West Indies v India 1st T20I – India Player Ratings

India locked horns with the West Indies in a historic game at the Lauderhill Stadium, Florida. This was the first time the Indian team played on the soil of the United States. The two teams share a great history in the T20Is. Prior to this game, in the 5 head-to-head clashes, West Indies had a upper hand with 3 wins to their name. The last time these two sides met was in the semi-finals of the ICC World T20 in 2016. It was West Indies who had the last laugh then as well.

Coming in to the game, the free-spirited West Indies side came in all guns blazing putting up a mammoth 245/6 on the board, riding on opener Evin Lewis’ brilliant 48-ball ton. No Indian bowler looked impactful on the day as they all leaked runs. The run chase was no different as KL Rahul was magnificent for his maiden century in T20Is. India lost by just 1 run at the end.

Here is the India player Ratings for the match:

Ajinkya Rahane – 2/10

Ajinkya Rahane was promoted to the top of the order in absence of Shikhar Dhawan to open the innings. However, it wasn’t a merry show for Rahane. He was struck on his helmet early in the innings and never looked settled at the crease. He did hit a four to start off the proceedings but wasn’t threatening for the West Indies side.

He was dismissed on 7 that came off 7 deliveries and it took some excellent catching in the deep third man by Dwayne Bravo to send him packing. The bottom line, however, being that Rahane’s stay at the crease was cut short cheaply. Rahane could have surely shouldered some responsibility when the team needed his stay for a chase such as this.

Rohit Sharma – 8/10

Rohit Sharma looked to attack right from the word go. He was pretty much aware of the runs to achieve and it is his match presence that sees him bag 8 on 10 in the ratings. He started off on a brisk note and never let the run flow stop. He lost partners at regular intervals but found an able partner in KL Rahul. He raced to a 50-run stand in just 22 balls with Rahul.

He took special liking to Sunil Narine – the premier bowler in the opposition and hit successive sixes to him. He did not let the pressure creep in and neither did he let Narine feel at easy. He reached his half-century in just 22 balls and eventually ended up scoring 62 off just 28 balls with 4 sixes and 4 fours. Clearly, he held the fort for India in the first half of the run chase.

Virat Kohli – 3/10

The charismatic batsman Virat Kohli had all eyes on him. The run chase master, as they call him, held the key in the run chase of 245. He started off with 3 good boundaries to give a lot of hope to the fans. The day wasn’t his for sure as he was dismissed cheaply for just 16 in 9 balls. A feather touch to the gloves saw him getting caught behind in the penultimate over of the powerplay.

Kohli, when he last played West Indies in T20Is, struck an unbeaten 89 in the ICC World T20 semi-final. His US debut was far from being anywhere close to that. For a player of his calibre, a lot more was expected on the day. But as they say, one man cannot lead your way all the time. Clearly, not the greatest of days at the office for Virat Kohli.

KL Rahul – 10/10

While Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli failed to give starts to India, KL Rahul turned up to be the unexpected hero for India in the run chase. KL Rahul put on a magnificent stand with Rohit Sharma to take India cruising to the target. He reached his personal milestone, a half century, in 27 balls and looked good for more. He raced to a 50-run stand in 22 balls with Rohit and then a fifty run stand with MS Dhoni in 23 balls.

Rahul kept parading along despite the dehydration levels going up. The way he manoeuvred himself to carve boundaries at regular intervals was exceptional. He reached his maiden century in T20Is in 46 deliveries. What a time is he having! Century in all three formats for KL Rahul now. The way he almost took India to victory was phenomenal. That gives him a 10 in the ratings. He was only unlucky to have finished on the losing side.

MS Dhoni – 8/10

Skipper MS Dhoni walked in a crucial stage of the match when India needed 109 off 49 deliveries. He started off with a boundary off the second ball that he faced. He had no issues in playing the second fiddle to KL Rahul. Once he got himself in, Dhoni clobbered maximums at will as the chants of Dhoni rang loudly in the stadium.

While Rahul’s knock was the anchor knock, Dhoni’s knock was crucial as well. However, Dhoni failed at the crunch time and couldn’t hold on to the nerves as India lost by 1 run. But it was Dhoni’s handy 43 off 25 that got them so close to the target. He gets 8 in the ratings.

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Stuart Binny – 1/10

There were a lot of players in the match today, who had a horrid time in the middle. However, if there was one man who would want to erase the memories of this game, it has to be Stuart Binny. Stuart Binny, after being perennially being benched, finally got his place in the playing eleven today. He played ahead of Shikhar Dhawan in the side.

However, all that he could do in the match was bowl one over and an over to forget for sure. He came in to bowl when Lewis had just brought up his century. At his military pace, he posed no threat to the West Indies opener. He was taken for 5 sixes in a row off 5 legitimate deliveries and was under the threat of receiving the 6^th. He bowled at wayward lengths. He couldn’t get the line and length right and was punished for it. His solitary over reaped 32 runs for the West Indies team.

Ravichandran Ashwin – 7/10

Ravi Ashwin was clearly India’s best pick among all the bowlers in the game today. He went in for plenty in first two overs – 24 runs to be precise. However, he came back good in his 3^rd over – the 12^th over of the match – and gave just 4 runs. In a pressure situation when West Indies batsmen were going at a rate over 13 an over, Ashwin delivered the goods with ease. In his last over, he gave 8 runs to finish off with the figures of 0/36 in his 4 overs.

He might have gone wicketless, but kept the run flow in control towards the end. One peculiar thing about him in the match was his leg spin deliveries. For an off-spinner to bowl more than fifty percent of his balls as leg spinners, is quite unusual. The experiment surely didn’t work out as the wicket column suggests. However, his efforts see him get 7 in the ratings.

Ravindra Jadeja – 6.5/10              

Ravindra Jadeja made a comeback to the team but had a forgettable welcome. He was smacked for 2 sixes in his first two deliveries of the match. Much like Ashwin, he came back strong towards the end to finish with figures of 2/39 in 3 overs. He struck twice in the 16^th over dismissing Andre Russell and then following it up with the priced scalp of centurion Evin Lewis.

Although he bagged a couple of wickets, he was unable to control the run flow. He bowled with a slinging arm on quite a few occasions as he tried to skid the ball through to the keeper. However, it wasn’t of much use for him on the day as West Indies batters struck with brute force to look Sir Jadeja very ordinary in Florida.

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Mohammad Shami – 4/10

India’s leading bowler in the Test series, Mohammad Shami, had a tamed day in the T20I. Shami was taken on by Johnson Charles and Evin Lewis early in the innings. Charles, in particular, took special liking to him as he hit Shami for a six on the very second delivery of the match. Shami had the last laugh though. He got the wicket of Charles in the 10^th over cleaning him up square.

On a ground with short boundaries and the conditions suiting the batsmen, you don’t give a lot of chance to the bowlers. The same was the case with Shami. He was taken away for 48 in his 4 overs. His lengths weren’t too perfect either and was found bowling 2 wides on the day. An overall not-so-impactful performance sees Shami get only 4 in the ratings.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 3/10

Bhuvneshwar Kumar looked very ordinary today. He shared the new ball with Mohammad Shami. Although he did not give much away in his first over, he could not stop the free flow of the runs by the West Indies batsman. He was ineffective in his first couple of overs. He came back good in the middle overs, when he tried targeting the wide Yorkers against Carlos Brathwaite and Evin Lewis.

The effort was there from Bhuvi but the execution definitely did not turn into results. He ended up with figures of 0/43 in his quota of 4 overs. Bhuvi’s ordinary outing sees him get just 3 rating points. India will hope that their experienced bowler will come up good in the next T20I.

Jasprit Bumrah – 5/10

Jasprit Bumrah was out of action for close to 2 months and made a comeback today. The 22-year old young pacer came in with a lot of promise. Although he had an expensive start today, pretty much like every other bowler, he came back good towards the end at the death overs. He got two wickets in successive deliveries in the last over and did what he is known to do best.

He did not leak runs in the death overs. He got rid of danger looking Kieron Pollard on 22 and then dismissed Lendl Simmons for a duck. In the end, he returned with figures of 2/47 in his 4 overs. Bumrah must definitely look to control the run flow in the game that follows and that is exactly what he should be doing to help the cause of team India. He gets 5 on 10 in the ratings.