Asia Cup 2018: 5 top performers from the tournament
Asia Cup 2018 came to a spectacular end with India defeating Bangladesh in the last ball of the final match. It was a low scoring intriguing final match.
Nonetheless, the Asia Cup 2018 saw some brilliant individual performances. Players from smaller teams like Hong Kong and Afghanistan also put on a great show in the tournament.
Let's look at the top 5 performers of the Asia Cup 2018.
#5 Jasprit Bumrah
Kuldeep Yadav was one of the successful bowlers in the Asia Cup 2018 in terms of wickets. Yadav took 10 wickets in 6 matches. But still, Jasprit Bumrah's performance in the tournament is rated higher than Yadav's.
The conditions in UAE are very spin friendly. So spinners picking up wickets is nothing new. But as a fast bowler, Jasprit Bumrah had to toil hard in those conditions. Bumrah showed why he is the number 1 bowler in the world.
Bumrah picked up 8 wickets in the 4 matches that he played. He was consistent in each of the matches. At the depth overs, he didn't concede a single boundary in the whole Asia Cup 2018.
Bumrah's economical bowling was the reason that the oppositions couldn't cross the 250 run mark in each of the matches he played. His economy rate in the tournament was 3.67.
#4 Rashid Khan
Afghanistan came into the Asia Cup 2018 as underdogs. Reaching the super four stage was a great achievement for them. They had a good bowling attack and the heart of the bowling attack was Rashid Khan.
Expectations were riding high on Rashid Khan to deliver on the big stage because he has been a sensation in the T20 leagues all over the world. Rashid delivered a complete all-round performance for his team in Asia Cup 2018.
Rashid picked up 10 wickets in 5 matches and was the joint highest wicket-taker of the tournament along with Kuldeep Yadav and Mustafizur Rahman. Rashid was brilliant at the death overs.
Rashid also batted well in the series. He made 87 runs in 4 innings. His blistering 57 runs off just 32 balls against Bangladesh in the league round was a match-winning knock.