India downs the Kangaroos with a 4-1 win in the T20I series: Player Ratings for the Hosts
After losing to Australia in the final of the 2023 ICC ODI Cricket World Cup, a young India side without the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Mohammed Siraj triumphed over Australia to clinch the bilateral T20I series 4-1 at home.
India won the second and fourth T20I quite comfortably but it required last-over heroics from Rinku Singh and Arshdeep Singh to go over the line in the first and fifth T20I respectively.
Ruturaj Gaikwad’s century went in vain in the third T20I as Australia chased a mammoth total of 223 on the final ball of the innings but the other four matches went the hosts’ way.
On that note, here are the player ratings of Indian players.
Top Order
Yashasvi Jaiswal (7/10) – The swashbuckling left-hander scored a quickfire 21 runs off 8 balls in the first match before getting out inside the powerplay but revitalised himself with a ‘Player of the Match’ winning 53 runs off 25 balls in the second match.
Jaiswal scored only 6 runs in the next match before posting 37 runs and 21 runs in the last two encounters. The Rajasthan Royals opener has carried on his Asian Games form but needs to improve a bit as per international standards.
Ruturaj Gaikwad (8/10) – Gaikwad got out on a diamond duck in the first match and played the role of an anchor in the second match by scoring 58 runs off 43 balls, allowing the likes of Jaiswal, Kishan, and Suryakumar to hit with aplomb.
Gaikwad took matters into his own hands in the third T20I by playing an unbeaten innings of 123 runs off 57 deliveries which included 13 boundaries and 7 sixes. He scored 32 and 10 runs in the fourth and fifth match respectively to amass a total of 223 runs in the series.
Ishan Kishan (8/10) – Kishan scored two consecutive half-centuries in the first two matches scoring 110 runs in total at a strike rate of 155. However, he got out in a five-ball duck in the third T20I before making way for Shreyas Iyer in the No.3 spot for the rest of the two games.
Shreyas Iyer (7/10) – Iyer scored only 8 runs in the fourth T20I but emerged as India’s highest run scorer in the fifth T20I at Bengaluru by scoring 53 runs as India posted only 160 runs on the board.
Middle Order
Suryakumar Yadav (6/10) – Yadav led from the front in the first T20I by scoring 80 runs off 42 balls as he lived up to his moniker of Mr. 360 by smashing the balls all across the park. However, he was able to score only 19 runs off 10 deliveries and 39 runs off 29 balls in the next two matches.
Yadav’s last two T20Is were nothing less than a disaster as he scored only 1 run and 5 runs respectively.
Tilak Varma (5/10) – Varma had a forgetful start to the series as he got out at 12 runs in the first match before staying not out at 7 runs off 2 balls in the next match. In the third T20I, he anchored to Gaikwad by scoring 31 runs off 24 balls and stayed not out till the end.
Rinku Singh (9/10) – Chasing a total of 209 in the first T20I, India was on cruise to pick up a win with only 7 runs required off the last over. However, Australia picked up three consecutive wickets leaving Rinku helpless at the other end. But, the KKR batsman scored a six off the last ball to pick up the win for India.
Rinku Singh scored the winning runs in the first T20I
Rinku also scored 31 runs off only 9 balls in the second T20I as he smashed four boundaries and two maximums in the last three overs. Rinku didn’t get the opportunity to bat in the third T20I but came back with a superb knock of 46 runs off 29 balls in the fourth T20I.
Jitesh Sharma (8/10) – Jitesh got an opportunity to bat only in the last two T20Is in Raipur and Bengaluru respectively but made the most of his opportunities. Striking at a rate of 184, he scored 35 runs in Raipur before notching 24 runs off 16 balls in Bengaluru.
All Rounders
Axar Patel (8/10) – Axar Patel didn’t pick up any wickets in the first match and scored only 2 runs with the bat. But, he stayed economical in the next match with an economy of 6.25 and kept it under 10 an over in the high-scoring third T20I.
Axar got out in a golden duck in the fourth T20I but took the wickets of three of the top 4 batters of Australia. Axar’s only noteworthy contribution with the bat came in the fifth T20I as he scored 31 runs off 21 balls and conceded only 14 runs from his spell of 4 overs.
Bowlers
Ravi Bishnoi (7.5/10) – Bishnoi was the costliest bowler in the first T20I by conceding 54 runs in four overs before striking three wickets in the next T20I match. He kept his lines tight in the third T20I by conceding 32 off 4 overs and picking up 2 wickets.
Bishnoi’s 1-17 from four overs was crucial as Australia were restricted to a total of 154 in the fourth T20I. He picked up 2 more wickets in the final T20I to cap off the series.
Mukesh Kumar (7/10) – Mukesh started the series on a strong note by conceding 29 runs off his four overs. He returned with figures of 1-43 in the second T20I before being rested for the third T20I. He had a dismal outing in the fourth T20I as he conceded 42 runs without picking up a single wicket but finished strongly with figures of 3-32 in the fifth T20I.
Arshdeep Singh defended 10 runs in the final over in the fifth T20I
Arshdeep Singh (7/10) – Arshdeep conceded more than 40 runs each in the first three T20Is and was dropped in the fourth T20I. However, he was brought back to the game for his death bowling skills and proved his mettle. Picking the wicket of Matthew Wade, he conceded only three runs while defending 10 runs.
Prasidh Krishna (5/10) – Krishna conceded 50 runs in the first encounter while taking the wicket of Josh Inglis. Krishna’s 3-41 figures came in handy in a high-scoring encounter in Thiruvananthapuram. However, he conceded 68 runs in the third T20I which saw Glenn Maxwell and Matthew Wade score 23 runs in the final over to win the game for Australia.
Avesh Khan (7/10) – Avesh conceded 1-37 in the third T20I and was the most economical bowler of India but his efforts went in vain as Australia chased down the target of 223. Avesh kept his lines tight in the middle overs with his figures of 1-33 in the fourth T20I before finishing off with 0-39 in the fifth T20I.
Deepak Chahar (6/10) – Chahar got only one game to show his talent as he picked up 2-44 in the fourth T20I. He got the wickets of Tim David and Matt Short as he put a brake on Australia’s acceleration and caused them to fall short by 20 runs.