2016 T20I round-up: India's 5 most valuable players of the year
2016 is set to come to an end in few days time and the quota of T20Is for this year has come to an end. This year saw a lot of T20 matches being played and West Indies created history by becoming the first team to win the World T20 twice.
This year has been a fantastic year for India and had a lot of individuals proving themselves at the international stage. The men in blue took part in 21 matches and came out victorious in 15 of them. Indian fans were in for a double delight as Indian cricketers Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah ended at the top of the run scoring and wicket taking charts respectively. Kohli’s performance in the format this year gave birth to a new term, Kohli-esque.
India created history by becoming the first team to whitewash Australia in Australia across any format in 140 years. Though the 2007 WT20 winners just missed out on the highest chase in T20Is, by falling short by just 1 run against West Indies in Florida.
Let us take a look at India’s 5 most valuable players in the format this year.
#5 Ashish Nehra
If someone had come to me last year and said that Ashish Nehra will make a comeback to the Indian T20I side, I would have termed it as a joke and laughed it off. But, to everyone’s surprise, Nehra was named in the squad to face Australia in a three-match T20I series down under.
Unavailability of Mohammad Shami gave Nehra a chance in the series and since then, there was no turning back as the 37-year-old made it count by bowling well in the series. In spite of taking just 2 wickets in the series, the veteran managed to retain his place for the three-match series against Sri Lanka and the subsequent Asia Cup.
Nehra provided an early breakthrough in almost all the matches and was very impressive at the death as well. He backed Jasprit Bumrah and his inputs to both Bumrah and Hardik Pandya came in handy for the duo in crucial situations.
Nehra didn’t have a memorable World T20 so to say, where he took just 5 wickets, but with an impressive economy of 5.94, a number that is very good for someone who bowls most of his overs in the powerplay and death overs.
He ended the year with 18 wickets in 15 T20I matches at an average of 20.66 and an economy of 7.01.
| MAT/INNS | WICKETS | AVERAGE | STRIKE-RATE | ECONOMY | BEST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15/15 | 18 | 20.66 | 17.6 | 7.01 | 3/23 |