2016 is set to come to an end in few days time and the quota of T20Is for this year has come to an end. This year saw a lot of T20 matches being played and West Indies created history by becoming the first team to win the World T20 twice.
This year has been a fantastic year for India and had a lot of individuals proving themselves at the international stage. The men in blue took part in 21 matches and came out victorious in 15 of them. Indian fans were in for a double delight as Indian cricketers Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah ended at the top of the run scoring and wicket taking charts respectively. Kohli’s performance in the format this year gave birth to a new term, Kohli-esque.
India created history by becoming the first team to whitewash Australia in Australia across any format in 140 years. Though the 2007 WT20 winners just missed out on the highest chase in T20Is, by falling short by just 1 run against West Indies in Florida.
Let us take a look at India’s 5 most valuable players in the format this year.
#5 Ashish Nehra
If someone had come to me last year and said that Ashish Nehra will make a comeback to the Indian T20I side, I would have termed it as a joke and laughed it off. But, to everyone’s surprise, Nehra was named in the squad to face Australia in a three-match T20I series down under.
Unavailability of Mohammad Shami gave Nehra a chance in the series and since then, there was no turning back as the 37-year-old made it count by bowling well in the series. In spite of taking just 2 wickets in the series, the veteran managed to retain his place for the three-match series against Sri Lanka and the subsequent Asia Cup.
Nehra provided an early breakthrough in almost all the matches and was very impressive at the death as well. He backed Jasprit Bumrah and his inputs to both Bumrah and Hardik Pandya came in handy for the duo in crucial situations.
Nehra didn’t have a memorable World T20 so to say, where he took just 5 wickets, but with an impressive economy of 5.94, a number that is very good for someone who bowls most of his overs in the powerplay and death overs.
He ended the year with 18 wickets in 15 T20I matches at an average of 20.66 and an economy of 7.01.
| MAT/INNS | WICKETS | AVERAGE | STRIKE-RATE | ECONOMY | BEST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15/15 | 18 | 20.66 | 17.6 | 7.01 | 3/23 |
#4 R Ashwin
R Ashwin has been India’s best bowler across all formats in the last couple of years. With the 2016 World T20 scheduled to take place in India, a lot was expected from the Tamil Nadu offie and he lived up to the expectations.
Ever since the start of the T20I series against Australia, Ashwin delivered whenever skipper MS Dhoni threw the ball to his go-to spinner. Ashwin picked up 23 wickets (second most by any bowler in 2016) in 17 T20Is at an average of 16.17 and an economy of 6.30.
Ashwin’s performance in the World T20 match against Bangladesh helped India beat their neighbours by just 1 run in a thrilling encounter at Bangalore. His spell of 4/8 against Sri Lanka at Vizag was the best bowling by an Indian bowler in T20Is and he became the first Indian to bag 50 T20I wickets in his career.
| MAT/INNS | WICKETS | AVERAGE | STRIKE-RATE | ECONOMY | BEST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17/17 | 23 | 16.17 | 15.3 | 6.30 | 4/8 |
#3 Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma has been a revelation ever since he was asked to open the batting for India in the limited overs formats. He managed to hold on to the reputation in the T20 formats too with some crucial knocks.
Rohit has been one of India’s finest T20I batsmen and this year and he proved why he is rated so highly. The Mumbaikar was sensational in the three-match T20I series down under by scoring 143 runs in three innings at an average of 47.66.
He continued his good work in the series against Sri Lanka and the subsequent Asia Cup T20. He wasn’t at his best in the 2016 World T20 as he struggled to get going throughout the tournament.
Rohit then made a strong comeback in the T20Is against West Indies at Florida when he scored a fifty and took India closer to a historic win in the first of the two-match series. In the 18 innings he batted, Rohit has scored 497 runs at an average of just below 30 and a strike-rate of 131.48.
| MAT/INNS | RUNS | AVERAGE | STRIKE-RATE | 50/100 | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18/18 | 497 | 29.23 | 131.48 | 4/0 | 83 |
#2 Jasprit Bumrah
After a disastrous 2015, 2016 was a memorable year for Jasprit Bumrah. The Gujarat pacer was called into the Indian squad for theT20I series against Australia as a replacement for Mohammad Shami after making his international debut much earlier in the fifth ODI.
He played each and every T20I India played this year and was impressive throughout. In his first year of international cricket, Bumrah finished as the leading wicket-taker in T20Is.
The 23-year-old picked up 28 wickets in 21 matches at an average of 18.82. His economy of 6.62 stands out for a bowler who bowls most of his overs at the death. His ability to bowl yorkers at will and mix up his variations made life difficult for the batsmen.
Bumrah has been the find of the year for Indian cricket and the team management will expect him to get better in the coming years.
| MAT/INNS | WICKETS | AVERAGE | STRIKE-RATE | ECONOMY | BEST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21/21 | 28 | 18.82 | 17.0 | 6.62 | 3/11 |
#1 Virat Kohli
If Virat Kohli doesn’t get the cricketer of the year award, the award can well be called a joke. The Delhiite was in a completely different sphere this year. The Indian Test skipper stamped his authority across all the three formats and was way above the rest in the T20Is as he finished at the top of run scoring charts in this format with a difference of 144 runs between him and the guy who finished in the second place, Rohit Sharma.
He finished the year with 641 T20I runs in just 13 innings. His average of 106.83 this year is more than the T20I strike-rates of most of the batsmen going around at the moment. He also scored these runs at a rate of 141 runs per 100 balls.
Ever since the start of the series against Australia, there was no stopping the Indian run machine as he proved that the T20 format is not only about slogging and batsmen with proper technique can still survive in this format.
His innings of 82* against Australia at Mohali followed by a classy 89* against the eventual World Champions West Indies at the 2016 World T20 semi-finals at Mumbai stood out.
| MAT/INNS | RUNS | AVERAGE | STRIKE-RATE | 50/100 | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15/13 | 641 | 106.83 | 140.26 | 7/0 | 90* |
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