ICC player of month awards will recognise and celebrate the best performances of both male and female cricketers.
Apart from Ashwin and Pant, three other Indians – Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar and T Natarajan – are also in the list.
All the aforementioned played an instrumental role in India's recent historic Test series win Down Under.
“The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced the introduction of the ICC Player of the Month awards which will recognise and celebrate the best performances of both male and female cricketers across all forms of international cricket throughout the year,” the parent body said in a media release.
Other players shortlisted for the awards for January are England skipper Joe Root, star Australia batsman Steve Smith, Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Marizanne Kapp and Nadine de Klerk of South Africa and Nida Dar of Pakistan.
“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 ICC said in a statement.
“An independent ICC Voting Academy comprising former players, broadcasters, and journalists from around the world, will team up with fans to vote for the ICC Men’s Player of the Month and ICC Women’s Player of the Month,” it added.
Speaking about this newly-introduced award, Geoff Allardice, ICC General Manager – Cricket said: "The ICC Player of the Month is a great way to connect with fans of the sport and celebrate performances of their favourite players through the year.”
“It gives us all an opportunity to acknowledge world class performances on the field by male and female cricketers and they have been in abundance throughout January.”
In the press release, the ICC also stated that the three nominees for each of the categories will be determined by the Awards Nominations Committee based on on-field performances and overall achievements during the period of that month (the first to the last day of each calendar month.)
“This shortlist is then voted for by the independent ICC Voting Academy and fans around the world. The ICC Voting Academy comprising prominent members of the cricket family including senior journalists, former players, and broadcasters,” the governing body said.
“The Voting Academy will submit their votes by email and will retain a 90% share of the vote. Subsequently, on the 1st day of each month, fans registered with the ICC will be able to submit votes via the ICC website and will have a 10% share of the vote. Winners will be announced every second Monday of the month on the ICC’s digital channels.”