India Player Ratings from World Cup 2023 clash vs Australia as Kohli & Rahul fire Men in Blue to win amid top-order stutter
Team India commenced their World Cup 2023 campaign on a promising note as they beat Australia by six wickets at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday, October 8.
After the Aussies won the toss and elected to bat, India's spinners made the most of friendly conditions at Chepauk to scalp six wickets between them. Three of the home side's top four were dismissed for ducks in their chase of 200, but Virat Kohli and KL Rahul held their nerve to drag their team over the line.
On that note, here are India's player ratings from Match 5 of the 2023 World Cup against Australia.
World Cup 2023: Three of India's top four bag ducks, bowlers come good
Rohit Sharma: 4/10
Rohit's bowling changes were puzzling at brief junctures but produced results overall. The Indian skipper bagged a duck, however, as he failed to completely account for the inward movement of a Josh Hazlewood delivery.
Ishan Kishan: 3/10
Kishan played a loose drive to a delivery that was almost a wide from Mitchell Starc. He nicked off, lasting just one ball after coming in as Shubman Gill's replacement. The youngster was a livewire on the field, though.
Virat Kohli: 8.5/10
Kohli set the ball rolling by plucking a diving catch at first slip. He weathered a tricky situation in the chase with a calm innings, using the slice of luck he was offered early in his knock to great effect. The former Indian skipper came up with an absolutely clutch display in Chennai.
KL Rahul: 10/10
Rahul was class personified at No. 5, for the umpteenth time. The stylish batter played a chanceless innings that lifted India out of a dicey spot, striking eight fours and two sixes in the process. He was also superb behind the stumps.
Shreyas Iyer: 1/10
Shreyas' dismissal was arguably the most egregious in the match. With India reeling at two wickets down, he attempted to hit Hazlewood over the off-side inner ring on the up, only to be caught by a gleeful David Warner. While he did take two good catches, the batter cannot afford to play such strokes.
Hardik Pandya: 4/10
Hardik was India's most expensive bowler as he got his lines and lengths wrong on multiple occasions. He came to bat when Kohli was dismissed and struck a beautiful six to give Rahul company.
Ravindra Jadeja: 9/10
Jadeja's spell turned the match around in the middle overs, with his three-wicket burst ripping through the Aussie middle order. The left-arm spinner is a simply special bowler when there's even the slightest bit of turn on offer.
Kuldeep Yadav: 8.5/10
Kuldeep bowled a tantalizing spell that would've fetched more wickets on another day. The wrist-spinner provided an all-important breakthrough for India by breaking a burgeoning partnership between Warner and Steve Smith.
Jasprit Bumrah: 8/10
Bumrah was as penetrative as ever, hitting nice areas with the new ball before resorting to his variations and yorkers in the latter half of his spell. The fast bowler, who scalped the important first wicket of Mitchell Marsh, is worth his weight in gold.
Mohammed Siraj: 6.5/10
Siraj had a rather uneventful outing in Chennai, without much help on offer. He kept things fairly tight and wrapped up the Aussie innings by bouncing out Starc.
Ravichandran Ashwin: 7.5/10
Ashwin bowled an underrated spell against Australia, setting the tone for his spin partners to wreak havoc through the middle overs. The off-spinner challenged both sides of the bat and rarely bowled any bad deliveries.