Ireland vs India, 1st T20I: India Player Ratings

Virat Kohli and his India side got off to perhaps the ideal start of their ongoing UK tour with a resounding victory over Ireland. While the latter does indeed remain to be an emerging nation in the cricketing sense, it would also seem as though they are a formidable force. It was a lot more ideal as far as the Indian management was concerned given the fact that both the batting as well as the bowling clicked on the day.

Having won the toss, Porterfield decided to give the Indians batting practice as the visitors began batting first. Both openers Dhawan and Rohit began their assault on the hapless Irish bowlers as there was literally no respite. The duo stitched together a 150-run stand for the first wicket, a record in the shortest format.

Defending a mammoth total of 208 was child’s play for the seasoned bowlers of the Indian contingent as they went about their business with relative ease. The wrist-spinning tandem of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal went about their business of spinning the hosts out as they captured seven wickets between them, thus ensuring a massive victory for the visitors, in the grand scheme of things.

Here are the player ratings of the recently-concluded encounter

Rohit Sharma – 8.5/10

Although the 31-year old took his time to get off the blocks, once he was in full swing, he was unstoppable. Rohit flayed the ball to all parts of Dublin with the likes of George Dockrell and Peter Chase simply not finding the right line or length to bowl at him. Eventually, he was dismissed three runs short of a well-deserved century.

Shikhar Dhawan – 8/10

As he does always, Shikhar Dhawan was off the blocks in a flash with some spectacular cover drives, not many can boast of driving the ball as well as he does. It was yet aother soild innings from the southpaw as he once again ensured that the Indians had a good platform to launch from.

Suresh Raina – 4/10

After miraculously saving grace and making it back into the Indian side at the expense of Ambati Rayudu, Raina could not make his chance count as he was dismissed for a meek 10 runs after being promoted up the batting order.

Virat Kohli – 6.5/10

The Indian skipper batted a lot lower down the order as he usually is accustomed to. However, his shrewd bowling changes and field placements erased the heartache of his duck whilst batting.

MS Dhoni – 7/10

Having been promoted to his favourite number four spot in the batting order, the 36-year old veteran could not build on the foundation set by Dhawan and Rohit despite whacking a four and a six. However, to his credit was eventually a couple of stumpings as his work behind the stumps was as amazing as ever.

Manish Pandey – 5/10

Yet another player who many felt did not deserve to be a part of the squad. Needless to say, the 28-year old could not make the impact with the bat he usually does as he did not face a single delivery. However, his athleticism in the field was there for all to see.

Hardik Pandya – 5/10

The India all-rounder and newest sensation was instrumental with the bat as the only delivery he faced landed a few meters beyond the boundary rope. However, he was a lot less lethal with the ball as he was taken to the cleaners by a rather ruthless James Shannon.

Yuzvendra Chahal – 7/10

The 27-year old continued his impressive form from the South African tour and began picking wickets right from the get-go. In spite of this, he proved to be a tad bit expensive as well.

Kuldeep Yadav – 8.5/10

The left-arm chinaman was instrumental with the ball yet again as he bowled in tandem with Chahal. With a wicket-maiden to begin his bowling spell, Kuldeep ended up with four wickets to his name.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 7/10

India’s strike bowler Bhuvneshwar was as solid as ever with the new ball. Virat Kohli took it a step further with him as he bowled the initial three overs conceding just the 13 runs. His economical bowling has been a massive asset for India.

Jasprit Bumrah – 6/10

Another one of India’s amazing bowlers was also impressive, especially with the death bowling prowess he is attributed to.