In the next two months we have the cricketing spectacles of the IPL and the World Cup, two tournaments that are going to show off Indian talent at it's very best. This is a frightening prospect for the non-Indian players in our list due to the domination already shown by the men in blue this year. Of the 11 weeks of 2019 so far, four have been topped by four different Indian players. This week it is Rohit Sharma who has taken top billing, receiving the baton from Virat Kohli who won last time out. This dominance of Indian players also continues with Shreyas Iyer finishing third this week and pushing his way into 4th overall. This from a player who doesn't even make international team selection To think that this array of success comes from a precursor to the main event is rather frightening. Despite the fact that England have long been favourites to lift the World Cup this summer, I am starting to think that the wealth of Indian talent will give them more of a run for their money. With Sharma having scored 286 runs in his IPL season last year I see no reason why his success is going to be limited over the coming month. He has recently been pushed out of the top five but is well placed to ease back in as he is only 138 runs behind Joe Root in fifth.
One sure sign of success in our overall list is a player who picks up points Week in week out, regardless of the form they may be in. Glenn Maxwell extended his lead at the top of the overall table to 234 despite the fact that his two contributions with the bat this week totalled a mere 24 runs across two innings. He managed to bolster his score with 20 points from the field, an economy of 5.66 in the last ODI and a typically Maxwellian strike rate of 176.92 from his 23 off 13 balls in the 4th ODI. Maxwell is quickly becoming a key player for the Australian set up and is making his spot in the team assured - even with the question marks around the potential return of the disgraced duo. His performances with both bat and ball as well as his spectacular displays in the field add an extra dimension to his game that others struggle to match. Maxwell opted to not join an IPL franchise and will spend some time with Victoria as they see out their Sheffield Shield season. Will his red ball form see him fight off the challenge of Ben Stokes? The English allrounder will be representing Rajasthan in the IPL and is just 245 runs behind the Aussie. Will regular short form games get the better of weekly longer form ones?
The cricketing world was full of admiration for Joe Burns after his 180 for Australia against Sri Lanka at the start of February. His was a story of sporting redemption akin to Rocky. Despite being discarded by the Australian national set up with the callousness of a young Apollo Creed, the Queenslander used his sparkling form in the Sheffield Shield and the relative weakness of the Sri Lankan side to claim redemption. Yo, Adrian, he did it! The sporting playbook would now like to see him go from strength to strength to face the might of the English side and go toe-to-toe with Australia's historic rivals in top form. This is not playing out as he would like though. Since that table topping Week, Burns has struggled to replicate his form from before the BBL. After 140 runs for Queensland against Victoria, he followed it up with 28 and a duck against New South Wales and then 11 and a duck this week against South Australia. This is even more worrying due to the fact it was his Sheffield Shield strength that convinced the Australia selectors to include him in their Test thinking. He still has time to redress these issues and will spend time in England acclimatising with Lancashire but by the time he faces up to the Clubber Lang of world cricket on the first of August he will hope to be off the ropes.
Week
Rohit Sharma - 211
Jeetan Patel - 179
Shreyas Iyer - 141
Kane Williamson - 104
Rashid Khan - 95
Mohammad Abbas - 90
Glenn Maxwell - 84
Abdur Razzak - 80
Jonny Bairstow- 77
Virat Kohli- 67
Kuldeep Yadav - 59
Joe Burns- 31
Joe Root - 4
Shai Hope - 0
Shakib Al Hasan - dnp
Joe Buttler - dnp
Callum Ferguson - dnp
Shubman Gill- dnp
Simon Harmer - dnp
Jack Leach - dnp
Duanne Olivier - dnp
Wayne Parnell - dnp
Ben Stokes- dnp
Morne Morkel- ytp
Overall
Glenn Maxwell - 1405
Shakib Al Hasan - 1171
Ben Stokes - 1160
Shreyas Iyer - 1124
Joe Root- 1102
Kane Williamson - 1075
Rashid Khan - 1074
Virat Kohli- 1070
Rohit Sharma - 964
Kuldeep Yadav - 870
Jonny Bairstow - 836
Duanne Olivier - 793
Jos Buttler - 760
Callum Ferguson - 671
Joe Burns - 635
Jeetan Patel - 625
Simon Harmer - 500
Shai Hope - 465
Mohammad Abbas - 421
Shubman Gill - 340
Abdur Razzak- 258
Wayne Parnell - 148
Jack Leach - 65
Morne Morkel - ytp
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