India vs South Africa 2017-18: India’s marks out of 10 in T20Is

Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey were exceptional with the bat; Bhuvneshwar Kumar was at his usual best.

India ended the South Africa tour on a positive note, winning the T20Is 2-1. Shikhar Dhawan and Manish Pandey were exceptional with the bat. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was at his usual best. It also marked a comeback for Suresh Raina in the side. India won the final T20I despite the absence of Virat Kohli. As the series came to an end, here are the marks for the Indian players based on their performances. They have been marked on a scale of 0 to 10 where 10 is the highest.

Rohit Sharma – 4 (32 runs): Opening batting for India, Rohit could not play any significant knock in the T20Is. He was off to a strong start in the first match but failed to convert that to a big knock. He led India to victory in the decider and helped them seal the series.

Shikhar Dhawan – 9 (143 runs): Dhawan looked in his usual flair in the T20Is. His 39-ball 72 guided India to a massive 203 for 5 in the first match. He was again the highest scorer for his side in the final T20I with a relatively patient 47.

Suresh Raina – 6 (89 runs, 1 wicket): This was Raina’s comeback series and his chance to cement his spot in the national side once again, and he grabbed the opportunity with both hands. He went after almost every ball that came his way, and built two crucial partnerships in the second and third T20Is. Rohit also used him as a part-time bowler in the final match and Raina dismissed David Miller.

Virat Kohli – 4 (27 runs): After his magnificent performance in the ODIs, expectations were high on Kohli’s performance in the T20Is. However, he scored only 27 from the 2 T20Is he played in. He sacrificed his No. 3 position for Raina and demoted himself to No. 4. He gets marks for his captaincy and also showing faith on his players.

Manish Pandey – 8 (121 runs): Pandey justified Kohli’s decision of sending him ahead of MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya by scoring 121 runs including an unbeaten 79 in  the second match. He looked comfortable batting in the conditions, which is a great sign given India’s recent middle order woes.

MS Dhoni – 7 (80 runs): Dhoni scored his second T20I fifty. It came at the right time, after India were struggling at 90 for 4 in the second match. He built a 98-run partnership with Pandey to give India a competitive total. He kept wickets in his usual form too.

Hardik Pandya – 6 (34 runs, 3 wickets): Pandya got the chance to bat twice. He scored quickly as was expected of him. He got a wicket in the first T20I but was hammered by South Africa batsmen. He came back better in the next two matches, keeping his lines tight and maintaining his economy.

Dinesh Karthik – 4 (13 runs): Karthik gets 4 based on his performance in the only match he played. He scored a 6-ball 13 in the match and got very little scope to bat. He walked out in a situation where he did not have the luxury to spend balls and understand the pitch. It is a bit unfair to judge his performance.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 8 (3 runs, 7 wickets): Bhuvi broke another record during this T20I series, becoming the first Indian to take 5-wicket-hauls across formats. He finished the series with 7 wickets and gave the hosts batsmen a tough time.

Jaydev Unadkat – 6 (32 runs, 3 wickets): Unadkat played second fiddle to Bhuvi in the first match and picked up a wicket. In the next, he got 2 wickets, including that of Hendricks Klaasen, but not before Klaasen had set the hosts en route victory with 69. Unadkat finished with an economy above 11 and was dropped in the following match.

Jasprit Bumrah – 4 (1 wicket): This was not the best of series Bumrah had in his career so far. He went wicketless in the first match, did not play the second and managed only one wicket in the third – that of Chris Morris. He failed to create the uncertainty in the batsmen’s minds, which he is famous for and conceded lot of runs instead.

Shardul Thakur – 5 (2 wickets): Shardul could have turned this series into a special one with the two chances given to him but his performance did not touch the extraordinary mark. Though he got the wicket of JP Duminy in the final match, his tally from 2 matches remained 2 and he was expensive, too.

Akshar Patel – 1 (1 run, 0 wickets): Akshar got 1 ball to face and 1 over to bowl in the only match he played. He scored a solitary run and gave away 16. However, he cannot be totally blamed as he got too short a span to show his skills.

Yuzvendra Chahal – 1 (1 wicket): After his tremendous success in the ODIs, Chahal had figures of 8-0-103-1 in the T20Is — though, to be fair, he found it difficult to grip a wet ball in the second match. He did not bat.