Bumrah is nominated thanks to him picking eight wickets in a supreme bowling display in India’s convincing 295-run victory over Australia in the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth, where he also doubled up as the stand-in captain in Rohit Sharma’s absence.
He aims to win his second ICC Men’s Player of the Month award; his mesmerising spell of 5-30 in a memorable first innings display ensured India took a 46-run lead. Bumrah then returned to pick 3-42 in the second innings to ensure an unforgettable win for India, and keep their hopes alive of a spot in next year’s ICC World Test Championship Final, to be held at Lord’s.
On the other hand, Jansen is in contention to be the first South African to win the award since Keshav Maharaj in April 2022, thanks to success for the Proteas in T20Is and Tests. Apart from picking wickets, Jansen caught everyone’s eye by smashing a whirlwind 54 off just 17 balls, though it wasn’t enough for South Africa to avoid a narrow defeat in Centurion.
Better outcomes were forthcoming on Jansen’s return to the Test arena, where he ran through a touring Sri Lanka line-up to take 11 wickets in the match, including 7-13 in the first innings – his best figures in Tests coming in just 41 deliveries, to boost South Africa’s chances of entering the World Test Championship Final.
Rauf, meanwhile, was back to being at his fearsome best while playing six ODIs and three T20Is for Pakistan. He began his trip to Australia with a fiery three-wicket haul in Melbourne, and hit a high note by picking a crucial five-wicket haul to level the series.
In the series decider at Perth, Rauf picked two more scalps to finish the series as the top wicket-taker with 10 scalps at an economy rate of just five, and help Pakistan grab a 2-1 series win.
Rauf continued his form in the subsequent T20I series, bagging five wickets, including an impressive four-fer in the second game, and took three more wickets in the ODI tour of Zimbabwe to have 18 dismissals across formats in November for Pakistan.
--IANS
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