5 players who have been the finds of 2019 in international cricket

2019 has been a great year for the cricket fans as they got to enjoy quality cricket across the year. India’s Test series win in Australia after 70 years was the highlight of the year for the Indian fans. The World Cup 2019 triumph in a dramatic manner was like a dream come true for the English fans. The retention of the Ashes by Australia in England also grabbed a lot of attention.

Ben Stokes has been the hero for England, Rohit Sharma for India, Patrick Cummins for Australia and Babar Azam for Pakistan this year. Amidst all this, we saw a few youngsters making their names at the highest level. Players are selected in the national team based on potential and after having a good run in the domestic circuit. However, it is not very easy for a young player to perform at the international stage. 

There is a lot of difference between the quality of a side in the domestic circuit than that of the international team. The additional pressure of cementing the spot in the team is also one of the factors. The international stage tests the character of a player in the sense of the temperament and the mental strength apart from the cricketing skills of the player.

Here are the five players who have been the find of this year:

1. Nicholas Pooran

Nicholas Pooran, the attacking middle-order batsman in the limited-overs cricket has been the find of the year for the West Indies. Pooran displayed his talent in the Caribbean Premier League 2013 and Under-19 World Cup but could not carry on due to a car accident and other off-field issues. In 2016, the youngster made his T20I debut in the Maroon jersey against Pakistan in U.A.E. However, he failed in the three-match T20 series and was dropped.

The Trinidad-born impressed in the Global Canada League 2018 and received a call for the national team in the T20 series against India last year. The southpaw has not looked back since then. He kept on impressing in the shortest format and made his ODI debut this year. Now, Pooran is an important part of the batting unit of his side in the white-ball cricket.

With 367 runs at an average of 52.42 under his belt, the 24-year-old finished the World Cup 2019 as the highest run-scorer for West Indies. The thing which stands out about Pooran is his capability to score runs at a quicker rate in the middle-overs. The wicketkeeper-batsman is a superb player of spin which makes him an asset in the middle-order for any team. Averaging close to 50, Pooran has amassed 639 runs with a healthy strike rate of over 106 in ODIs this year.