India capitalizes on home advantage to stun Australia in the ODI series: Player Ratings for the Hosts

The much-awaited 2023 ICC ODI World Cup is only a week away and the Indian cricket team is making sure to tick all the boxes and enter the marquee event as the favorites. It was only earlier in the month that the team scored a stunning victory in the 2023 edition of the Asia Cup 2023 and broke the curse of not winning the title since 2018. 

Following the momentum gained in the Asia Cup, Rohit Sharma’s men recorded another stunning victory as they defeated the Australian cricket team 2-1 in a three-match ODI series. The first One Day between the two teams saw India winning by five wickets. They followed it up with another victory in the second match by 99 runs.

Australia finally made a comeback by winning the final One Day International by 66 runs, however, it did not affect the result of the series. Let us check out how the Indian players fared in the series:

Batters

Rururaj Gaikwad (5/10): CSK’s opening batter Rururaj Gaikwad was a miss in the three-match ODI series as he could score only 79 runs in two games. The opener could have done better considering he was responsible for taking India to a good start in the first two games. 

Shubman Gill (9.5/10): Just like the Asia Cup 2023, Shubman Gill was the star of the series here as well. He took home the Player of the Match award and ended up topping the charts with 178 runs in two games at a stunning average of 89.00. 

Rohit Sharma (7/10): The Indian skipper Rohit Sharma looked good in his only outing against Australia in the third match. On a personal front, Rohit registered a knock of 81 runs off just 57 balls with the help of five boundaries and six maximums. However, he could not impress with his leadership skills as under him India registered its only loss in the series by a massive 66 runs. 

Virat Kohli (6.5/10): After resting for the first two matches, Virat Kohli announced his comeback with a much-needed fifty. In the final ODI at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Kohli smacked 56 runs off 61 balls to help India recover from the early wicket of Washington Sundar. 

Shreyas Iyer (8/10): Coming from an injury, Shreyas Iyer made the most out of the golden opportunity provided to him as he collected a whopping 156 runs in three games at a stunning average of 52.00. 

KL Rahul led India in the first two ODIs against Australia

KL Rahul (7.5/10): KL Rahul was really impressive with his leadership skills in the first two One Day Internationals as India scored wins by five wickets and 99 runs respectively. 

Meanwhile, his batting score is also decent as he ended up racking a score of 136 runs in three games at an average of 68 while batting at number four. 

Ishan Kishan (2/10): It was one of the worst performances by Ishan Kishan in the blue jersey as he scored 18 runs in the first One Day International and followed it up with only 31 runs in the second game. 

Suryakumar Yadav (5.5/10): Suryakumar Yadav again emerged as the saving grace for the Indian team as he smacked 130 runs in the three matches at an average of 65. The batter handled the responsibility of leading the batting order but he could have done better, especially in the final match when India was chasing a big score of 353 runs. 

All-rounders

Ravindra Jadeja (7.5/10): Ravindra Jadeja was the only bowler to play all three One Day Internationals for India against Australia and he delivered a good performance to justify his place in the team. The veteran recorded an average of 51 by scoring 51 runs in three matches. 

With the ball, he ended up as the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the overall list. Jadeja made headlines by scalping four wickets at an average of 38.50 and an economy rate of 6.08. 

Ravichandran Ashwin (5.5/10): Ashwin made a comeback to the Indian team for the first two ODIs while he made way for Washington Sundar in the third game. 

The spin all-rounder had a decent outing with the ball as he picked four wickets in 17 overs at an average of 22.00. However, he could not make much of an impact with the bat but will get to do so in the warm-up matches after getting selected in place of the injured Axar Patel.

Washington Sundar (4.5/10): Finding a place in India’s playing XI for the last One Day International, Washington Sundar dished out a disappointing performance both with the bat and ball. Opening the batting, Sundar could score only 18 runs and lost his wicket to Glenn Maxwell. 

As far as the bowling is concerned, the spinner did not pick any wickets but proved to be very economical giving away only 48 runs in ten overs. 

Bowlers

Shardul Thakur (2/10): It was a series to forget for the Indian seamer Shradul Thakur as he hampered his chances of making it to the World Cup Playing XI for India. 

Thakur was included in the playing XI for the first two ODIs but he went wicketless in both the games. Shardul failed to control the flow of the runs as well as he conceded runs at an economy rate of over 7.5. 

Jasprit Bumrah (5/10): It was not one of the best performances by Jasprit Bumrah but he did a decent job with four wickets from 20 overs in two matches at an average of 31.00. In the third ODI, Bumrah initially went for 51 runs in five overs but delivered under the pump as he conceded only 30 runs in his last five overs picking up three crucial wickets as well.

Shami became the first Indian fast bowler to take a fifer at home in ODIs in the last 16 years

Mohammed Shami (8/10): Mohammed Shami ended the three-match ODI series as the top wicket-taker for the Indian team. Playing the first two matches, Shami picked up a whopping six wickets at a good average of 15.00 and an equally impressive economy rate of 5.62. 

Prasidh Krishna (3/10): Prasidh Krishna also received two chances as he featured in the last two games after missing the first One Day International. However, he failed to make the most out of the opportunity and ended up picking only three wickets in his 11 overs. 

Mohammed Siraj (5/10): After missing out on the first two One Day Internationals, Mohammed Siraj made a comeback in the team for the final game and delivered a decent performance. In his ten overs, he conceded 68 runs to maintain an economy rate of 7.6 and also picked one wicket in the form of former Australian skipper Steve Smith. 

Kuldeep Yadav (7.5/10): Apart from Siraj, the spin sensation Kuldeep Yadav was the other bowler to play only the final ODI. The Delhi Capitals star looked in good touch as he dismissed Mitchell Marsh and Cameron Green while giving away only 48 runs in his six overs.