Top 5 Cricketers of the Week: Jan 4th – Jan 9th
A sensational Ranji Trophy debut century from a very talented youngster, one of the best knocks by a visiting batsman down under, one of the best knocks by an opener at the Sydney Cricket Ground, a mature burst of fast bowling from a still-young future star and a breath-taking T20I innings that almost made it to the record books have been lined up this week.
Most of the performances came from young blood and that makes it even more heartening for cricket lovers around the world. Each of the performances is by a player from a different country which is the other delightful news.
#1 Prithvi Shaw
Prithvi Shaw, debuted in the semi-final of Ranji against Tamil Nadu, thanks to Mumbai’s problems this year with the opener. He got that job thanks to Rahul Dravid’s endorsement and he made his mentor proud along with the selectors. Prithvi, the 17-year old debutant scored a century in Mumbai’s second innings in a winning chase. They already had the first innings lead, which probably led Tamil Nadu to declare and try and win the game.
The target was 251 and Prithvi, who didn’t contribute much in the first innings, scored a 175-ball 120 becoming the first Mumbai debutant to score a century in Ranji Trophy since Amol Muzumdar, who did it in the 93-94 season.