The Indian team travelled to the West Indies embroiled in controversy. They had failed to defend their Champions Trophy title against arch-rivals Pakistan in the final of the tournament, losing the match by 180 odd runs.
Soon after, head coach Anil Kumble resigned from his post, stating ‘untenable relations’ with captain Virat Kohli as the reason. Ramchandra Guha, a BCCI panel member, resigned from his post in the midst of the tournament and subsequently wrote a fiery letter.
Long story short, the team touring West Indies had a lot on their mind.
Also read: India lose points in latest ICC ODI rankings despite series win
However, all of that disappeared as the Men in Blue stepped onto the field. Barring the one-off display in the 4th match, Kohli’s men dominated the mellow West Indians in every aspect throughout the ODI series. They won their games comprehensively, answered the critics with consistent performances and showed that they were ultimate professionals when it came to dealing with off the field issues.
India won the ODI series 3-1, with the first game being cancelled due to unfavourable weather conditions. Let us now look at the player ratings of the Indians for the series:
Batsmen
Ajinkya Rahane: 9.5/10
Runs scored: 336Average: 67.20Hundreds: 1Fifties: 3Catches: 1
Touted as a player unsuitable for limited-overs cricket, the man from Mumbai truly let his bat do the talking. After warming the bench throughout the length of the Champions Trophy, Rahane finally got his chance in the playing XI after regular opener Rohit Sharma was rested for the tour.
He made full use of the opportunity and scored more runs than anyone in the series. He notched up consecutive fifty-plus scores in the first four matches, while also converting the second fifty into a splendid run-a-ball hundred.
Partnering Shikhar Dhawan at the top of the order, the 29-year-old looked comfortable in the middle. His ability to rotate the strike in the middle overs, which was always under the scanner, showed significant signs of improvement this time around. It will be interesting to see how Kohli accommodates the right-hander into the playing XI after Sharma’s return, if he decides to keep him in at all.
Shikhar Dhawan: 7/10
Runs scored: 161Average: 32.20Fifties: 2Catches: 2
Dhawan’s impeccable form from the Champions Trophy followed him to the Carribean Islands as he scored two flawless half-centuries in the first two games. However, his next three scores read 2, 5 and 4. The sudden dip in form was unprecedented and the Indian fans would hope that the free-scoring batsman finds his groove as soon as possible.
Virat Kohli: 9/10
Runs scored: 244Average: 81.33Hundreds: 1Fifties: 1Catches: 2
You can try but you will fail to remember the last bilateral ODI series where Kohli failed to live up to the unbelievably high standards that he has set for himself. It took him time to truly get going in this series, but when he did, there was no stopping the Indian skipper.
His hundred in the final game of the series was a personification of everything Kohli has always stood for: flicking balls outside off to the leg-side, hitting pacers for incomprehensible sixes and running like a panther between the wickets. His awe-inspiring strokeplay was at its best yesterday, and he oozed magic on the field. He also surpassed Sachin Tendulkar for the highest number of hundreds scored in run-chases.
His 87 in the second ODI was also extremely important as the impetus that he provided at the end of the innings steered India to a 300-plus total.
Yuvraj Singh: 4/10
Runs scored: 57Average: 19Hundreds: 0Fifties: 0Catches: 0
Yuvraj Singh’s limited-overs future seems to be getting bleaker with every passing match. The southpaw is struggling to find form post his dazzling fifty against Pakistan in India’s opening game of the Champions Trophy, and injuries have further added to his troubles.
He played in the first three matches before picking up a hamstring injury that ruled him out of the next two games. His performance was dismal in the first two games and even though he managed a 39 in the third ODI, he looked out-of-sorts.
The 35-year-old’s fielding is not where it was once and his loss of form with the bat is a sign of concern, to say the least. Is it time for the Indian selectors to start looking beyond the veteran?
Dinesh Karthik: 8/10
Runs scored: 57Average: 50*Hundreds: 0Fifties: 1Catches: 0
In the two matches that Karthik replaced Singh, he ranged from horrendous to fabulous. He scored 2 runs off 19 deliveries in India’s loss in the 4th ODI. He looked haplessly out-of-place and his innings added to the gloom that had taken hold of India’s batting effort on that ominous day.
However, in the very next match, he dusted himself off in style. He scored a stylish 50* and stitched a brilliant century partnership with his captain, who was playing beautifully at the other end. Karthik’s shots, especially his cuts and flicks, were extremely soothing to the eye and soon the 2-run innings was a distant memory.
Karthik is now a strong contender for the No. 4 position along with Rahane, Singh, KL Rahul and Manish Pandey.
Wicket-keeper and all-rounders
MS Dhoni: 6.5/10
Runs scored: 154Average: 154Hundreds: 0Fifties: 1Catches: 5 (Stumpings: 3)
The former Indian skipper might’ve had a disastrous outing in the penultimate game of the series, but so did every other batsman in the team. Dhoni was criticised left, right and centre for his excruciatingly low strike-rate in the match.
True, the numbers indicate that it was the slowest fifty in ODI cricket in the last sixteen years, but the numbers also suggest that his average has been phenomenal in this series. Hence, while it is a fact that Dhoni could’ve done a lot better in that particular match, he shouldn’t be judged solely on that one innings.
