Cricketers of the Week – January 29th to February 4th
It was an extremely interesting week in world cricket and one that was filled with superlative performances. India won the T20I series against England by the skin of their teeth thanks to their improbable victory in the second T20 match.
Australia, however, tasted defeat against their Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand in the absence of their de facto leader Steve Smith. The Proteas avenged their T20 series loss to Sri Lanka by steamrolling the visitors in the first three ODIs.
And as always selecting five players was a tough job, but it helps to be objective sometimes and nothing counts more in terms of objectivity than your contribution to the team’s win. Here are the top five cricketers of the week.
#1 Lokesh Rahul
Lokesh Rahul gave India a fighting chance in the second T20I after being inserted into bat by England. At Nagpur, India weren’t getting any momentum after losing skipper Virat Kohli for a quick 21. It was Rahul who showed fine form to score a 47-ball 71 at a strike-rate of 151 with six fours and two sixes.
He did this while wickets were falling at the other end. Rahul fell on 125 for 4 in the 18th over after which India could manage just 19 more runs, an abysmal run-rate for the final overs. India’s second highest score was Manish Pandey’s 30 off 26 balls. Rahul’s 71 helped India post 144 which they defended thanks to Bumrah and Ashish Nehra’s efforts.