T20 World Cup 2021: Rating the performances of India's batters in the tournament
India's 2021 T20 World Cup campaign was a tale of two halves.
As the toss went against the Men in Blue in each of their first two encounters of the Super 12 stage, they suffered heavy defeats to eventual qualifiers Pakistan and New Zealand.
Virat Kohli's men recovered well with massive victories against Afghanistan and Scotland to boost their net run rate and kindle hopes of a miraculous comeback, but the Blackcaps held their nerve to ensure that India's final game against Namibia was reduced to a dead rubber.
In this article, we rate (out of 10) the performances of India's batters in the T20 World Cup.
Note: Ravindra Jadeja, who faced only 32 balls in the T20 World Cup across two innings, has been considered a bowler. His rating can be found here.
T20 World Cup 2021: Rahul, Rohit lead run charts for India
KL Rahul: 7/10
Rahul was in excellent form entering the tournament, something which was evident in India's final three Super 12 games.
Unfortunately for him, the end product wasn't there in the crucial games against Pakistan and New Zealand. Shaheen Shah Afridi rattled his stumps in the T20 World Cup opener before a rash pull found a fielder on the boundary as India's hopes went up in smoke.
Rahul was in imperious form during the final three games and ended up as India's highest run-scorer in the competition. He finished with excellent numbers - 194 runs at an average of 48.5 and a strike rate of 152.75, with three fifties.
Rohit Sharma: 7/10
Like Rahul, Rohit couldn't fire in India's first two matches of the T20 World Cup, with him being on the receiving end of a peach from Shaheen Shah Afridi. He was moved down to No. 3 against New Zealand to accommodate Ishan Kishan at the top of the order, but the move didn't pay off as he played an uncertain innings.
Again, like Rahul, Rohit racked up runs in India's final three Super 12 games. He finished with 174 runs at an average of 34.8 and a strike rate of 151.3, with two fifties and three catches to his name.
Virat Kohli: 6/10
Kohli continued his good T20 World Cup form against Pakistan, striking a glorious fifty that helped India recover from a tricky position. However, the Indian skipper's next outing against New Zealand went terribly as he labored at well below a-run-a-ball before holing out in the deep off an ugly hoick.
Kohli's batting involvement was limited in the next three games as India cruised to comfortable victories and it must be said that his overall tournament didn't go as planned from a captaincy perspective. Although he didn't win an ICC trophy in his only T20I tournament as captain, his exceptional win rate and bilateral series success will be etched in fans' memories.
Suryakumar Yadav: 5/10
Suryakumar failed against Pakistan, with a lazy waft outside off bringing about his downfall. He missed the next game with back spasms and didn't do much wrong after returning to the playing XI. However, India's T20 World Cup campaign was all but over by then, with his fluent knock against Namibia barely acting as a saving grace.
Rishabh Pant: 8/10
Pant has turned into a crisis manager for India, having often been thrown into situations where he has had to balance attack and defense. The first such instance was against Pakistan, where he revived the innings with a brisk knock.
Although he couldn't get going against New Zealand in a similar scenario, he played a rapid cameo against Afghanistan. Pant wasn't needed with the bat in India's final two games, but he was mostly tidy with his glovework and kept things entertaining on the field as always.
Hardik Pandya: 5.5/10
Pandya's painstaking knocks against Pakistan and New Zealand didn't help India one bit, and the fact that he bowled only two overs across the games didn't bode well for the team either. The all-rounder returned to form against Afghanistan with a breathtaking display of hitting and didn't bat in India's last two Super 12 games. He was active on the field and plucked three catches.
Ishan Kishan: 3/10
Kishan was afforded a chance after Suryakumar was ruled out with a back spasm, but he couldn't make an impact in his only game. His shot selection was a bit questionable as he found the only fielder in the deep off a leg-lined delivery, and he didn't return to the playing XI even against Namibia.
Check out who is at the top of the points table of ICC T20 World Cup here.