2017 ICC Awards: Indian star bags the T20I Performance of the Year

The 2017 ICC Awards had a lot of hype and buzz set around it. All the suspense came to an end on January 18, 2018 when the award winners were finally announced. Indian captain Virat Kohli was the big attraction as he bagged the top honors. Alongside Virat, there was another Indian cricketer who won a prestigious honor. It was none other than young leggie Yuzvendra Chahal.

Yuzvendra Chahal was awarded with the T20I Performance of the Year. His herculean six-wicket haul against the visiting English side in January 2017 won him the top award. Chahal, who had played several times at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, found himself in action for the national side at the very same venue.

He bowled a match-winning spell that helped team India trounce England. He returned with figures of 6/25 in the match – the best ever figures for an Indian bowler in T20I history. In the match, team India had piled up a mammoth 202/6 in their 20 overs.

England dance to the tunes of Yuzvendra Chahal

In the run chase, Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed Sam Billings early on in the innings. Later, he bagged the big wickets of Joe Root (42) and Eoin Morgan (40) to bring India back in to the game. Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes became his next victims. Lastly, he dismissed Chris Jordan to complete his six-wicket haul. After the game, a humble Chahal had quoted that he had never dreamt of taking six wickets in a T20I game.

“It always feels like home. I’ve bowled in the Powerplay before in the IPL, and Virat has confidence in me that I can do that. I plan that batsmen will want to go for their shots because it’s a small ground, so I have a chance for wickets. I bowl a fuller length, so I have a chance for lbws if they miss the sweep and reverse-sweep. I never dreamed I’d get six wickets,” he had quoted.

Others in contention

The rising Indian star was not a direct pick for the accolade and had some tough competition. Others in contention were West Indies batsman Evin Lewis who had smashed an unbeaten 125 off 62 balls against India in a run chase of 190.

Also, Kiwi batsman Colin Munro had smashed 109 off 58 deliveries against India last year. Among the bowlers, Rashid Khan had returned with figres of 5/3 against Ireland and South Africa’s Imran Tahir had claimed 5/24 against New Zealand.

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