Two Indian played received a perfect 10 from Ashwin.
Following India's second T20I match against New Zealand in Christchurch on Saturday (October 24), legendary off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin pulled no punches, delivering a characteristically blunt and honest assessment of the players' performances.
Speaking on the Sony Sports Network, Ashwin assigned definitive ratings to the team, handing out everything from perfect scores to single digits.
While Ashwin gave Abhishek Sharma a 9 out of 10 for his aggressive intent, his opening partner Sanju Samson received a 2 out of 10 rating for his knock of 17-ball 14.
Teenage prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi had a tough outing, scoring 4 off 8 balls. He was given only 1 rating, whereas skipper Shreyas Iyer (7 off 11 balls) got one more for his single-digit score.
"Abhishek Sharma, I'll give him a 9 for that intent. Sanju Samson, I'll give him a 3. Okay. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is a 1. I don't like giving zeroes. Shreyas Iyer is a 2. Not sure, but yeah, 2," Ashwin said.
Chasing 181, the Men in Blue found themselves tottering at 70/5 in 10.5 overs. The recovery unfolded in two distinct phases. Naman Dhir triggered the turnaround with a lightning-fast 31 off 17 balls, hammering three crucial sixes to shift the momentum back toward India.
Following Dhir's departure at 112/6, Tilak Varma (51* off 26 balls) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (26* off 13 balls) put on an unbeaten 69-run stand off just 30 deliveries to take India over the line with four wickets and one delivery to spare.
No wonder, Ashwin handed out perfect scores for two key contributors, Tilak and Nitish, who also claimed a wicket in the match.
"Tilak Varma is a 10 for me, that was one hell of a performance. Nitish Kumar Reddy, and again, a 10. 19th over, bowled pretty well, so that's a 10 for me," he stated.
Ashwin praised Dhir's bowling contribution, but withheld a perfect score due to a "scratchy catch" and the fact that he "didn't close the game out".
"Naman Dhir is an 8, bowled over, just a scratchy catch that one, so I'm giving him an 8, didn't close the game out," the former India spinner asserted.
Axar Patel and Bhuvneshwar Kumar received a 2/10 rating for their disappointing performances in the second T20I.
"Axar Patel is a 2 on today's performance. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is a 2 again," Ashwin said.
Ashwin highly commended the disciplined and economical spells delivered by the pace duo of Arshdeep Singh (2/33) and Prince Yadav (1/30), giving them 9/10.
"Arshdeep Singh is a 9, great performance. Prince Yadav is a 9 again for me," Ashwin concluded.