Team India ended their Australia sojourn with yet another series win, their first ever bilateral series victory in Australia. Earlier, Team India had drawn the T20I series and won the Test series.
The Indian team had lost the first ODI match at SCG but came back strongly to win the remaining two matches at the Adelaide Oval and the MCG. It was a total team effort by the Indian team and the star for India proved to be Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Kohli and Sharma hit respective centuries in Adelaide and SCG and Chahal picked his career-best 6/42 in the MCG ODI. However, MS Dhoni, who went through 2018 without hitting a single half-century, hit three on a trot in the series, including a much-criticized 96-ball 51, where he was blamed for the loss.
Keeping such performances in mind, Team COC presents the Players Ratings for Team India in their ODI series win.
Here are the COC Players’ Ratings for Team India for the ODI series
ROHIT SHARMA- 6/10 Rohit Sharma started the Indian chase in the first ODI match with style, hitting a sublime 133. However, he failed to do much in the remaining matches. However, his 133 was the foundation of a very good chase in the first ODI, which unfortunately fell short.
SHIKHAR DHAWAN- 4/10 Shikhar Dhawan scored a total of 55 runs in 3 matches and with a break of over five weeks, the rustiness in his play was evident. The Dhawan which the fans saw in the T20I series before was missing and for him being in form is necessary for India’s 2019 World Cup chances and he has a five ODI series against New Zealand to get back into form.
VIRAT KOHLI- 7/10 Indian captain Virat Kohli scored 153 runs in the three-match series with a best of 104 in the second ODI, which India won in Adelaide. Kohli also played an important knock of 46 in the third match and his overall leadership and innovative ways to get wickets were applauded by the experts and fans.
MS DHONI- 9/10 After a cold 2018, Dhoni started his 2019 with a much-criticized 96-ball 51, where he was blamed for the loss. However, Dhoni soldiered on hitting two more fifties in match-winning efforts at Adelaide and MCG and hence was named the Man of the Series.
His batting in the series was his acceptance and the team’s acceptance that Dhoni wasn’t the finisher of the yesteryears anymore. He was now an accumulator and his place in the batting order was much higher than where he had been batting.
DINESH KARTHIK- 5/10 Dinesh Karthik is now the finisher designate of Team India, something that he said during a press conference when he played an important knock of 20 odd in the Adelaide win, where he helped take pressure off Dhoni and hit some big shots to take India to the win.
AMBATI RAYUDU- 2/10 Ambati Rayudu got two chances to continue proving that he was the batsman to own the no.4 spot in the team for upcoming 2019 World Cup. He scored a duck in the first ODI and then hit a labored 24 in the second ODI, an innings that saw him struggled against pace and bounce and looked overall uneasy.
RAVINDRA JADEJA- 3/10 Ravindra Jadeja picked 2 wickets in the series and didn’t do anything with the bat. However, his economy rate of 5.17 helped build pressure on the opposition, aiding others to pick up wickets with ease.
KULDEEP YADAV- 2/10 Kuldeep Yadav usually routs oppositions with his bamboozling spin, managed to pick just two wickets in the series and even went wicketless in one of the matches. The batsmen decided to play him out, rather than going after him and losing wickets.
MOHAMMAD SHAMI- 6/10 Mohammad Shami has proved to be the energizer bunny of Team India. While other pacers, who played in the grueling four-match Test series are enjoying a break, Shami went ahead and played in all the three ODIs, picking five wickets at an amazing economy of 5.08. He aided Bhuvneshwar Kumar and spinners well, picking important wickets and putting pressure on batsmen.
BHUVNESHWAR KUMAR- 9/10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar showed why he is one of the best limited-overs bowlers in the world. He picked eight wickets in the three matches, including the best of 4/45. He had the number of opposition captain Aaron Finch in all the three matches and gave away runs at only 4.96 rpo, showing his skills as one of the top bowlers in the world.
KEDAR JADHAV- 6/10 Kedar Jadhav got only one game to play and stole the show with a brilliant 61* in a match-winning effort. He aided MS Dhoni to take Indian team past the winner’s post, taking pressure off the veteran and in the process, giving Indian team a more balanced looking playing XI.
YUZVENDRA CHAHAL- 6/10 Like Kedar Jadhav, Chahal too got a single chance in the series, after spending an extended time on the bench and came through with career-best ODI figures of 6/42, joint best by any Indian bowler in Australia. Chahal showed that he deserved to play in every match in the preparation to the 2019 World Cup.
KHALEEL AHMED- 0/10 Khaleel Ahmed failed to impress in his only game down under, as he his inexperience caused him to ball short and went for runs in the first match at the SCG.
MOHAMMED SIRAJ- 0/10 Mohammed Siraj finally made his long-awaited ODI debut in the second match at the Adelaide Oval and had the second worst bowling figures for an Indian on debut. Siraj went for 76 runs in his 10 overs and couldn’t pick up a wicket.
VIJAY SHANKAR- 2/10 Vijay Shankar was the second Indian to make his ODI debut in the 3-match ODI series and bowled a tidy 6-over spell for 23 runs, helping the regular bowlers keep the pressure on the Australian batting.