ICC World Cup 2019: Match 14, IND v AUS – India Player Ratings

Brakes were applied on Australia’s winning momentum by Team India in Match 14 of World Cup 2019. The ‘Men in Blue’ put up one of their most clinical performances in recent times and avenged for the defeat in the bilateral series a few months back. Driven by Shikhar Dhawan’s 17th ODI century, India managed to put up a massive total on the board after they chose to bat first.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma registered half-centuries in the game. It was Hardik Pandya and MS Dhoni who provided the side with the final impetus with some big hitting towards the end. Most of the Australian bowlers remained clueless after this assault from the Indian team. The side put up a total of 352/5 in 50 overs which was pretty satisfying at the half-way mark.

It chase was always going to be tough and Australia needed big knocks from at least two of their players. However, to their dismay, Aaron Finch was run out for 36. David Warner struggled during his stay in the middle and got out after he crawled his way to 56 off 84 balls. Former skipper Steve Smith did try his level best but was trapped LBW by Bhuvneshwar Kumar on 69. Khawaja and Maxwell made contributions of 42 and 28 respectively. While Alex Carey gave the Indians a slight scare towards the end, the asking rate was just too high for him to do it all alone. India managed to win the game by 36 runs to add another two points to the tally.

Here are the India Player Ratings for the match

Shikhar Dhawan – 9.5/10

Shikhar Dhawan was in full flow during this match and continued with his good record while playing at The Oval. The left-hander struck 16 glorious boundaries during his knock and ran well between the stumps. Despite being in severe pain after he was hit on his hand, he still persisted and continued playing some fabulous cricket. The left-hander scored 117 runs off 109 balls before he got out and laid an excellent platform to the team.

Rohit Sharma – 7.5/10

Rohit Sharma also made a valuable contribution in this game but couldn’t carry on for a longer period of time like he did in the last game. The Indian opener scored 57 runs off 70 balls and was looking set for another century. But, he failed to analyse the bounce and ended up playing a false shot. Though, he did his job by then.

Virat Kohli – 8.5/10

It is a rarity that Virat Kohli misses out on a century once he gets into the 60s or the 70s. But he was completely dominated by the other big hitters towards the end of the innings. The Indian skipper, though, held things together and gave the other batsmen the freedom to go after the bowlers. He got out in the final over of the innings after he scored 82 runs off 77 balls.

Hardik Pandya – 7.5/10

Hardik Pandya has promoted up the order to bat at number four in this match and he was in the zone straight away. He even had a chance of getting to a half-century and carry on further. But he got out in the 46th over of the game for 48 runs. He scored his runs in just 27 balls in an innings which included 4 fours and 3 sixes. With the ball, though, he was slightly expensive and gave away 68 runs in 10 overs.

MS Dhoni – 7/10

Many expected MS Dhoni to bat at four but it wasn’t to be it. But when he came out to bat after the fall of Pandya’s wicket, he didn’t disappoint one bit. The wicketkeeper-batsman didn’t eat up deliveries early on and showed great intent right from the start. He hit 3 fours and a six before he got out in the final over for 27 runs. Dhoni scored his runs at a strike rate of nearly 193. He was decent behind the stumps and assisted Virat well with the field placements.

KL Rahul – 5/10

There weren’t many deliveries left when KL Rahul walked out to bat. He just faced three deliveries where he hit a six, four and took a single as well. The 26-year-old had a good day on the field and saved some important runs. But he also gave away four extra runs when he failed to properly back-up a throw from Ravindra Jadeja.

Kedar Jadhav – 3/10

It could be slightly unfair to give a rating to Kedar Jadhav. He was out there in the middle but didn’t get to face a single delivery. The 34-year-old just got to bowl one over where he leaked 14 runs. But on the field, he inflicted the run-out of Australia’s skipper Aaron Finch which was a crucial breakthrough for India.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 8.5/10

The Australian players handled Bhuvneshwar Kumar well up until when he came back to bowl the 40th over of the innings. He picked two wickets in that over including that of Steve Smith. The game seemed to be evenly poised till that point in time but not so much after that over. While all the other bowlers went for runs, Bhuvneshwar Kumar held one end up tight. He finished the Australian innings with the wicket of Adam Zampa and gets some extra points for his economy.

Kuldeep Yadav – 1/10

Kuldeep Yadav didn’t have the best of outings in this game. The chinaman bowler bowled 9 overs in the match and conceded 55 runs. He couldn’t pick up any wickets.

Yuzvendra Chahal – 7.5/10

Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal carried on with his good form in this match. While he was slightly more expensive than he usually is, Chahal managed to pick two crucial wickets of the opposition. He dismissed David Warner at an important stage just as he was looking to get himself going. Chahal also dismissed his bunny, Glenn Maxwell, for 28 at a point when he was looking to be threatening.

Jasprit Bumrah – 8/10

Jasprit Bumrah might have been slightly expensive in this game. But that doesn’t imply that he didn’t bowl well. He was bang on target most of the times but the pitch was just too good. Bumrah finished his spell with three wickets and he conceded 61 runs.