India v England, 2nd T20I - India Player Ratings

England had stunned India in the first of the three T20Is at Kanpur. Coming into the second T20I, the visitors had the winning momentum with them. The VCA stadium at Nagpur was all set for the encounter as the men in blue hoped for a turnaround. A defeat would have meant a series loss for Virat Kohli’s men. Coming into the match, England won the toss and sent India in to bat first.

India had a poor start losing Virat Kohli early. However, they were ably anchored by Lokesh Rahul, who scored 71 off 47 balls. His efforts guided India to a total of 144/8 in their stipulated 20 overs. England looked all set for a perfect run chase and were cruising till the 17th over. But some brilliant death bowling by Jasprit Bumrah saw England fall short by just 5 runs as the hosts leveled the series 1-1.

KL Rahul – 8/10

The track at Jamtha was not an easy one. Run scoring was tough and that was evident as most of the batters found it tough going in the match. The Indian opener, KL Rahul, looked to be batting on a different track. Rahul was under pressure coming into the game after having four low scores in the previous four outings.

He lost the support of Virat Kohli early on in the innings. He did not let that keep him down. He saw wickets falling at the other end but kept his end intact. He anchored the Indian innings for the majority of the innings. Rahul finished with 71 off 47 balls studded with 6 fours and 2 sixes.

Also read- India v England 2nd T20I – Statistical Highlights

Virat Kohli – 3/10

Indian skipper Virat Kohli had a rare failure in the first t20I at Kanpur. Coming to Nagpur, the Indian fans expected their skipper to be back to his supreme best. But it wasn’t to be. Kohli started off well with a couple of boundaries and a six.

He could not make the most of the start that he got and was eventually dismissed on 21 off 15 balls by Chris Jordan. The number one batsman in the format needs to buck up his game for the final T20 to be played at Bengaluru – a venue that Kohli fancies.

Suresh Raina – 2/10

Suresh Raina had shown great form in the first match but could not back it up with another good show. Raina had to come in early at the departure of Virat Kohli. Raina took his initial bit of time to settle in but got out after consuming those. He could score only 7 in the 10 balls that he faced.

Later in the game, Raina was handed the ball by the skipper. He bowled his complete quota of four overs. He gave away 30 runs in his spell, which looked reasonably good deal with part-timer at the show.

Yuvraj Singh – 2/10

The crowds at the VCA expected to see some vintage Yuvraj Singh shots. However, they were not treated with such a show. Yuvraj came in to bat in the 8th over and had a lot of time in hand.

He could have settled in and them exploded towards the end. But he found it tough against the spinners. Playing the sweep shot, he looked in awkward position. He scored only 4 off 12 balls that he played.

MS Dhoni – 3/10

The stage was set for MS Dhoni to explode when he walked in to bat in the 18th over. He came in to replace KL Rahul but found it tough in the match. He could score just 5 off 7 balls that he faced. Dhoni kept the strike with himself in the last over in a bid to smack a couple in the end.

But, he ended up getting bowled instead as India wrapped their innings with 144 on the board. Dhoni had some calming talks with the bowlers towards the fag end of England innings that must have surely helped the bowlers.

Manish Pandey – 4/10

After missing out on the opportunity in the first game, the conditions bestowed another one on Karnataka batsman Manish Pandey. Pandey was sent ahead of MS Dhoni during the India innings. Needless to say, he had a great chance to reinstate his importance in the side. He succeeded to some extent.

He scored 30 off 26 balls with a six to his name. There might be talks about Pandey missing out on scoring boundaries. However, much to his defense, the track had very little to offer to the batsmen.

Hardik Pandya – 2/10

All rounder Hardik Pandya had very little to do in the match. Pandya was not given the ball in the match. Suresh Raina bowled his quota of four overs and on a sluggish track, Kohli opted not to bowl Hardik Pandya at all.

Earlier in the game, Pandya came in at number 7. He perished in his attempt to score quick runs and was run out on 2 in the last over of the match.

Amit Mishra – 5/10

Amit Mishra could have turned the match upside down at one stage of the game. Mishra managed to clean up Ben Stokes on the very first ball that the latter faced. But, as the replays suggested, he had overstepped. Stokes survived and then contributed with some crucial runs for England.

In the 4 overs that Mishra bowled in the match, he gave away 25 runs. Mishra took the key wicket of English skipper Eoin Morgan on the day and brought India back into the game when Joe Root and Morgan seemed to be taking things away from the hosts.

Yuzvendra Chahal – 3/10

Yuzvendra Chahal was the pick of Indian bowlers in the previous match. Hence, it came as no surprise that Chahal got another game. He was the second leggie in the team with Amit Mishra also roped in. Chahal was given the new ball by skipper Virat Kohli.

With big boundaries at the venue, Chahal fancied his chances with the new ball. However, Chahal was not as effective as he was in the first match. He went for 33 runs in his four overs and was wicketless on the night.

Jasprit Bumrah – 9/10

Jasprit Bumrah was the star of the match for India. The match was almost lost when Bumrah pulled things back for India. Bumrah conceded just 3 and 2 runs respectively in the 18th and 20th over.

He successfully defended 8 runs in the final over to win the match for India. He dismissed the two set batsmen Joe Root and Jos Buttler in the final over. He returned with figures of 2/20 in his 4 overs.

Ashish Nehra – 8.5/10

Considering the wickets column, Ashish Nehra was the pick of the bowlers for India in the match. He bowled well with the new ball up front – something that the hosts missed in the first match at Kanpur. Nehra struck early with the new ball and managed to get rid of the two dangerous English openers.

Nehra dismissed Sam Billings and Jason Roy for 12 and 10 respectively to give early jitters to England in the powerplay. Nehra later bagged another wicket to end up with 3/28 in his 4 overs. In the first three overs, Nehra had conceded just 12 runs.