements during the period of that month. Winners will be announced every second Monday of the month on the ICC’s digital channels.
