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.
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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.
6. MS Dhoni: 8/10
With all the flak that he has received in the recent past, be it for his batting, for his captaincy or otherwise, the Indian captain has coped up with everything that has come his way and has responded in an emphatic manner.
While the scores of 30, 13*, 13*, 18*, and 15* might aggregate into just 89 runs from 5 games, but the circumstances in which he got those runs- at the fag end of the innings- and in the manner he got them- en route finishing games against Australia and Pakistan- speaks volumes about the fire that the Indian captain still has within himself.
Combine that with his blitzkrieg behind the stumps and you would still see a complete limited-overs package as far as batting at the death and finishing games is concerned.
The run-out off the final ball of the match against Bangladesh as well as the stumping out of nowhere to dismiss Soumya Sarkar in the same game would forever be etched into every cricket fan’s mind.
Dhoni- the captain, then wicket-keeper, and the finisher- excelled yet again in a World tournament and proved to everyone why he still is the best captain and the best man behind the stumps for the team.
7. Hardik Pandya: 6/10
Hardik Pandya’s fairytale T20 career was put to its litmus test in the World T20 this year, and he blew hot and blew cold on occasions.
While he took 2 wickets against Australia, 2 against Bangladesh and 1 against Pakistan, the manner in which he got those wickets spoke more about the batsmen’s errors than the bowler’s skill.
Otherwise, Pandya’s lengths have been pretty ordinary this tournament, a prime example of which was the semi-final game against the West Indies, where on a flat track, he consistently bowled half-trackers, and length balls, thereby enabling the West Indian batsmen to get underneath and launch big shots off him.
Much credit was given to then Gujarat-born all-rounder for the last over that was bowled in the match against Bangladesh, but it was pretty evident that the wickets that fell in the over were because the Bangladeshi batsmen panicked towards the end, and not because Pandya bowled terrific deliveries.
8. Ravindra Jadeja: 6/10
India’s slow-track specialist, who has been known for his immaculate line and length and squeezing the opposition under pressure failed to live up to the expectations that the team had from him.
With the tracks varying in quality with every match that India played, Jadeja failed to show the adaptability that was required, and failed to pick up crucial wickets.
He picked up 1 wicket each against New Zealand and Pakistan, 2 against Bangladesh, and went wicket-less in the last two games against Australia and West Indies.
On the flattest of tracks in Mumbai, Jadeja erred miserably as he didn/t bowl to the field set and kept bowling wide half-volleys, thereby presenting the batsmen with an ample number of scoring opportunities.
His figures of 0/48 in the semi-final were his worst figures of the tournament.
9. Ravichandran Ashwin: 7/10
India’s ace spinner, albeit not being at this threatening best in the tournament, provided his team with vital breakthroughs just when the team needed them.
He got India’s campaign to a perfect start by dismissing Martin Guptill in the first over of the Super 10 stage after being hit for a six off the first ball, and although India lost that match, he helped his team gallop back with an economical spell of 3-0-12-0 against Pakistan in a rain-curtailed match.
He bettered that with two vital strikes against Bangladesh, which included the wicket of their best all-rounder, Shakib-Al-Hasan at a crucial stage of the match.
Although, he went for runs in the games against Australia and West Indies and could not play a decisive role in the match as opposed to what was expected of India’s best spin bowler at the moment.
10. Jasprit Bumrah: 7.5/10
Jasprit Bumrah can arguably be considered as the find of the year for India, and the 22-year old youngster proved his mettle once again, and this time, on a big stage.
His death over skills were on display right from the first game of the tournament when he bowled excellent yorkers towards the end of New Zealand’s innings, thereby helping India restrict the Kiwis to a paltry total and uprooting Corey Anderson’s stumps in then process.
He bowled well against Pakistan as well, but the defining moment for him as far as the World T20 was concerned came in the match against Bangladesh, when he bowled a superb 19th over while defending just 17 runs off 12 balls, and gave away just singles off it.
Bumrah set up the now fabled final over of the match wherein Pandya defended 11 runs to win the game for India courtesy some self-destruction by the Bangladeshi batsmen.
The Mumbai Indians player also gave India the perfect start with the ball in the semi-final, when he cleaned up Chris Gayle’s off stump off the very first ball of his spell, with an inswinging yorker.
11. Ashish Nehra: 8.5/10
The 36-year-old veteran who has already made several comebacks into the Indian side, made this comeback then most effective and phenomenal of them all, as he spearheaded the Indian bowling attack and bowled with precision as well as pace.
His exploits resulted in wickets, both in the powerplays, as well as, during the death, and he returned as the most economical of all the front-line bowlers that India had for the tournament.
Even in the semi-final, when his counterparts were disappearing all around the park, he conceded just 24 runs off his 4 overs and also picked up the vital wicket of Marlon Samuels.
(Ajinkya Rahane and Manish Pandey played just one game in the tournament, hence, the sample size is too small to rate them. Harbhajan Singh, Mohammad Shami, and Pawan Negi didn’t feature in any of the playing XIs for India in he tournament, and hence have not been rated.)
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