From T Natarajan’s A+ to Sanju Samson’s F: Grading every Indian player who played the T20Is against Australia
And just like that, the limited-overs leg is over and India have secured the T20I series 2-1 to exact revenge for the loss in the ODIs. Now, before we could shift all our attention to the Test series that is coming up, we, at SportsCafe, have come up with our own grades for every Indian player.
KL Rahul - B+
Started pretty well but his form deteriorated as the series went on. It reached the nadir in the third game and India ended up on the losing side. Rahul, being one of India’s premier batsmen, should have done better.
Shikhar Dhawan: A
Dhawan was attacking in his stroke-play and overall, he just matched his partner. His aggressive approach kept India in the last two games. This rekindled love for T20s is something India will cherish as they step into the World T20 year.
Virat Kohli : A+
Surely Virat Kohli could’ve done a lot better in the last T20I as far as his approach in the middle-overs was concerned but you can’t fault him on a day he was India’s lone ranger. Him returning back to form is a good news but he will seriously have to work on his boundary hitting in the middle-overs.
Sanju Samson : F
Another outing and another disaster for Sanju Samson. The Kerala batsman, much like his indifferent IPL form, got starts yet failed to muster momentum in any one of them. After seven games, his highest score being 23 at the international level tells you everything you need to know about him and then some more.
Manish Pandey : F
It is staggering that Manish Pandey is still playing for India in the shortest version of the game. This doesn’t need a reiteration but the Karnataka man’s utility to this rigid Indian batting line-up is as important as Andre Russell in the Windies’ Test side. Quite rightfully, he got only one chance, where he scored just a couple, before being replaced in the next one.
Shreyas Iyer: B+
Iyer got the right attitude as a middle-order bat but that was never in the show in the middle-overs phase. With Australia pushing a trial by spin, Iyer’s utility could have been used but that was a sordid story altogether. He was all at sea and the tame dismissal in the last T20I was a rightful indictment of his batting. In one sentence, it never got going.
Hardik Pandya : A+
Pandya not only lit up the T20 series single-handedly but gave a dazzling reminder of his incredible ability in the process. He was effortless, caressing with a monster’s hand and pulling off feats hitherto unplumbed. He was in a league of his own.
Ravindra Jadeja : A+Â
A basic rule of thumb for all the footballers around the world, if you have only 90 minutes to make a mark, use it the way Jaddu did. He suffered a hamstring blow, a concussion towards the end of it, but during that lone outing, the Saurashtra boy did the unthinkable. His 23-ball 44 is not only a deserving A+ but also a statement written in gold for the Indian team management going ahead.
Washington Sundar: B
In the first game, when India needed him the most to choke the run-flow after posting a par total, Washi stood up, and how! He has always been a fantastic run-container in the powerplay but this time, he is pushing himself as a bowler for all occasions. A reduced B-rating is because of his fading aura as a batsman.Â
Deepak Chahar : F
From the usual Deepak Chahar standard, this was a series to forget in all honesty. Failed to pick any wickets in the last two games, was smacked all over in the powerplay and couldn’t materialize anything at death, Chahar was quiet from Canberra to Sydney. It won’t amuse anybody as the team prepares for the World Cup.
Mohammed Shami : F
Rested for the last two games to get an adequate amount of rest ahead of the Test series, Mohammed Shami’s only outing was a reflection of his own T20I career. Shami, who somehow does well in the IPL, has never set the international stage on fire and when he took to the field in the Canberra T20I, the signs were ominous. Smacked all around by Aaron Finch and Moises Henriques while conceding at over 11 runs per over. Disastrous!
T Natarajan : A+
What a guy! What a performer! T Natarajan went to Australia as a net bowler but ended up as India’s best performer with six wickets to his name. Natarajan’s adaptability was one of the key reasons behind the side taming the Aussies in their own den. Hardik Pandya rightfully called the Salem boy his Man of the Series. We don’t complain at all. We hand him an A + grade as well.
Yuzvendra Chahal : B
The comedic cycle of life was never explained better. Yuzvendra Chahal was not picked for the first, became a concussion substitute, and won the Man of the Match and when he was handed a starting role, he faltered massively. Yuzi seems to have been a bit of string since but that’s possibly because of the standard he has set for himself in the IPL 2020, one of his best-ever IPL so far.
Shardul Thakur : B
Expensive and unlucky. The figure doesn’t really tell us the exact story because as many as three catches were spilled off Thakur who was at the receiving end of a scathing thus after. But otherwise, he was disciplined, kept the channel tight and created multiple chances with his barrage of length deliveries. Can’t seriously be judged with this performance.