India vs Sri Lanka player rating: Chahar brothers dominate but Pandya gets 4


India vs Sri Lanka player rating: Chahar brothers dominate but Pandya gets 4

The India vs Sri Lanka series has travelled along familiar lines. India came into the ODI leg of the series as favourites and completed a 2-1 series win against the Lankans in their backyard. At the end of every series, it is an interesting exercise to give marks to players. There were some new faces on display, while some of the familiar ones also played their hand. We thus set forth on the India vs Sri Lanka player ratings.  

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Before jumping in to mark and opine, it would be opportune to quickly revisit the three ODIs played between the two sides.

The first ODI was a stroll in the park for the Indians. Sri Lanka had posted 262 after a valiant fight back in the death overs with the bat. India, however, made a mockery of the run chase, winning with more than 13 overs to spare. Prithvi Shaw laid the foundation with a flashy 43 before Ishan Kishan scored a fast half century on debut to allow skipper Shikhar Dhawan and company to stroll to a win.

The second ODI was more challenging as India looked destined for defeat in pursuit of 276 before Deepak Chahar heroically stitched partnerships of 33 runs and 84 runs with Krunal Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, respectively, to take India home.

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India handed five debut caps in the third ODI, creating a first instance of the occurrence since 1980. The five debutantes were Sanju Samson, Nitish Rana, K Gowtham, Rahul Chahar and Chetan Sakariya. However, unlike four decades ago, India did not manage to win with the new faces as Sri Lanka got themselves an extremely rare victory.

Here are the India vs Sri Lanka player ratings.

Shikhar Dhawan

The Indian captain for this series was steady with the bat. He has a template of approaching his ODI innings and Dhawan stayed true to that. He looked largely untroubled but showed nothing new in his game. A solid series could have been spectacular but for a poor showing in the final ODI.

Player Rating: 7/10

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Prithvi Shaw

Dhawan’s fellow opener from Delhi Capitals lit up the first ODI with his stroke play. Some of his driving was truly spectacular. He even received man of the match for his brisk innings in that game. However, his fancy to attack cost him his wicket in the first two ODIs, failing to make big after an impressive start. In the third game, he scored 49 when presented with a golden chance to make it a big knock.

Player Rating: 7/10

Ishan Kishan

Ishan Kishan
Ishan Kishan after scoring a half century in the first ODI

Ishan Kishan is often likened to his fellow mate from his U-19 batch Rishabh Pant. Both are diminutive left-handed batsmen who love to attack and are also wicketkeepers. And the Jharkhand cricketer lived up to his billing in the first ODI before tailing away in the second game. His wicketkeeping was solid though.

Player Rating: 6.5/10

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Manish Pandey

The experienced Manish Pandey was once again disappointing. This was the series that could have catapulted him back into the conversation, but the batsman failed to make the most of his opportunities. He scored only 71 runs in the series when the chance was there to finish games and prove so much more. He also missed an easy catch in the final ODI, which could potentially have been game changing. It seems, unfortunately, his ship is sailing.

Player Rating: 4.5/10

Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar has enhanced his reputation in this series. The Mumbai Indians batsman came into this series on the back of a brief yet successful run with the national team after a long wait. And he did not disappoint as his glittering and audacious wristy lofted shots were on glorious display in this series. He has given the management some welcome selection problems.

Player Rating: 8/10

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Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya Krunal Pandya Team India
The Pandya brothers played the role of fifth bowler

The biggest positive for India is that Hardik Pandya has started bowling again. This gives the management the possibility to play him at 6 and Jadeja at 7 in the upcoming tournaments. However, his performances themselves were unspectacular. His bowling did not threaten and in his batting, there was a lack of application on the slowish pitches.

Player Rating: 4/10

Krunal Pandya

Krunal Pandya’s bowling was steady, economic and he showed that he could be a decent backup at number 7. However, his lack of variation across 10 overs may prove to be a problem against more challenging oppositions. In the second ODI, he showed brief maturity with the bat and would perhaps have made a better case had he finished off the game.

Player Rating: 7/10

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Deepak Chahar: India vs Sri Lanka player rating winner

Deepak Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Deepak Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar

He enhanced his reputation the most in this series and it was because of his lesser skill – batting. His match-winning 69 from number 8 in the second ODI has made him a serious candidate for that position, which India has long been looking to fill with a bowler who can bat. Chahar was slightly expensive with the ball but returned with 4 wickets, bowling the tough overs.

Player Rating: 8.5/10

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

It was encouraging to see Bhuvneshwar back on the park, bowling well and after a wicketless start, returned with 3 scalps in the second ODI. He also held his end with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 19 to partner Deepak Chahar in the second ODI victory. A solid outing.

Player Rating: 7/10

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Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal
Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal bowled well in tandem

It was encouraging to see Kuldeep bowling with confidence and looking to turn the ball. He is yet to return to the bowler who took the world by storm with his unique brand of Chinaman bowling, but has shown glimpses of his brilliance. This was a good series for the KKR spinner.

Player Rating: 7/10

Yuzvendra Chahal

It was a good return for Chahal, who was back to his clever best. Chahal knows how to prise wickets and did precisely that in this series. He was wily and spun the ball both ways. The leggie picked up the Sri Lankan skipper as many times in the first two ODIs and also scalped top order wickets.  

Player Rating: 8/10

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Sanju Samson

India handed five debuts in the final ODI vs Sri Lanka

Samson’s story was a familiar tale of promise before perish. The Rajasthan Royals captain made a solid start to his innings, playing some really good looking strokes before failing to lift a lofted extra cover drive over the man in the circle. In his short stay, Samson looked good for a big knock and the opportunity was there on a good batting wicket – the likes of which he may not get too often on the international stage.

Player Rating: 6/10

Nitish Rana

Rana fell to a classic off spinner’s dismissal in what must have been unfamiliar territory for him batting down the order. He last only 14 balls, which is less than the number of balls bowled by him during Sri Lanka’s chase. He could have ended with a wicket had Dhawan not dropped a catch.

Player Rating: 4/10

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K Gowtham

A disappointing outing for Gowtham on debut saw him miss a full toss to be trapped leg before wicket. He will like to forget that moment in a hurry. He did manage to secure one memorable moment from his debut when he picked up his maiden international wicket after conceding 9 runs off one legitimate delivery in his first over. However, more was expected on a track that aided spinners.

Player Rating: 4/10

Rahul Chahar

Rahul Chahar
Rahul Chahar has got a good player rating

Chahar showed some resistance with the bat as he scored 13 to extend the India innings which fell apart after a promising start. With the ball, he was the pick of India’s bowlers, troubling every batsman he bowled too. Rahul Chahar picked up three wickets but had luck been on his side, he may well have scalped a fifer. Chahar would definitely have benefited from the company an elite spinner.

Player Rating: 8/10

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Chetan Sakariya

Sakariya was in the midst of the action, taking a fine low catch to hand Gowtham his first international wicket. He almost pulled off another spectacular catch in the boundary but that miss would not shadow his impressive performance with the ball. The Rajasthan Royals player ended up with two wickets, including a memorable bouncer resulting in a caught and bowled.

Player Rating: 7/10

Navdeep Saini

Saini had a quiet game and despite being the most experienced bowler of the pack, did not pick any wickets. With the bat however, he showed resistance with Chahar. But, eventually, it was only academic.

Player Rating: 5/10

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