So.....we can't always be right and we can't always predict the circuitous paths that some of our Cricketers take around the world. Last week cricket for Shakib Al Hassan looked unlikely for the foreseeable future. He was not part of the MSL and his next game for Bangladesh was in November. A well earned rest was on the cards. Except for the fact that the Bangladesh skipper already had his bags packed for the exotic climes of the Caribbean to join up with Barbados. As soon as he touched down he was in action against St Kitts and Nevis and from there he didn't look back, ending the week with four wickets, 63 runs and 273 points as well as a second Cricketer of the Week accolade for 2019. It is a well timed burst of points as a vast majority of the players in our list were inactive this week. Shakib has taken advantage of this to muscle his way up the table and find himself in the heady position of fourth once again. Not bad at all for a player who was in eighth spot just a month ago, however a profitable September saw him pick up 824 points and puts him back in the mix once more.
There is a stage of every Cricketers life where they have outgrown their domestic teams and competitions but are not yet natural selections for their national team. This is the case for Shreyas Iyer. Indian cricket always has a number of cabs bustling to be the next one to leave the rank however Iyer has his nose ahead of the rest with some impressive short form performances which have encouraged Ravi Shastri to state that he will give the young Mumbai batsman an extended run in the ODI team. This being said, the times when Iyer has impressed the most has been when he is dominating for Mumbai. His sole Cricketer of the Week accolade came in February where he scored 296 runs across three games in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. This week, whilst not as prolific, has been similar. Iyer completed two fifty over games in the Vijay Hazare Trophy accruing two half centuries, both at strike rates over 80 and turning his hand to some bowling to boost his overall total. His 263 points is his highest weekly total since Week 14. This sees him finish second for the week and forces him above Jos Buttler and Duanne Olivier into eleventh position. A good domestic season could see the Mumbai captain end up in the top ten for 2019.
The Hundred has proved rather controversial from the outset but, for those players we want to take forward into the 2020 list, it is something we will have to consider. We have eight players who have featured in both our 2018 and 2019 lists of the best Cricketers in the world: Simon Harmer, Jeetan Patel, Rashid Khan, Virat Kohli, Shakib Al Hasan, Kane Williamson Jos Buttler and Joe Root. With one exception these players are definite for the tournament. Root has already signed on for the Trent Bridge team whilst Jos Buttler will represent Manchester. Harmer and Patel are very likely to be players hotly contested in the draft with Patel likely to be selected for the Birmingham side that is aligned with Warwickshire. Rashid Khan, Shakib and Williamson have already signed on for the draft and it is inconceivable they wouldn't get selected. The only question mark is on the selection of Virat Kohli. The Indian captain has been one of the more vocal international critics of the tournament. If you add this to the BCCIs reluctance to let any Indian players participate in any short form tournament outside the IPL then it looks like Virat may have to sit this one out. Other players that will feature in the draft that have been part of our list at some point or another include: Steve Smith, David Warmer, Quinton De Kock and Aaron Finch whilst Stokes has already signed for the Northern team, Bairstow for the Welsh team and 2018 alum Jofra Archa will represent the Southern Team. Whether we like it or not, the selection of 2020 players will need to bear this competition in mind.
Week
Shakib Al Hasan - 273
Shreyas Iyer - 263
Glenn Maxwell - 90
Mohammad Abbas - 70
Callum Ferguson - 58
Joe Burns - 21
Rohit Sharma - 10
Jonny Bairstow - dnp
Jos Buttler - dnp
Shubman Gill - dnp
Simon Harmer - dnp
Shai Hope - dnp
Rashid Khan - dnp
Virat Kohli - dnp
Jack Leach - dnp
Morne Morkel - dnp
Duanne Olivier - dnp
Jeetan Patel - dnp
Wayne Parnell - dnp
Abdur Razzak - dnp
Joe Root - dnp
Ben Stokes - dnp
Kane Williamson - dnp
Kuldeep Yadav - dnp
Overall
Glenn Maxwell - 5267
Simon Harmer - 4974
Jeetan Patel - 4385
Shakib Al Hasan -3814
Joe Root- 3769
Ben Stokes - 3706
Rashid Khan - 3613
Virat Kohli- 3494
Jonny Bairstow - 3429
Rohit Sharma - 2884
Duanne Olivier - 2852
Shreyas Iyer - 2796
Jos Buttler - 2793
Wayne Parnell - 2743
Kane Williamson - 2498
Morne Morkel - 2438
Jack Leach - 2378
Shubman Gill - 2102
Shai Hope - 1976
Callum Ferguson - 1893
Mohammad Abbas - 1857
Kuldeep Yadav - 1694
Joe Burns - 1128
Abdur Razzak- 898
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