India v Australia, ODI Series 2017: Series Best XI

Team India continued their dominating run this year with a comprehensive series win against Australia. When the Aussies stepped on the Indian soil for the limited overs leg of their tour, little did they know that they would be up against a rampaging men in blue. The series started off with Hardik Pandya and MS Dhoni stealing the show for India in a rain-curtailed affair. The next two games saw the Indian side grab some crucial moments of the game from the claws of the visitors. Three wins in a row meant that the hosts had ensured an unassailable lead in the 5-match series. This also saw the team equal their longest winning streak in the ODI history – 9 wins. They were the favorites in the fourth ODI at Bengaluru too. But a brilliant batting display from the Australia side – the openers in particular – helped the men in yellow savor some pride with a 21 run win. Action moved Nagpur for the final ODI of the series, which was a dead rubber anyway. India thumped Australia in the match and looked set for a 9-wicket win. However, two quick wickets towards the end saw the side settle with a 7 wicket win. More importantly, the team had registered a thoroughly convincing win to continue their supreme reign in the recent times. There were several players from both the sides who rose to the occasion to light up the stands. There were the old war horses who stood firm and did no harm to their reputations, and there were the young stars who made a name for themselves in the series. Here we pick the Series Best XI from India v Australia ODI series 2017: 1. Rohit Sharma Rohit Sharma raises his bat after the hundred. (Photo Source: Twitter) Indian opener Rohit Sharma capped off a good series with a thundering ton to his name in the final ODI. Rohit hammered a match winning 125 off just 109 deliveries with 11 fours and 5 sixes to his name. His knock saw the Indian side cruise to a comfortable win in their run chase of 242. Rohit aggregated 296 runs in the 5 matches in the series. He finished as the top scorer in the series and averaged 59.20 with the bat. In addition to his herculean ton, he notched up a couple fo fifties as well. He hit 14 sixes in the series – the most by any batsman. 2. Aaron Finch Aaron Finch and Steve Smith. (Photo Source: Twitter) Australian opener Aaron Finch did not feature in all the matches in the series. He was out of the side for the first two ODIs owing to injury concerns. He convinced the team management to let him play in the third ODI and lit up the occasion with a timely ton. He scored 124 on the day but was unfortunate to have ended on the losing side. In the next game at Bengaluru, he was again unlucky to have been dismissed in the 90s. He averaged 83.33 in the series – the highest by any batsman. Finch amasses 250 runs in 3 matches. 3. David Warner David Warner. (Photo Source: Twitter) While Aaron Finch was spot on with his form in the series, his opening partner David Warner was not far behind either. Warner struggled to get his feet going in the first couple of matches. In the third game, he got a good start to his name and hit a well timed fifty. A better knock beckoned in the Bengaluru ODI when he smashed 124 to set up the base for a high score for the visitors. He scored 245 runs in the five games that he played at an average just below 50. 4. Ajinkya Rahane Ajinkya Rahane. (Photo Source: Twitter) Veteran Indian batsman Ajinkya Rahane got a go in the series following the last minute exit of Shikhar Dhawan from the India squad. As has been the story in the history books, Rahane captured his opportunity with both hands. Every time he gets his due chance, he scores well. Albeit Rahane did not score a century in the series, he hit as many as four fifties. He averaged 48.8 for his tally of 244 runs in 5 innings. Rahane also hit 29 boundaries in the series – the most by any batsman. 5. Hardik Pandya Hardik Pandya. (Photo Source: Twitter) Hardik Pandya emerged as the find of the series for team India. The hard hitting batsman always showed potential but never really got the long share of presence at the crease. In this series, he got ample opportunities, and he converted most of them. He hit a brilliant 83 in the first ODI, that included hitting three consecutive sixes off the bowling of Adam Zampa. In the third ODI, he hit another fifty, a score of 78. Pandya finished with 222 runs in the series at an average of 55.5. He contributed with the ball too. Pandya scalped 6 wickets in the 5 matches with a best of 2/28 to his name. 6. MS Dhoni MS Dhoni stuns Glenn Maxwell yet again. (Photo Source: Twitter) Former Indian skipper MS Dhoni did not get a lot of opportunities to bat in the series, but when he did, Dhoni made sure that he converted it to a good score on most occasions. Team India were in a spot of bother in the first ODI with four wickets back in the hut early in the innings. Dhoni then batted with Hardik Pandya to bail India out of trouble. He hit a classy 79 in the game. With the gloves, he was at his peak best yet again. Some quick stumpings, thorough chirping to guide the bowlers, were a few of the match-winning traits that he showed in the series. 7. Kuldeep Yadav Kuldeep Yadav celebrates his hat-trick. (Photo Source: Twitter) Young chinaman spinner Kuldeep Yadav was another find of the series for team India. Kuldeep rose to the occasion with consistent performances in the four matches that he played in. He was not afraid to pitch the ball up when the opposition took the attack to him. He even scalped a historic hat-trick in the Kolkata ODI in this series to enter the record books as only the third Indian bowler to take an ODI hattrick. He took 7 wickets at an average of 30. He finished as the leading wicket taker for India in the series. 8. Yuzvendra Chahal Yuzvendra Chahal. (Photo Source: Twitter) Leggie Yuzvendra Chahal was another success story for the hosts along with Kuldeep Yadav in the bowling department. Both Kuldeep and Chahal had the big boots of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja to fill. They did the task with ease and never let the Indian team feel the absence of the big names. Chahal scalped 6 wickets in the four matches that he played. He bowled with an economy of 5.21, which is very impressive from a spinner’s standard. His best figures were of 3/30 in the series. He made Glenn Maxwell his bunny in the series. 9. Kane Richardson Kane Richardson celebrates the wicket of Rohit Sharma with his teammates. (Photo Source: Twitter) Australian pacer Kane Richardson was not a member of the starting eleven in the first couple of ODIs. He played three matches in the series and ended up being the second leading wicket taker in the series. He finished with 7 wickets to his credit in 3 matches at a strike rate of 24.7. He averaged 22.57 with the ball – the second best in the series after Umesh Yadav’s average of 17.75. His best figures of 3/55 in the series. He provided the ideal support to the Aussie spearhead Nathan Coulter-Nile in the series. 10. Bhuvneshwar Kumar Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. (Photo by ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP/Getty Images) Ace Indian bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar continued his good form with the ball in the series. He bowled tight lines up front with the new ball to keep the Australian batsmen at bay throughout the series. In the first couple of games, he proved to be the best bowler for the side. This is evident from his best figures in the series that reads 3/9. He scalped 5 wickets in 4 matches with a bowling averaged of just over 25. He bowled with an economy rate of 4.47 – the most impressive among all the bowlers in the series. He even earned praise from the opposition skipper Steve Smith. 11. Nathan Coulter-Nile Nathan Coulter-Nile celebrates the wicket of Virat Kohli with his teammates. (Photo Source: Twitter) Australian pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile did absolutely no harm to his reputation in the series. The tall pacer emerged as the leading wicket taker in the series with 10 wickets to his name. Certainly, he has now put a case for himself in the upcoming Ashes squad. The Australian team struggled but Coulter-Nile was spot on with his immaculate bowling. He accounted for the dismissal of Indian skipper Virat Kohli on three occasions in the series. He bowled with an averaged o 25.10 and had a very impressive economy rate of 5.12 with the ball.

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