IND vs SA | Player Ratings - Virat Kohli’s captain's knock help India seal seven-wicket victory in Mohali T20I

IND vs SA | Player Ratings - Virat Kohli’s captain's knock help India seal seven-wicket victory in Mohali T20I

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It was Virat Kohli’s day through and through in Mohali wherein he lit firecrackers with his shots and produced an impeccable innings, taking India to a 7-wicket victory in the 2nd T20I. Meanwhile, Deepak Chahar and Washington Sundar showed tremendous promise with their sincere bowling.

Rohit Sharma (6.5/10): Before getting dismissed for a run-a-ball 12, the Indian vice-captain made sure that he treats the crowd with his imperial power hitting. He slammed the ball twice in the 2nd over and both the times it made the distance. Yes, his 12 runs came off a couple of well-timed sixes, the kind of shots you can do nothing to control. But he couldn’t convert the cameo into something worthwhile. One extra point for his on-field alertness as vice-captain. Especially when he schooled Hardik Pandya, who was bowling freebies to Bavuma and asked the pacer to bowl fuller. 

Shikhar Dhawan (9/10): Don’t expect him to go anywhere yet, as the left-handed opener has no plans of passing the baton to the youngsters any time soon. It took an absolute stunner by David Miller at long-on to dismiss the 33-year-old for a 31-ball 40. However, the damage was already done owing to his brilliant 61-run partnership with Virat Kohli in the 150-run chase. 

Virat Kohli (10/10): Absolutely flawless! Virat Kohli is always the man for India, incredible and effortlessly powerful. His unbeaten 52-ball 72 was the match-winning knock that cruised past the South African bowlers and brought about a smooth victory for India at the start of their home season. Moreover, it’s a 10/10 for fielding as well, especially for that incredible catch that removed de Kock.

Rishabh Pant (2/10): Proving his critics right, Pant can’t stop making the same careless mistakes that have put his position in a quandary. As suggested by Indian batting coach Vikram Rathour, it’s not the 21-year-old’s shot selection but his execution that’s causing the problems and his fearless brand of batting has been reduced absolutely careless. Today’s dismissal was one big example of this criticism. Going for the short fine leg when he could have directed the shot anywhere off that shortish delivery on leg stump, by the debutant Bjorn Fortuin, Pant just devastatingly looked at his captain on the non-striker’s end before walking away. 

Shreyas Iyer (8/10): Smooth cameo, a couple of well-crafted boundaries and a promising career. All that you get to make out of Shreyas Iyer unbeaten 14-ball 16 alongside captain Virat Kohli. He shared the stage with the skipper when India celebrated a seven-wicket victory in Mohali, with an over remaining. 

Hardik Pandya (7.5/10): He was bowling short ball after short ball with much width on it, in his 2nd over, and his absolute freebies to Bavuma were being slapped across by the batsman. Rohit Sharma, his Mumbai Indians skipper, immediately alerted the pacer about his mistake and that made him bowl fuller. After giving away 24 runs in his first couple of overs, Pandya made a comeback in his final two, giving away just seven more runs and getting Miller out with a slower delivery. His comeback in the game was commendable.

Ravindra Jadeja(8/10): One of the best fielders in the world, Ravindra Jadeja always lives up to his reputation. The all-rounder didn’t get a chance with the bat since the honours were done by the captain himself. But he made the most out of his fielding in the 1st innings, saving runs, taking catches. Just his regular brilliance. Having conceded three runs in his 4 overs, he wasn’t too economical but his caught and bowled to remove the in-form Rassie van der Dussen was exceptional. 

Krunal Pandya (5/10): Pandya senior didn’t get enough attention in the game and got to bowl just one over in the second half of South Africa’s innings, conceding just 7 runs in his lone over. The slowness of the surface demanded more overs from an orthodox stump-to-stump bowler like Pandya but for reasons only known to Kohli, he massively underused him.

Deepak Chahar(9/10): The right-arm medium pacer bowled like the boy who comes first in his class. Sincere, attentive and just nonchalantly brilliant. One of the highlights of his spell was he bowled the slower knuckleball in the first ball of the 18th over that tricked an in-tune Bavuma to mistime the shot and lose his wicket. He finished with remarkable T20 figures of 4-0-22-2, an answer sheet that the teacher sends across the class as an example.

Washington Sundar (8/10): Just like his name suggests, the 19-year-old T20 expert is surely going places. Apart from that massive six that Miller slammed on the fifth ball of his 3rd over, the off-spinner had it under control. He experimented with his length, knew when to bowl what length. In fact, before Miller punished him with the six, Sundar bowled shorter ones perfectly. During the first half of South Africa’s innings, when bowlers were leaking runs, the youngster remained surprisingly economical, hence finished with figures of 4-0-19-0.

Navdeep Saini (6.5/10): After a couple of mediocre overs, Saini made a brilliant comeback in his 3rd over, conceding only 4 runs in the team’s 17th over. Additionally, he dismissed the opposition’s in-tune skipper de Kock in the 12th over, with a shortish off-cutter across the stumps, a point that turned the game around to India’s advantage. However, a couple of points were deducted because he let loose the bowling and went on to concede 16 runs in the penultimate over. 

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