India Vs Sri Lanka, Second T20: Player ratings
The second T20 between India and Sri Lanka was entirely a one-sided encounter as the hosts completely dominated the visitors. The Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, and KL Rahul were once again at their best as they formed a massive partnership and displayed the quality of Indian batting.
The Sri Lankan team looked threatening for a while as Tharanga and Kusal Perera were ferocious and aggressive. They would've hoped to score a higher total. However, the Indian spinners came to the rescue yet again as they collectively took seven wickets.
Let us take a look at how each of them progressed in the match:
India
Rohit Sharma - 10/10
The Indian skipper is on a record-breaking run, as he scored yet another century in this series off just 35 deliveries, making it the joint fastest T20i hundred. He formed a massive partnership of 165 with Kl Rahul with him scoring 118 runs at a staggering strike rate of 274.
Sharma sent the Sri Lankan bowlers for 12 fours and ten sixes and showed his class and elegance yet again. He provided a perfect foundation for the rest of the middle-order to exploit and reach a mighty target. His innings played a crucial role for India to achieve the massive score of 260. As a captain, he may have made some mistakes, but it should be overlooked because of his fabulous innings.
KL Rahul - 9.5/10
The Indian opener was rotating the strike during the first half of the innings as the 'Hitman' was destroying the Sri Lankan bowlers at the other end. They formed a massive 165 run partnership to give a stable base for the entire team. However, after the wicket of Sharma, he shifted gears and ended up scoring a magnificent of 89 off just 49 deliveries.
MS Dhoni - 7/10
The Indian wicketkeeper came in to bat at an unusual number three position after the wicket of Rohit Sharma fell. In a high scoring match, Dhoni's innings seemed rather slow as he scored 29 off 21 deliveries. Moreover, he was troubled by the slower balls bowled by Perera and thus had a relatively low strike rate. However, his wicketkeeping was terrific yet again as he dismissed two batsmen with his quick handwork.
Hardik Pandya - 7.5/10
The all-rounder got an opportunity to bat towards the end and didn't shy away from making the best of the given chance. He scored ten off three deliveries as he smashed a four and a six in consecutive balls. With the ball, he bowled well and took a wicket to finish the Sri Lankan innings. On the field, he caught two good catches to dismiss Dickwella and Perera.
Shreyas Iyer - 3/10
The 23-year-old came in to bat in the 20th over and lost his wicket on the first ball. Moreover, he used the review for a wicket that seemed pretty direct to the audience and the umpire.
Manish Pandey - 5/10
Pandey was able to bat for a single ball in this match because of the massive scores by the openers. I the field, he was quick and took two good quality catches, one of them to dismiss the dangerous Kusal Perera.
Dinesh Karthik - 5/10
Karthik didn't have much to do the entire match as he could only play two balls towards the end out of which he hit a glamorous four. He didn't have much to do the whole game and had another silent match.
Kuldeep Yadav - 7/10
On a pitch that looked to be extremely threatening for a bowler, Kuldeep was smashed for 52 runs in his four overs. However, he had a great comeback in the match as he took three crucial wickets: Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, and Asela Gunaratne.
Yuzvendra Chahal - 7.5/10
Similar to his counterpart, the Sri Lankan batsmen shattered Chahal for 52 runs in his four overs. However, he took four wickets and got the breakthrough of a partnership that looked threatening to the Indian cricket team as he took the wicket by taking a somewhat tricky catch to dismiss the dangerous Upul Tharanga.
Jasprit Bumrah - 6.5/10
Bumrah opened the bowling along with Unadkat, and looked threatening from the beginning. He was unlucky as Rahul dropped a rather simple catch and he was hit for a six the very next ball. Towards the end of the innings, he was accurate as usual and didn't give the tailenders much of an option to hit the ball.
Jaydev Unadkat - 7/10
Unadkat bowled exceptionally well as he got the first wicket of the Sri Lankan team to dismiss the dangerous Dickwella. He bowled accurately and didn't give many opportunities for the Lankans as he finished by giving 22 runs in 3 overs.