ICC World T20 2016: Rating the Indian cricketers at World T20
India’s World T20 campaign at home could be termed as anti-climatical, to say the least, as the team that was considered to be everyone’s favourite to win the coveted trophy largely depended upon one man to carry them through to the semi-final.
In the semi-final, however, even that man wasn’t enough to carry the team on his back, despite his desperate attempts, not just with the willow, but also with the white thing that was being spanked to all corners.
India’s frailties with the ball on a flat deck were exposed, and two all-rounders in particular, Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya, took the bulk of the hammering at the hands of the bludgeoning West Indian batsmen.
However, one disappointing performance must not take the sheen away from a journey that saw the team meet unexpected targets in precarious situations, in the most unbelievable of manners.
Here, we rate each Indian cricketer on a scale of 10 based on their performances in the ICC World T20 2016.
1. Rohit Sharma: 5/10
With scores of 5, 10, 18, and 12 until the semi-final Rohit Sharma’s run in the league stages of the tournament was ordinary by his standards.
The Indian opener failed to improvise upon his recent form in limited-overs cricket, wherein he had scored multiple hundreds in Australia in January as well as a fifty during the Asia Cup, and could not give his team a decent start on any of the aforementioned 4 occasions.
It was only in the semi-final game against the West Indies that he showed some glimpses of his natural self and made 43 runs to combine with Ajinkya Rahane for a 62-run opening stand.
But even in the knockout game, he could not go on to play a big innings. His out fielding, however, was good, as he took all the catches that came his way and stopped crucial boundaries.
2. Shikhar Dhawan: 4/10
Rohit’s opening partner, Shikhar Dhawan, also had a shambolic run throughout the tournament as he could manage only 43 runs from 4 games in the Super 10 stage of the tournament, despite showing some form in the practice game prior to then main round against South Africa.
The Delhi-born batsman could not adjust to the variety of conditions offered at different venues throughout the course of the tournament and was often dismissed during the powerplay overs itself, thereby denying India a solid opening start.
Much like his opening partner, the only positive to take out from his performance in this World T20 is his fielding and catching as he took some vital catches at pivotal moments, including the take to dismiss Mushfiqur Rahim in the last over of the match against Bangladesh.
3. Virat Kohli: 10/10
In a striking similarity to the way the Indian cricket team of the 90s used to depend upon Sachin Tendulkar to churn out victories from improbable, and at times, impossible situations, Virat Kohli carries the burden of expectations in this World T20.
The tournament opener against New Zealand was the only game where the bowlers could partially dominate the Indian when Ish Sodhi leg-spinner got the edge of Kohli’s bat.
But that was it for the bowlers, as far as bowling to India’s best batsman was concerned, as he single-handedly won two of India’s remaining three games of the Super 10 stage, and contributed with a vital 24 in Bangladesh’s self-destructive endeavour.
With knocks of 23, 55*, 24, 82*, and 89* and a stupendous average of 136.50, he surely deserves full marks for his superhuman efforts in the tournament.
4. Suresh Raina: 4/10
The IPL specialist has, for some reason, failed to translate his club cricket heroics onto the international arena on a consistent basis.
The ICC World T20 2016 was another example of the same as the southpaw managed scores of 1, 0, 30, and 10 in the 4 innings aggregating to just 41 runs.
After being dropped from the ODI side, Raina returned to the team’s T20 setup during the series against Australia in January and impressed during the series-clinching final T20I at Sydney with an unbeaten 49.
But since then, his form has only deteriorated and it makes the aforementioned knock look as a one-off incident. Raina would look to find some form during the upcoming IPL season where he leads the Gujarat Lions franchise.
5. Yuvraj Singh: 6/10
The most fabled comeback that the entire nation had been waiting for, especially after its ‘Prince’ had hit some sixes in the build-up to the very tournament that had made him push his way through towards the pantheon of cricketing immortals didn’t phase out as expected.
However, the way it actually phased out was no less crucial, as during tense chases against Pakistan and Australia he played the perfect supporting role to Kohli at the other end by knocking the ball into the gaps and rotating the strike continuously.
Some may feel that he should have retired hurt immediately after he suffered the ankle injury during his innings against Australia, but the pressure that it would have created, which was equivalent to the fall of a wicket, in that situation, would have been immense.
Yuvraj didn’t hit many sixes in the tournament, but he almost made up for them by shielding the man who was hitting them. His knocks of 24 and 21 came at a strike rate that was better than 100.