Top 5 unsung heroes of 2016

 A glance at the history of cricket reveals many glorified names of players who shone right through their career, boasting huge records and mammoth individual scores. Many a times there is a story which statistics do not tell. Known as the supporting act, these valuable contributions are shadowed ones that rarely get attention.

An example that comes to mind is Hashim Amla's 150 in the match where AB de Villiers smacked the fastest ODI hundred. He made 144 off 49 balls and Amla, who made 153 after opening and batted through the innings, was a forgotten figure.

These are individual knocks and contributions. There are instances when a series of performances or a career in itself is overshadowed by another player. A huge example in that context is probably the contributions of Chaminda Vaas, which rarely gained attention due to the record-breaking career of Muttiah Muralitharan. 

In a similar way, the 2016 year has been headlined by massive run fests by David Warner, Steven Smith and Quinton de Kock. Similarly, the bowling front has been highlighted by Josh Hazlewood, Ravichandran Ashwin and Rangana Herath. But there are a few names, that have remained in the shadows, despite contributing immensely for the team. Let us take a look at the underrated players in ODIs in 2016.

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#5 Jasprit Bumrah

The Indian seamer is this year's highest wicket taker in T20I with 28 wickets in 21 matches at 18.82 and a best of 3/11. Notably, his economy is 6.62, exceptional in the T20 format for a pacer who bowls mainly in the death overs.

Bumrah has been a terrific find for India in limited-overs cricket, with his ability to land the yorker perfectly, a secret he perfected with his Mumbai Indians teammate, Lasith Malinga, a yorker specialist.

He has been a prominent figure in ODIs too and has taken a total of 45 wickets in 29 matches across formats (ODIs and T20Is). His strike rate of 19.7 is the best among fast bowlers across formats with at least 30 wickets.