The 78* that he scored in the third game was crucial in taking India to a respectable first innings total of 251. His wicket-keeping was excellent as usual, and Dhoni used the DRS like Aladin did his three wishes.
The upcoming Sri Lanka tour will be crucial in determining the direction of Dhoni’s international career.
Kedar Jadhav: 8/10
Runs scored: 57Average: 19Hundreds: 0Fifties: 0Catches:3Wickets: 2
Jadhav will return from the tour satisfied with his performances. He did well with the limited opportunities that came his way, playing a fiery innings of 40 off just 24 deliveries in the third game.
He bowled 4.1 overs through the series, and yet, managed to dismissed two West Indian batsmen. Kohli seems to have found his sixth bowler, who knows how to do exactly what his captain expects of him.
The two areas where Jadhav can improve going forward are his ground fielding and shot selection, to some extent. Like most Indian batsmen, he was dismissed cheaply in the fourth ODI, resulting in the unravelling of the batting line-up.
Hardik Pandya: 7.5/10
Runs scored: 24 Average: 12Catches: 3Wickets: 6
Pandya hardly got any chances with the bat but instead shone with the ball. His battle with Shai Hope was one of the brightest points of the series and his bowling looked extremely tight throughout.
He bowled at a splendid economy of 4.22 while his bowling average was a commendable 21.83 in the series. His 3/40 in the 4th ODI was one of the major reasons for India being able to restrict West Indies to 189 in 50 overs.
His ground-fielding was brilliant as always, but the Mumbai Indians player could not get going with the bat in the two opportunities that came his way. Is it time for Kohli to try him at No.5 and promote Dhoni to No.4 in the batting order?
Ravindra Jadeja: 3/10
Runs scored: 11Average: 11Catches: 2Wickets: 0
This tour was probably the worst of Ravindra Jadeja’s limited overs career. He came into the tour off the back of a terrible mix-up with Hardik Pandya in the final of the Champions Trophy. Jadeja was dropped from the playing XI for the first three ODIs before he came in for Ashwin in the fourth.
However, he could do nothing significant in the two matches. He couldn’t close out the innings in the fourth ODI and he didn’t pick a single wicket in the 20 overs that he bowled. The entire tour was a dismal affair for the left-hander.
Bowlers
Umesh Yadav: 8/10
Overs: 33Wickets: 7Bowling average: 22.42Economy: 4.75Catches: 2
Yadav played in just two of India’s five matches in the Champions Trophy, and could not create much of an impact in both.
Coming to the West Indies series, he did not get a chance to bowl in the first match and struggled to trouble the batsmen in the second game. However, he finally found his groove from the third game and bowled some tight overs.
The last two games, in particular, were extremely fruitful for him as he picked 3 important wickets in each. He is learning to control his pacey deliveries with every match, and you would hope that he manages to hit the purple patch of his career in the near future.
Kuldeep Yadav: 9/10
Overs: 39Wickets: 8Bowling average: 19.75Economy: 4.05Catches: 1
It was an absolute dream debut for young Yadav, who impressed every time he got the ball in his hand. He was undoubtedly the pick of the Indian bowlers in the series and it looks difficult for both Ravi Ashwin and Jadeja to replace this wrist-spinner in the playing XI now. He was exceptional in the third ODI, where he picked up 3 wickets to cripple the West Indian middle order.
It has been a long time since India produced a chinaman bowler like Yadav, and just like his Test debut back in April, the youngster has lived up to the hype.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar: 7/10
Overs: 10Wickets: 2Bowling average: 14Economy: 2.80Catches: 0
There’s hardly any sample space to judge Kumar’s performance in the series, but he was pretty disciplined with the ball in the limited overs that he bowled. He played in the first three matches, bowled a total of 10 overs and scalped 2 wickets in the same.
What stands out is his bowling average of 14. Kumar would hope for a bigger crop of overs to come his way in the upcoming Sri Lanka tour.
Ravi Ashwin: 7/10
Overs: 19Wickets: 4Average: 18.75Economy: 3.94
Like Kumar, Ashwin played the first three games and did really well. Ashwin and Yadav created a beautiful web around the baffled West Indian batsmen and picked six wickets between them in the third match of the series.
Ashwin bowled in just two matches though, and you cannot judge him completely based on just 19 overs. The off-spinner is still displaying a defensive frame of mind though and keeps bowling on the middle-leg line.
Mohammad Shami: 7.5/10
Overs: 20Wickets: 4Average: 20.25Economy: 4.05
Considering he was playing his first ODI series of the year, Shami did really well to adapt to the foreign conditions. He was brought in in place of Kumar in the 4th ODI, where he could not pick a wicket but hit the right lengths consistently and kept up the pressure.
He came into his own in the last ODI though and picked the wickets of two well-set batsmen – Shai Hope and Jason Holder – to rattle the West Indian innings. The tussle between Kumar, Shami and Yadav will get extremely interesting once the rested Jasprit Bumrah is back.
Kohli might just have a good headache going into the Sri Lanka series, considering almost everyone in the squad has done relatively well on the West Indies tour.
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