Top 5 Cricketers of the Week: 12th – 18th June

#3 Mohammad Amir

A true wizard

Very few can reach the inspired levels of bowling that Amir reached on the big day in a big match. He was virtually unplayable at The Oval in the CT Final, swinging and moving the ball on a flat deck at a speed of 145kph. The much-vaunted Indian top order had no reply to Amir’s left-arm pace. The three batsmen who had carried India audaciously into the final fell one after the other.

Amir returned match figures of 6-2-16-3, accounting for Rohit Sharma in the third ball of the innings, Virat Kohli in the third over and then Shikhar Dhawan in the 9^th over. That broke the back of the chase.

Amir, uprooting three batsmen in sublime form, thereby marked his return to being Pakistan’s spearhead after his banishment, embarrassment and ostracization. That he got Kohli, the best ODI batsman at the moment, twice in two balls (dropped in the slip and then caught at point the very next ball) is a testimony to his skill.