2015 ODI cricket round-up: India's Top 5 Most Valuable Players of the Year
India reached the semi-finals of the 2015 World Cup and lost to eventual champions Australia13 wins, 9 losses and a match washed out. This is India’s record in ODIs this year, which is not bad. India started the year in the Carlton-Mid ODI tri-series in Australia in which India were knocked out of the tournament without winning a match.This woke up all the critics ahead of the 2015 ICC World Cup and the defending Champions were tainted as an unfit team by the fans. But to everyone’s surprise, the MS Dhoni-led side silenced the critics as they went unbeaten in the group stages and reached the semi-finals where they lost to eventual champions Australia.What followed next is a phase that the team will like to forget as they lost to Bangladesh for the first time in a bilateral series. Then the second-string Indian team toured Zimbabwe and whitewashed the hosts without any difficulties.The litmus test for the men in blue came in October when they hosted South Africa in a five-match ODI series, which was won by the Proteas. Even though the overall performance has been just above average, there were some individual performers who had a good year with the team.Let us take a look at the top 5 most valuable players for India in ODIs this year:
#5 Mohammad Shami
Mohammad Shami was by far India’s best bowler in the World Cup but was out of action after the extravaganza as he underwent a knee surgery. Figures of 19 wickets from 10 innings at an average of just above 20 with an economy of 4.77 shows why India missed him in the all-important series against South Africa.
Shami was a vital cog for India in ODIs ever since he made his debut against Pakistan at New Delhi in 2012 and skipper MS Dhoni will be hoping to have his best bowler ahead of the tour of Australia later next month.