India v England, 1st ODI - India Player Ratings

Team India came into the ODI series as clear favorites. The reason being the 4-0 scoreline that the Indian team had inflicted on England in the Test series. However, as most of the English batsmen claimed, the format had changed and hence it was going to be a different ball game altogether. The action moved to Pune for the first ODI of the three-match series. India’s new skipper Virat Kohli had no hesitation on bowling first after having won the toss. However, what followed was absolute mayhem for the Indian bowlers.

English batsmen, Jason Roy and Joe Root, in particular, looked solid at the top order. Both scored 73 and 78 respectively as the visitors looked set for a high total. A 40-ball 62 from Ben Stokes towards the end propelled their claim to 350/7 in their stipulated 50 overs. India had a horrid start with both their openers departing cheaply. It was the middle order menace from skipper Kohli and Kedar Jadhav that got India through the steep run chase. Splendid tons from both batsmen combined with a gritty 40 from Hardik Pandya, in the end, saw the hosts clinch a 3 wicket win with 11 balls to spare.

The hosts certainly put on a great effort on the day. But how did they fare up individually as players? Here are the India player ratings for India v England 1st ODI:

KL Rahul – 2/10

KL Rahul walked into the game with a lot of promise. Having scored a gallant 199 in the last match of the Test series, the Karnataka batsman was certainly not short of good form. However, he had a disappointing outing in the middle. The track at MCA Stadium looked like an absolute belter on the day. But KL Rahul could make minimal use of it.

After hitting a boundary during his 18-ball stay at the crease, he missed out a straighter one from David Willey to get back to the dressing room for just 8. He gets a rating of 2 on the scale of 10.

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Shikhar Dhawan – 1/10

KL Rahul’s opening partner, Shikhar Dhawan, had no great game either. Walking into the side after being out due to an injury, Dhawan had a lot to prove in the match. There were talks about this series being the last chance for Dhawan to stay in the Indian lineup.

The Delhi opener failed to get his feet going at the crease. His stay that lasted 10 balls never had Dhawan in command of any shot. He was dismissed on 1 by David Willey. He had a forgettable outing on the day.

Virat Kohli – 9/10

Captain marvel was at his very best yet again. The match was Virat Kohli’s first match as full-time captain of the Indian cricket team. He led from the front after seeing India struggle with 4 wickets down early in the innings. He forged a 200-run stand with Kedar Jadhav that got India very close to the target.

It was only unfortunate for the king of run chases that he could not finish things for the team. Kohli scored 122 off 105 balls with 8 fours and 5 sixes.

Yuvraj Singh – 3/10

Yuvraj Singh came into the game with a big reputation in hand. The veteran southpaw had been in a phenomenal form in the Ranji Trophy this year. He had translated the same good form in the limited overs as well when he pushed a dazzling cameo in the warm-up match against England.

During this ODI, he had a short stay at the crease. The 3 rating points that Yuvi gets is for the brief entertainment he put up during his stay at the crease. With 2 fours and a six, Yuvraj scored 15 off 12 balls before being dismissed by a faint tickle of the bowling of Ben Stokes.

Kedar Jadhav – 9.5/10

Kedar Jadhav had a dream game tonight. Playing at his home ground, Jadhav provided the much-needed impetus to the Indian innings. When England had India reeling at 63/4, little did they know that they were up against a little dynamo. While most people talked about Kohli’s heroics, there was Jadhav who played the big shots too.

He brought up his second ODI ton in the process and put on 200 runs for the 5th wicket with Kohli. Jadhav finished with a mind-boggling 120 runs off mere 76 balls studded with 12 fours and 4 sixes.

MS Dhoni – 4/10

Admit it or not, all eyes were on former skipper MS Dhoni during the first ODI at Pune. Dhoni was playing as a non-captain after a long time in the Indian outfit. He largely disappointed with the bat as he could score just 6 before perishing to a Jake Ball delivery. But, his wicketkeeping looked flawless as ever.

He had two dismissals to show under his name in the match. He managed to stump Jason Roy off the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja and then caught Eoin Morgan off the bowling of Pandya.

Hardik Pandya – 8/10

Hardik Pandya did a fair job with both bat and the ball. He outbowled his senior bowling partner Umesh Yadav with the new ball. While Umesh leaked runs at will, Pandya had a good grip on the economy rate. On the day, he was the most economical pacer among the pacers of both the sides.

He returned with figures of 2/46 off his 9 overs. He provided the much-needed breakthrough when Joe Root and Eoin Morgan were going great guns. Later in the game, he scored a crucial unbeaten 40 off 37 balls with 3 fours and a six to see India win the match by 3 wickets.

Ravindra Jadeja – 7/10

Ravindra Jadeja’s ODI comeback was not as fruitful as his exploits in the Test arena. Jadeja managed to get one solitary wicket on the day, albeit an important one of Jason Roy. In the 10 overs that he bowled, he gave away 50 runs.

Later, when the hosts needed a calm head at the crease with set batsmen out in quick succession, Jadeja showed the lack of responsibility as he perished for just 13. He had the opportunity to seize the match for India but that wasn’t to be on the day.

Ravichandran Ashwin – 3/10

India’s leading bowler in the longest format of the game and the ICC Cricketer of the Year 2016, Ravichandran Ashwin, had a forgettable day at the office. Much to the surprise of his franchise home fans, Ashwin went wicketless in Pune. The fact that turned out to be worse was that the English batsmen made him look very ordinary.

In the 8 overs that he bowled, he was belted for 63 runs at an economy close to 8. The points that he has managed to get here is because of the winning six that he hit. He held his nerves to ensure that the hosts eased past the target towards the end.

Umesh Yadav – 3/10

Umesh Yadav took the new ball for India. Yadav, who was very successful with the new ball in the New Zealand ODI series, looked far from being impressive against the English batsmen. Jason Roy took special liking to his bowling and clobbered him to all parts in the powerplay.

Later in the day. Yadav came back to get rid of Moeen Ali. That remains to be the only wicket to show up on the scorecard. Yadav went for 63 runs in the 7 overs that he bowled.

Jasprit Bumrah – 5/10

India’s new found pace sensation Jasprit Bumrah was taken for aplenty on the day by the English batsmen. It is very unlikely that one could recall the last time some batting order looked Bumrah so ordinary at the crease. Bumrah went for 79 runs in his quota of 10 overs.

However, much to the relief of his fans, the Gujarat pacer managed to scalp 2 wickets in the English innings. He dismissed Joe Root on 78 and later saw the back of threatening Ben Stokes on 62.