Five surprise performers for India in 2018
India have had an impressive 2018. Aside from being ranked number one in Tests, they are ranked second in ODIs and T20Is. Despite failing to win the Test series in South Africa and England, the Indian contingent showed great promise by winning a Test match each in those two countries. Having won at Adelaide, India are also in a strong position to win their first Test series in Australia.
While fast bowlers can be credited for India's impressive Test performances, the batsmen need to be ascribed for their efforts in white-ball formats. Dinesh Karthik's brilliant finishing ability helped India win the Nidahas Trophy. The Men in Blue also won the Asia cup without their regular captain Virat Kohli.
There were quite a few surprise performers for the Indian Team in 2018 across all three formats. Let us take a look at the top five.
#5 Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik has had a mixed fortune in 2018. After a string of impressive performances in 2018, he was roped in India's squad to England. However, he couldn't succeed in the five-format in bowler-friendly conditions.
In 2018, in T20Is, the Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper has played 11 innings and was not out in eight of his innings. He scored his runs at an average of 60.33 and a strike-rate of 152.10. His assured display in T20s made the selectors drop MS Dhoni from the T20 squad who was taking care of the finishing duties for the past one and half decade.
Karthik performed well with his limited chance in the ODIs too. He has maintained a batting average of 41.75 in ODIs in 2018. He is very much in World Cup scheme of things in ODIs and will be looking to act as a backup to MS Dhoni in 2019 ICC World Cup.