India’s report card - T20 World Cup

India made a super eights exit in the latest edition of the T20 World Cup. It wasn’t a great performance overall but it wasn’t too bad either. Let’s take a look at the report card:

Gautam Gambhir – 2.5/10: The left-handed opener has been out of sorts for the past year or so. This tournament was no different for him. Just one score above 40 and with a total aggregate of 80 runs, this was a ridiculously below-par performance from a batsman like him. Selectors now have more than one reason, if he is to be dropped.

Virender Sehwag – 3/10: Sehwag, who was “rested” for 2 games, managed just 54 in 3 innings – his form being just as worse as his Delhi partner. Except for a scratchy 29 against Pakistan, he has nothing really to show in his World T20 2012 stats.

Virat Kolhi – 7/10: It looks like the days when the Indian batting order relies on one particular batsman are back. Earlier it was “Get Sachin, Get India”, now it seems like “Get Kohli, Get India”. He has been the silver lining in the crumbling Indian batting; he managed to score 185 runs in the tournament, the highest for an Indian batsman.

Rohit Sharma – 3.5/10: Though his form wasn’t as bad as it was in India’s tour of Sri Lanka, it was still a below-par tournament. His score of 50 against England was the only bright spot. He has been one of the major disappointments of this Indian team. Much was expected from him, but he failed to deliver yet again.

Suresh Raina- 5/10: The only batsman apart from Kohli who looked a tad bit comfortable. His aggregate of 110 runs is not great, but his cameos were effective for India.

M S Dhoni – 3.5/10: The man with the Midas touch was out of sorts, both as batsman and captain. His inability to score quick runs have been heavily criticised and except for a nice cameo against South Africa, he had nothing to show.

Yuvraj Singh – 5.5/10: The comeback man did not disappoint, though he made his contribution in the bowling department rather than batting, which the team required badly. He took 8 wickets, more than all Indian bowlers except for Balaji; but his batting was rather poor.

Irfan Pathan – 4/10: He came back on to the radar of the Indian selectors, but his performances weren’t impressive. Dhoni did not utilise him efficiently and thus he became a liability rather than an asset.

Harbhajan Singh – 5.5/10: Though he was not given enough opportunities, he played his part. He wrecked the English middle order, but was taken for runs against Australia. Considering the form he had been in, this has indeed been a redemption for the Turbanator.

Zaheer Khan – 4.5/10: The left-arm seamer was not up to the mark. He could not produce important breakthroughs,which he had done beautifully in the 2011 World Cup. Though he could not get many wickets (only 3), he did manage to restrict the scoring rate to some extent.

R Ashwin – 6/10: Dhoni’s trump card had an ordinary tournament. Though he was able to restrict the scoring, much more was expected from him – not just the 5 wickets he took in as many matches.

L Balaji – 6.5/10: India’s highest wicket taker. He scalped 9 wickets in 4 matches. However, the wickets he took were either inconsequential or of tail-enders. He was effective only in parts and could not bring the best out of himself.

Piyush Chawla – 4/10: One simply wonders why the selectors are keeping faith in him again and again. Though he bowled well against England, his mediocrity was on show against Australia.

Overall, India’s performance was better compared to the previous World T20 disasters.

But considering that this one was played in the sub-continent, this performance was especially average.

India – 5/10