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Tuesday, 20 March 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Washington Sundar might have topped Yuzvendra Chahal at the Nidahas Trophy Twenty20 International triangular series in Sri Lanka, but Chahal was only a shade behind the Player of the Series-award winner.
Both the spinners were a part of all five games India played, and both of them picked up eight wickets apiece. Sundar, who bowled mainly in the Powerplay, had an incredible economy rate of 5.70, while Chahal finished with 6.45.
As a result of their sterling performances, both young men gained big time in the latest MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings for bowlers. While Chahal moved up 12 spots to No. 2 on the table with a career-high 706 rating points, Sundar went up a remarkable 151 places to get to No. 31, joint with New Zealand’s Tim Southee on 496 points.
Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan, who has been busy with the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018, remains at the top of the perch.
“It is important to read the mind [of that batsman],” Sundar said during the tournament. “I myself am a batsman to an extent; I can suspect what he is thinking and where he is going to hit me. Every six balls, the batsman will be looking to hit you at least for a four and six. I am fortunate to have the skill of taking wickets in the Powerplay.”
“I think throughout the series Sundar’s bowling has been magical for us,” said Rohit Sharma, the stand-in captain. “What he has done with the new ball is quite incredible. Not anyone can just take the pressure of bowling within the Powerplay. Not to forget he also got wickets at the same time ... The skillset that he has, he’s quite courageous to do what he wants to do in the middle. It’s not just one or two games.”
Also making significant gains in the bowling charts were some of the other performers from the Nidahas Trophy: Akila Dananjaya of Sri Lanka, Rubel Hossain of Bangladesh and India’s Jaydev Unadkat and Shardul Thakur. All of them achieved their career-best rating points at the end of the tournament.
Dananjaya, the off-spinner, was impressive at times even though he ended the tournament with only four wickets and an economy rate of 8.60. But that was enough for him to get to 488 points and joint at No.35 with Glenn Maxwell.
Hossain was Bangladesh’s most effective bowling option for the best part of the tournament, picking up seven wickets from five outings, and jumped 40 places to No.42 with 465 points, his best.
Unadkat (joint 52nd) and Thakur (joint 76th), India’s premier pacemen in the tournament, went up 26 and 85 spots respectively with their best points ever: 435 and 358.
Among the batsmen, Shikhar Dhawan, Kusal Perera, Manish Pandey, Mushfiqur Rahim, Kusal Mendis and Dinesh Karthik, the star of India’s win in the final over Bangladesh, made significant gains.
Karthik, who had an outstanding tournament from the lower middle-order, jumped from No.126 to No.95 with his best-ever 246 points.
The two Kusals – Perera and Mendis – moved up 20 spots to 20th place and 27 spots to the 48th position respectively after strong performances with the bat for Sri Lanka. Perera topped the batting charts for the tournament with 204 runs, including three half-centuries, while Mendis finished with 134 runs with two half-centuries.
