Champions Trophy 2013: Player Ratings - India
As the Champions Trophy ended with India having a final laugh, I would like to present performance of each player and rate them on a scale of 10.
1. Shikhar Dhawan: (9/10) - Was consistent throughout the tournament. Gave his team good start in all matches, had two tons and a half-century to his name, was key to India’s batting success in tournament. Got awarded with much deserved man of the tournament award.
2. Rohit Sharma: (7/10) - Made a resounding contribution as opener. He, along with Dhawan, didn’t allow other batsmen to pad up most of the times, which left the middle order unexposed in the group stages.
3. Virat Kohli: (7/10) - Failed to impress in group stages but played a saviour’s role in final when it mattered the most, thereby giving India decent score to defend.
4. Suresh Raina: (6/10) - Got to bat only in 3 innings, but he couldn’t make it count. As always, he was a livewire on the field, saving runs and pocketing catches wherever he was made to stand by his captain.
5. Dinesh Karthik: (5/10) - Failed to continue from where he left in IPL. No doubt he scored two tons in warm-up matches but in his 4 innings in the tournament, got only 1 half century.
6. MS Dhoni: (8/10) - Failed with bat but more than compensated it with his captaincy, especially in the final when India set a modest total against England. Kept cool in nail biting situations and rotated bowlers shrewdly. Can be termed as best captain under crisis.
7. Ravindra Jadeja: (9/10) - Seems like he is taking his “Sir” title seriously. Impressed with his all-round abilities. Got breakthroughs of well set batsman on more occasions than one and also made useful contribution down the order. Got Man of the Match award in final and the Golden Ball award for bagging most wickets in the tournament.
8. R Ashwin: (7/10) - Contained the run-rate in the middle overs and made the batsmen struggle for runs. Bowled brilliantly in the final, overshadowed by Jadeja most of the times.
9. Bhuvneshwar Kumar: (8/10) - Made use of the conditions and got initial breakthroughs. Bowled economic spells. Troubled batsman with his swing. He certainly has relished the conditions.
10. I Sharma: (7/10) - Was not at his best in initial matches but impressed in the end. Walked away with Man of the Match award in the semifinal against Sri Lanka, became hero with that over in final in where he sent back Bopara and Morgan and brought India back into the game.
11. U Yadav: (6/10) - Was not amongst wickets when compared with other bowlers but bowled with pace and rattled the batsman. He dismissed England skipper Cook in the final, which can be termed as only the bright spot for him in this tournament.
All in all, we can say that each and every member contributed for Team India’s success and they truly deserve to be the Champion of Champions.