India Player Ratings from 3rd T20I vs South Africa as Suryakumar Yadav special saves series for Men in Blue
Team India saved themselves from a series defeat against South Africa as they clinched the third T20I in Johannesburg by a whopping 106 runs to level the scores at 1-1.
The Men in Blue, who were below par in a rain-affected second T20I, came up with a commanding display in both departments. Suryakumar Yadav and Kuldeep Yadav were the star performers, smashing a century and taking a five-fer, respectively, to help their side over the line.
On that note, here are India's player ratings from the third T20I against South Africa.
IND vs SA 2023: Suryakumar & Jaiswal shine as Men in Blue post big total
Shubman Gill: 5/10
Gill started off well, striking two fours in his first five balls. He was trapped in front by Keshav Maharaj, although replays showed that the ball would've missed leg. The young opener's place in the side is now under threat.
Yashasvi Jaiswal: 8/10
Jaiswal got off the blocks rapidly, and while he couldn't accelerate in the manner he would've wanted to, he contributed a valuable half-century in an innings where he was one of two batters to cross the 15-run mark. The southpaw needs to be a lock at the top of the order in the format.
Tilak Varma: 2/10
Tilak grabbed a first-ball duck as he tried to be aggressive from the outset. The shot was arguably on, but the execution was way off.
Suryakumar Yadav: 9/10
Suryakumar was his imperious best in Johannesburg as he ensured India didn't lose any momentum after two wickets in quick succession. The Indian T20I skipper smashed his fourth century in the format, finding a way through a slightly tough phase in the middle of his knock. He will hope that the injury he suffered while fielding isn't serious.
Jitesh Sharma: 6/10
Jitesh didn't have much time to make an impression, and he looked to smash everything he faced out of the park. The keeper-batter trod on his own stumps in a rather bizarre dismissal.
Rinku Singh: 6/10
Rinku hit a six but failed to clear the boundary off a friendly delivery on his pads. His safe catching came to the fore in the second innings.
Ravindra Jadeja: 7/10
Jadeja hit a boundary off his first ball. There was turn on offer in the chase, and barring a couple of sixes hit by David Miller, he bowled well. The left-arm spinner picked up two wickets and captained smartly after Suryakumar left the field.
Kuldeep Yadav: 10/10
Kuldeep was the pick of the Indian bowlers, scalping five wickets with ample assistance from the deck. He ran through the lower order with scary ease.
Arshdeep Singh: 7/10
Arshdeep turned in a decent display, dismissing the dangerous Heinrich Klaasen and mixing things up well. He bowled two overs that went for 13.
Mohammed Siraj: 8/10
Siraj was deadly with the new ball, bowling a maiden first-up before keeping things tight. It was hugely unfortunate that wickets didn't fall his way. After terrorizing Reeza Hendricks, he ran the in-form opener out with an accurate direct hit.
Mukesh Kumar: 5/10
Mukesh's two overs went for 21 runs, and he was India's most expensive bowler on the night. The fast bowler forced Matthew Breetzke to play on.