Top 5 Activ players from week 2 of ICC World T20

The group stages of the ICC World T20 come to an end tonight and New Zealand, West Indies, India and England have made their way to the semi-final. The tournament now heads towards its final stage and many players have impressed.

It all happened after a jam-packed week of games. Fans flocked in to see some good cricket and they got what they wanted.

At times, some players stood out, helping their teams and protecting their advantage, just like how Castrol Activ’s Actibonds Cling on and help protect the engine by forming a protective coat around it.

We will be focusing on the players for now and enlist the five best players from week two -

Jos Buttler

With just 99 runs on board, England were looking like a team in trouble as there was only 5 overs to go on a pitch which was helping the batsmen. Joe Root and Jason Roy had given the team a steady start, but the run rate was always a concern.

Enter Jos Buttler.

The Englishman made Sri Lankan bowlers the subject of his fury as he powered his way to an unbeaten 66 off just 37 balls. He smacked the bowling left, right and centre and took England to a target of 171—something they weren’t expecting with just 5 overs to go.

In the end, his innings was what made the difference as England won the game by a very small margin of 10 runs.

Mohammad Nabi

Afghanistan have won hearts around the world with their performances in this tournament. In every game they played, they gave a feeling that they would win—only to fall short due to a lack of experience.

However, against West Indies, they finally got over the line. Posting a meagre score of 123, the game looked over as West Indies’ batting line-up was expected to coast to the total. However, some exceptional bowling as a team from the Afghans hindered West Indies as they could only muster a poor 117.

All the bowlers might have done exceedingly well, but Mohammad Nabi stands above them all. In the second week of the tournament, the Afghan all-rounder picked up four wickets and gave away just 43 runs in 8 overs. His tight bowling against West Indies was what set the ball rolling for their historic win.

Mustafizur Rahman

The only player in this list whose performances went in vain as his team failed to win a single match. In a rising Bangladesh team, no other player has made his mark like he has.

Niggling injuries might have kept him out more than he would have expected, but he has made amends.

In the two games that he played in week two, he got an exceptional 7 wickets and conceded 56 runs in the 8 overs that he bowled. His exceptional bowling at the death against India restricted the Men in Blue to a low score and his 5-for against New Zealand worked the same way.

However, poor batting from his teammates meant that the youngster wasn’t rewarded for his performances, but nonetheless, he remains a mystery that batsmen are still struggling to solve.

Virat Kohli

Oh, what can I say about this man? Many labelled him as Superman after his performance against Australia. The consistency and calm under pressure that he has displayed is nothing short of exemplary and shows how good he has been playing.

Against Bangladesh, he got a good start as he made 25 before being sent back to the pavilion. However, it was his display against Australia that stole the headlines.

Virat put in a man of the match performance against Australia, scoring 82 runs off just 51 balls. At one point, the match was tilted in Australia’s favour and it seemed that it would go down to the last ball.

However, scoring 34 runs in his last 11 balls, he made sure that Indian fans didn’t have to be nervous come the last over.

Ish Sodhi

Indian cricket fans must be wondering why he is representing them New Zealand. Born in Ludhiana, he emigrated to New Zealand and is now one of their most important players—someone whose tricky leg-breaks are at times unplayable.

India have not had a great leg-spinner since Anil Kumble and, from the looks of it, Sodhi could have been the potential successor to his throne (even though, he has a very long way to go). The man’s performances at the moment could easily propel New Zealand to glory.

He picked up four wickets in the second week of play, but his best performance came against Bangladesh. Bangladesh had no idea how to play his tricky bowling as they were bundled out for only 70 runs—Sodhi being the pick of the bowlers, picking up 3 wickets.

In a low-scoring encounter, bowlers like Sodhi are the ones that give hope to the team.