Ranking the top 5 cricketers of January 2021

2. Lasith Embuldeniya

Now, let us travel to the island of Sri Lanka to understand why this man grabs the No.2 spot in our list. Lasith Embuldeniya was possibly the only bright spot in an otherwise dull performance by Sri Lanka against the visiting England side. Even though the Lankan side was whitewashed in the two match Test series, Embuldeniya stood apart.

In the first Test, the left-arm spinner picked up 5 wickets in the match. In the first innings of the first Test, Embuldeniya prized out the England top order, picking up the first three wickets to fall. In the second innings too, Embuldeniya would have sent some jitters in the English camp, when he prized out the openers early, to reduce the visitors to 12/2, even though they were chasing a paltry target of 74.

However, it is his performance in the second Test that is noteworthy. The left-arm spinner picked up a staggering 7 wickets, conceding 137 runs in England’s first innings, to allow his side to take a 37-run lead. But then, Sri Lanka collapsed in stunning fashion in their second innings, and were bowled out for 126. Embuldeniya was the top scorer for his side with the bat in the second innings, contributing 40 runs. In the second innings, he picked up 3 out of the 4 wickets to fall, to complete a match haul of 10 wickets.