CricTracker Fan Poll: Best international cricketers of February 2017

February was a mélange of various matches across the globe- Bangladesh’s tour of India happened and India won in a thrilling contest between the two, New Zealand was playing to seal the series in Australia, Sri Lanka won the series in Australia with some cracking performances, South Africa won 4-1 against New Zealand in the ODI series, and Afghanistan dominated Zimbabwe 3-2.

In other words, it was a short month and it passed by quickly but not without some interesting cricket. There were players’ performances that people were looking forward to. While some impressed, some disappointed. We chose 5 players with noteworthy performances during the month and you voted. The results and the evaluation for the same are here.Find out who won and why:

5. Ravichandran Ashwin – 6% votes

Tthe ICC Cricketer of the Year and the No. 1 Test bowler ranks fifth in the list with his 13 wickets in 4 innings. This month has not been his best phase because he has looked out of sorts on various occasions. He has been getting wickets but they haven’t come as easily as they should have. Had he been overused, or had he become slightly predictable? It’s also possible that the long Test season had exhausted him during that phase.

In the one-off Test against Bangladesh at Hyderabad, he registered figures 2/98 and 4/73. Whereas, in the First Test against Australia at Pune, he had figures 3/63 and 4/119. Despite the fact that these wickets haven’t come as smoothly, he remained India’s most trusted front-line bowler. He had also earned a reputation with the bat, however, that did not translate in these two matches as he has a meager 43 runs in totality. The highest was 34 in the one against Bangladesh in the first innings.

4. Asela Gunaratne – 11% votes

The batting all-rounder had the time of his life in February. He made a mark of his own and everytime you talk about the current Sri Lankan team, Gunaratne is a sure topic. His performance in the 7 innings during the time period have been impressive and most importantly, match-winning.

His stellar form began with his 114* against South Africa at Centurion, and that gave him the confidence to stage a performance at Melbourne against Australia as well. Starting from the 52 at Melbourne, to the 84* in Geelong, he has lifted the Lankan spirits. He is also handy with the ball as he has picked 2 wickets with his part-time bowling. His performance a day before the IPL auction earned him a spot in the Mumbai Indians as well.

3. Virat Kohli – 19% votes

People had just started to wonder if his purple patch was fading because his newly acquired limited overs captaincy had started to test him. Hence, his numbers weren’t milestones, to say the least. But, he returned to Test cricket with a bang as he scored 204 in the One-off Test against Bangladesh, followed by 38 runs in the next innings. People got back to believing in him again.

However, as the Border-Gavaskar Trophy proceeded, doubts were raised again. He has 13 runs in the two innings he has played in February, including a duck. CT followers are objective observers and weigh all pros and cons, and they clearly don’t like it. Virat Kohli has not lived upto expectations and hence, he has merely 19% votes.

2. Faf du Plessis – 28%

Faf has had a brilliant time on the field last month. In 8 innings, he has scored 452 runs. With two centuries against Sri Lanka, he has been leading his boys from the front. He also registered his career-best score of 185 at Cape Town in the same series.

Though he didn’t score a fifty in any of the matches against New Zealand during that time period, he has made contributions repeatedly. He has made significant contributions in both the formats and CT followers have acknowledged that. He has given tough competition to feature in the list as the best cricketer of the month.

1. Mohammad Nabi –  35%

This is for the second consecutive time that an Afghani cricketer has topped the list. The all-rounder has made significant contributions in 5 innings during February. With 115 runs and 10 wickets, Nabi has emerged as the clear winner.

In the series against Zimbabwe, he has proved to be an asset for the team and played the role of an all-rounder well. His highest score in that period remained 48 at Harare in the 5th ODI. He scalped 3 wickets on two occasions, once in the 2nd ODI with figures 3/38 and then in the 5th ODI with stunning figures of 3/14. In other news, he has also earned a spot in the Sunrisers Hyderabad for IPL 2017.

It’s historic also because this is for the first time Afghanis will feature in this league. He is one of the two players from Afganistan to be selected.

Here is the result of the poll: