2024 T20 World Cup: 3 players who starred and 2 who flopped in today's India vs Australia match ft. Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli
Team India marched on in the 2024 T20 World Cup as they beat Australia by 24 runs in St Lucia on Monday, June 24. The Men in Blue officially qualified for the semifinals with the two points, setting up an excellent chance for Afghanistan to pip the Aussies to the second spot in the group.
India had experienced their fair share of heartbreaks at the hands of Australia in recent years, but they came out with a positive attitude and put up a solid total. Despite Travis Head's best efforts, the Kangaroos fell short by a fair margin and are now staring at an expected elimination.
On that note, here are three players who starred and two who flopped in the India vs Australia 2024 T20 World Cup match.
#5 Star - Axar Patel
Axar Patel wasn't needed with the bat, but he came up with a couple of invaluable contributions in the second innings against Australia.
With India needing to squeeze in four overs from their left-arm spinners, Axar was thrust into some difficult situations, with a well-set Travis Head at one end. He lived up to the task even as Ravindra Jadeja proved expensive, sending down three overs for just 21 runs.
Axar, who dismissed Marcus Stoinis, plucked a stunning catch in the deep to send Mitchell Marsh back to the hut and break what was proving to be a dangerous partnership. He's outperforming Jadeja in this T20 World Cup.
#4 Flop - Virat Kohli
Six innings into the 2024 T20 World Cup, Virat Kohli has just 66 runs to his name. He couldn't add to his tally against Australia as he bagged a five-ball duck.
Kohli hasn't been at his best against Josh Hazlewood over the years, and he got cramped by a hard-length delivery that got big on him. That wicket could've set India back majorly, if not for Rohit Sharma's sensational blitz in the powerplay.
Kohli needs to come to the party in the knockout stages if the Men in Blue are to break their ICC trophy drought.
#3 Star - Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma played one of his best knocks in recent memory as he pulverized the Australian bowling to fire his team to a memorable victory.
Rohit laid into Mitchell Starc in the third over, taking him for 29 runs. He never looked back from there, playing some audacious shots against Pat Cummins, Marcus Stoinis and Adam Zampa.
While a century eluded the Indian skipper, he played a simply special innings in St Lucia.
#2 Flop - Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant is known to be a slow starter, and that hasn't worked well at times in the 2024 T20 World Cup. He wasted close to 10 balls in the powerplay and couldn't make up for those dots in the middle overs.
Just when Pant seemed to be accelerating, he spooned a catch off Stoinis in an over where Rohit had already collected enough runs. The southpaw's slow starts could seriously hamper India on another day.
Pant was also poor behind the stumps, conceding a few byes and missing out on what could've been a catch. His game awareness let him down on a couple of occasions.
#1 Star - Kuldeep Yadav
Kuldeep Yadav has played only three matches in the 2024 T20 World Cup, but he already has seven wickets to his name. And wickets don't even tell the whole story, for he has been relentlessly economical as well.
Kuldeep was the difference between the two sides in the middle overs as his control and variations completely shackled the Aussie batters. He prised out Mitchell Marsh before castling Glenn Maxwell with a beauty to take India to the cusp of victory.