5 cricketers who surprised us in 2017

#1 Steve O'Keefe (Tests)

Steve O'Keefe's jaw-dropping spells propelled Australia to an unprecedented victory over India in Pune

Some may allude to West Indies overpowering England at Headingley or Pakistan eviscerating highly-rated teams en route to their Champions Trophy triumph as the upsets of the year. However, in terms of sheer magnitude of the result, none of them come close to Australia's humbling of the top-ranked India on a rank turner in Pune.

When they were obliterated by a whopping 333 runs, Virat Kohli's team had been on a 19-match unbeaten streak. In fact, the wreckage in Pune remains India's only Test defeat from August 2015 till present date. Australia's unprecedented victory was all the more sweeter as the protagonist rose from nowhere. With identical hauls of 6/35 in each innings, Steve O'Keefe registered the best ever figures by any visiting spinner on Indian soil.

Extra Cover: Tracking the journey of Steve O'Keefe

Into the fifth Test of his stop-gap career, O'Keefe produced one of the most astonishing bowling performances in modern history. Although he subsequently managed to smear the then recently accrued momentum under the influence of alcohol, the left-arm spinner had played an instrumental role in breaking Australia's Test drought in Asia. One wonders if 2017 will eventually mark the last ever appearance in the 33-year old's international sojourn.

Statistics for 2017

25 wickets from 6 Tests at an average of 26.92 and strike-rate of 62.7 with two five-wicket hauls