WI vs IND | Player Ratings - Navdeep Saini stars on debut as India down Windies by four wickets

WI vs IND | Player Ratings - Navdeep Saini stars on debut as India down Windies by four wickets

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BCCI

Navdeep Saini showed no signs of nerves on his debut as his three-wicket haul was the foundation on which India romped home by four wickets in the first T20I at Lauderhill. In a low-scoring game, almost all bowlers had their moment under the sun which resulted in India going 1-0 up in the series.

Shikhar Dhawan (2/10): Coming back from a thumb injury, Shikhar Dhawan didn’t look convincing even one bit and the southpaw was jolted back by Sheldon Cottrell’s weird round-arm swing. His seven-ball stay was a very small sample size to judge whether his thumb injury was creating any problems for him, but in the context of this game, well, he was not even close to good.

Rohit Sharma (7/10): The six that Rohit hit over extra cover off Cottrell tells you everything there is about Rohit - crisp, classy, and elegant. The Fort Lauderdale crowd was lucky to see the artist proving why he is rated so highly with a run-a-ball 24. However, by falling prey to Sunil Narine's trap once again, Rohit limited himself to a great deal, and the vice-captain could certainly have done a lot better.

Virat Kohli (4/10): The Indian skipper tried to steady the ship after the openers were back in the hut but his efforts couldn’t really bring the finishing touch. His 29-ball 19 was embellished with many false strokes, and most importantly, it brought a picture of uneasiness. 

Rishabh Pant (2/10): It seems slogging is Rishabh Pant’s reflex action now and he doesn’t know any way out. As we predicted in our funky predictions, Pant went across the line to slog Sunil Narine on the very first ball he faced and well, it is not rocket science to understand what happened after that. His DRS appeal that dismissed Kieron Pollard is the only good thing from his part today.

Manish Pandey (6.5/10): The innings was actually a microcosm of Manish Pandey’s career in international cricket. It was packed with a lot of promise, started on a note that would make purists die for his shots but as pressure mounted on him to deliver the final act, he silently walked away. Could you really fault him after scoring a 14-ball 19? Probably yes, because it was a chance for him to walk with the bigger honours.

Krunal Pandya (6.5/10): There is a thing about measured confidence that it doesn’t let you down. If any modern-day Indian cricketer epitomises the value his confidence brings to the table, Krunal Pandya will definitely take the top spot on it. He didn’t try any fancy stuff, and rather believed in his usual funda of bowling a bit short and kept a tight line to ensure that hitting across the line was not easy against him. 

Ravindra Jadeja (7.5/10): He might not be your regular T20 superstar but Jadeja’s constant affinity to reinvent himself has made him a player on whom captain trusts. The slowness of the surface was the perfect fuel for his stump-to-stump line and he eventually ended with an economy rate of 3.25. He was the perfect holding bowler of the day.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (8/10): Being the most, if not only, experienced bowler in the entire line-up, Bhuvneshwar Kumar had a lot of legwork to do by himself and boy, did he not live up to the expectations. He managed to extract just the right amount of swing to suffocate the Windies top order and Indian spinners reaped the benefit of it to down the Caribbean. His two wickets were important for the team’s cause, as was the economy rate of 4.75. 

Washington Sundar (7.5/10): The Tamil Nadu all-rounder’s selection in the playing XI was taken with a pinch of salt but he dispelled the notion by giving India the first breakthrough of the day. But once Nicholas Pooran started taking the game on him, the narrative changed a bit and by sensing that, Virat Kohli instantly took him off the attack. 18/1 in 2 overs is not really a bad figure in T20s. Hitting the winning six was just the cherry on the cake!

Navdeep Saini (9/10): What a sensational debut! What a sensational debut! Navdeep Saini was always touted for bigger and grander things in Indian domestic cricket and his accenture was no different too. Putting the nervousness behind, he bowled with the lethality that was too hot to handle for the Windies batsmen upfront and when he returned to bowl the last spell, he left everyone gasping for breath with a wicket-maiden in the last over of the innings. Could he have asked for anything better? Probably not. 

Khaleel Ahmed (8/10): The natural angle that he possesses because of his left-arm bowling was of immense help for India tonight as after the early damage inflicted by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and others, Ahmed did enough to capitalize on it to end up with a bowling figure of 8/1 in two overs he bowled. A perfect side-act, if there was any.

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