Five surprise performers for India in 2018

India have had an impressive 2018. Aside from being ranked number one in Tests, they are ranked second in ODIs and T20Is. Despite failing to win the Test series in South Africa and England, the Indian contingent showed great promise by winning a Test match each in those two countries. Having won at Adelaide, India are also in a strong position to win their first Test series in Australia.

While fast bowlers can be credited for India's impressive Test performances, the batsmen need to be ascribed for their efforts in white-ball formats. Dinesh Karthik's brilliant finishing ability helped India win the Nidahas Trophy. The Men in Blue also won the Asia cup without their regular captain Virat Kohli.

There were quite a few surprise performers for the Indian Team in 2018 across all three formats. Let us take a look at the top five.

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#5 Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik positioned himself as the finisher in T20s in 2018

Dinesh Karthik has had a mixed fortune in 2018. After a string of impressive performances in 2018, he was roped in India's squad to England. However, he couldn't succeed in the five-format in bowler-friendly conditions.

In 2018, in T20Is, the Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper has played 11 innings and was not out in eight of his innings. He scored his runs at an average of 60.33 and a strike-rate of 152.10. His assured display in T20s made the selectors drop MS Dhoni from the T20 squad who was taking care of the finishing duties for the past one and half decade.

Karthik performed well with his limited chance in the ODIs too. He has maintained a batting average of 41.75 in ODIs in 2018. He is very much in World Cup scheme of things in ODIs and will be looking to act as a backup to MS Dhoni in 2019 ICC World Cup.

#4 Ambati Rayudu

Rayudu has solved India's middle-order conundrum in ODIs

The year 2018 has changed Ambati Rayudu's fortune in ODI cricket. The right-handed batsman struggled to cement his place in the Indian ODI Team since 2013. He was consistently overlooked even though he shined with the limited opportunities he got. He played seven ODIs in 2015, three ODIs in 2016 and none in 2017.

However, the Hyderabad-born batsman stormed into India's ODI scheme of things in 2018. He scored 392 runs from 11 games scoring runs at an impressive average of 51.68. It was such a relief to the Indian Team management as he solved their middle-order conundrum with his assured batting performances.

Rayudu will be looking forward to taking his rich vein of form on to 2019. His form will be crucial for India to win the coveted ICC Cricket World Cup which is happening in England in June 2019.

#3 Prithvi Shaw

Prithvi Shaw had a sensational Test debut in 2018

Prithvi Shaw captained the Indian U-19 team in the ICC U-19 World Cup early this year. The young boys performed exceedingly well and won the tournament without many hiccups. The 19-year-old soon made his IPL debut and impressed there too.

Shaw made his Test match debut for India against Windies on the 4th October 2018. He scored a brilliant century in his very first innings thereby becoming the youngest player in the Indian Cricketing history to make a century on debut. The debutant was also named as the Player of the Series by impressing everyone with a half-century in the second Test too.

He has scored 237 runs from his three innings at an average of 118.50. Shaw injured his ankle during a warm-up game before the all-important Australian series ruling him out of the tournament.

#2 Rishabh Pant

Pant became the 1st Indian wicket-keeper to score a century in a Test in England

Despite making his T20I debut in 2017, Rishabh Pant came to prominence when he scored a brilliant century against England at the Oval this year. By doing so, he became the 1st Indian wicket-keeper to score a century in a Test match in England.

The 21-year-old astonished everyone with his fearless batting in testing conditions in England. The aggressive wicket-keeper has cemented his place in the Indian Test squad. After making his debut in England, he went on to play seven Test matches scoring 465 runs at an impressive batting average of 38.80.

In six months time since his debut, the Delhi cricketer has improved his wicket-keeping skills to a greater extent. The most surprising aspect of Pant's performance is that he transitioned more comfortably into the Test team than with the ODI and T20I teams.

#1 Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah has rose to become one of the best Test bowlers in the world

Many of the cricket experts stereotyped Jasprit Bumrah as a white-ball bowler till 2017. However, things have changed dramatically for Bumrah when he made his debut for India during their visit to South Africa early this year.

The right-arm fast bowler has had a phenomenal year as far as the five-day format is concerned. He has taken 47 wickets from just nine games which included three five-wicket hauls. His inclusion into the Test squad made India a potent fast bowling unit in the world.

Bumrah's devastating bowling in the ongoing Boxing Day Test match has been lauded by experts as one of the best bowling performances of 2018. His 6/33 has pushed Australia on the back foot at Melbourne. The fast bowler has proved that he is not just a limited-overs cricketer anymore.