Sportskeeda Cricket Awards 2017: Top five T20 all-rounders of the year
"There's nothing called an all-rounder. Choose one thing, bat or ball". The words of my high-school coach still ring in my ears, and there isn't anything I can disagree with him more on than this. The ability to combine two arts and present them on one platform is nothing less than an achievement, and to do it on a consistent basis requires unique flair and talent.
In today's condensed world of cricket, a single player's contribution in all facets of the game matters, and all-rounders lend immense balance to the side by doing the job of two in one. With T20 leagues growing and booming around the world, short-format specialists are having the time of their lives. Here are some of the best all-rounders of the T20 format in 2017:
Samit Patel
His international career might be all but over (his last international game came way back in 2015), but there's no stopping Samit Patel when it comes to domestic T20s. He was in superb form for Nottinghamshire in the 2017 domestic season, in both List-A's and T20s, helping them win the Royal One-Day Cup as well as the NatWest T20 Blast. It helped his side get a promotion to the County Championship Division 1, and also earned him the 'Player of the Year' tag at the Professional Cricketers' Awards.
A total of 405 runs and 16 wickets in the NatWest T20 Blast earned him a place in the Wellington squad for the Super Smash this year, and he also plied his trade for Rajshahi Kings in the Bangladesh Premier League, but his performances in the other two leagues weren't as impressive.
In total, he scored 562 runs at an average of 29.57 and a strike-rate of 144.10, and snared 24 wickets in 26 games.