Cricketers of the Week – 12th March to 18th March
If cricketing talent were branded merchandise, this week would be the equivalent of a festive sale. It has been a cricket fan’s delight. Three crucial tons and three five-wicket hauls steal the limelight and no one is complaining.
It comes as no surprise that three of the six cricketers of the week are tweakers who either kept their team in the hunt or brought them back from the dead. Some really good performances like Quinton de Kock’s 91 and Temba Bavuma’s 89 for South Africa against the Kiwis and HM Nicholls’ 118 for New Zealand deserve special mention too.
Some credit must go to Bangladesh’s young Mosaddek Hossain for taking his team to a strong position against hosts Sri Lanka, who found their own star in Karunaratne.
Let’s take a look at the top five cricketers this week.
#1 Ravindra Jadeja
In the third Test between India and Australia at Ranchi, the hosts would have been in serious trouble if not for Jadeja. Jadeja picked up wickets at the right time including the big ones of Matt Renshaw and centurion Glenn Maxwell.
Australia seemed primed for a score in excess of 500, but Jadeja’s 5/124 kept them down to 451, giving India the chance to stay afloat in the game and thereby the series. Jadeja bowled 49.3 overs out of a total of 137.3 and yet, his economy was almost a run lower than Ravichandran Ashwin’s.
Jadeja also effected a brilliant run-out to wrap up Australia’s innings as they dropped from 446 for 7 to 451 all out.