2017 ICC Women's World Cup: Rating the Indian cricketers

Indian women went into the 2017 ICC women's World Cup as the dark horses and Mithali Raj and co. didn't disappoint in the group stage of the tournament.

Starting the tournament with a win over one of the favourites and hosts, England, India went on to beat West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka before losing to South Africa and the defending Champions Australia.

India needed a win in their last match of the group stage against New Zealand and the Women in Blue put on a spirited performance and beat them to earn a place in the semis against the Southern Stars from Australia at the County Ground in Derby on July 20.

Almost every single member contributed to the team's cause in the group stage and they will look to deliver as a unit against the Aussies and extract revenge for their loss earlier in the tournament. Let us take a look at how much the members of the Indan team got (on a scale of 0-10) for their performances in the group stage of the tournament.

Rajeshwari Gayakwad - NA

Rajeshwari Gayakwad didn't play in the first six matches of the tournament and when skipper Mithali revealed that she is a part of the playing XI for the game against the Kiwis, a lot of questions were raised as it was a must-win game for India and she replaced India's best bowler in the tournament, Ekta Bisht.

Eventually, it proved to be a masterstroke by the Indian skipper as Rajeshwari ran through the White Ferns batting order and took India to the semis with figures of 5/15 in her 7.3 overs. Since she has played only one match in the tournament, she was not given a rating in spite of putting a 10/10 performance because one match is too small a sample space to consider for rating a player.

Mansi Joshi - NA

Mansi Joshi did not get any ratings because she played only two matches and bowled just 11 overs (less sample space). In those 11 overs, she scalped 2 wickets at an average of 22.5 and an economy of 4.

Jhulan Goswami has been off-colour throughout the tournament

Mona Meshram - 4

Mona Meshram was preferred in the middle order ahead of Veda Krishnamurthy in the first few matches and was dropped to accommodate Veda and that proved to be the masterstroke.

In the three matches she played, Mona scored just 24 runs at an average of 24 and a strike-rate of 35, something that is not at all acceptable in modern day cricket.

Jhulan Goswami - 6

Jhulan Goswami's form has been a huge concern for the Indian team in the ongoing World Cup. Jhulan is by far the best bowler to have graced the game and a lot was expected from her in the ongoing tournament as she spearheaded the Indian attack that has the likes of Shikha Pandey and Mansi Joshi.

But, the pacer from Bengal managed to take just five wickets at an average of 42 and an economy of 4.5, numbers that are below-par in the standards she has set for herself.

Extra cover: Jhulan Goswami speaks about her journey and how much cricket means to her

Having said that, the Champions players are known to bring their A-game in big moments and Jhulan will look to do the same when she takes the field against the Southern Stars on July 20 and hopefully in the finals.

Mandhana has failed after a brilliant start to the tournament

Smriti Mandhana - 6.5

After scoring a fluent 90 and a century in the first two matches of the World Cup, Mandhana hardly contributed to the team's cause in the remaining matches. In the seven innings she played, Mandhana has scored 226 runs at an average of 37.66 and a strike-rate of over 95, something that is too good for women's cricket.

Extra cover: Smriti Mandhana was scolded by her coach for copying Kumar Sangakkara

But, the team management will be concerned over her form as out of the 226 runs she has scored, 196 (106*,90) came in the first two matches and in the remaining matches, she managed only 30 runs (2, 8, 4, 3, 13). The team management will want her to come good against the Aussies in the semis.

Harmanpreet Kaur - 6.5

With all the hype around her, Harmanpreet Kaur has failed to set the stage on fire in the ongoing World Cup. A lot was expected from the all-rounder, who has earned a reputation for herself as one of the best in the business. Harman managed to score only 137 runs in 6 innings at an average of 27.40 with just one fifty that came in the must-win game against the White Ferns where she batted at no. 4.

With the ball, she was leaking runs often, something very evident from her economy of 5.12. She has picked up just 5 wickets in the tournament.

To be fair, she was not given a proper role by the team management as she was used as a floater in the batting order. She is playing in the tournament in spite of nursing a finger injury in her left hand.

Mithali will hope for Harman to fire in the knockout stages of the tournament and if she does so, it will be a massive advantage for the Women in Blue.

Sushma Verma has been brilliant for India behind the stumps

Sushma Verma - 7

Coming into the tournament as a wicket-keeper, who has an average of just over two, a strike-rate of 23 and bats at number 10, Sushma Verma has done really well in proving herself as a capable batswoman.

She might have scored just 51 runs in five innings, but she hardly got a chance to bat for more than two overs. When she got a chance to express herself. Sushma scored a match-winning 33 against arch-rivals Pakistan and took India to a decent total.

Adding to her batting performances, Sushma has been brilliant behind the stumps as she has affected eight stumpings and five catches in the group stage.

Shikha Pandey - 7

With Jhulan Goswami struggling to get her rhythm, her new ball partner Shikha Pandey has risen to the occasion and did the job for the team in the field restriction overs. Shikha, who bowls most of her overs inside the first 10, has done a remarkable job by not letting the opposition get off to a flying start and at the same time, she also dented their hopes for a good start by striking early.

Extra cover: Shikha Pandey, the girl who emerged from Goa and rattled world cricket

In the five matches she played, Shikha has bowled just 30 overs and picked up six wickets at an average of 19, the best by any Indian barring Rajeshwari, and an economy of 3.86. With India playing Australia, a team that has a very good batting line-up, the onus is on Shikha to do what she has been doing in the tournament, picking early wickets and denying the opposition a brisk start.

Poonam Yadav celebrates with Sushma Verma after taking a wicket

Poonam Yadav - 7

Poonam Yadav's contributions in the World Cup have gone unnoticed so far. Poonam has been doing a brilliant job by creating a lot of pressure in the middle overs by keeping the run-flow at bay.

Adding to this, she has picked up eight wickets in seven matches at an average of 23.75 and an economy of 3.45, the best by an Indian bowler in the World Cup barring Rajeshwari. The opposition batters have found it difficult to get going against Poonam's flight and her ability to spin the ball.

Poonam will hope that she can continue her good run with the ball when India take on the Aussies in the semis.

Veda Krishnamurthy - 7

Scoring 70 runs off 45 balls with seven fours and two sixes when the team was struggling to score 220. In a must-win game against a batting line-up like New Zealand, her innings took them to 265 in their 50 overs, a score that tested the chasing team's character in a crucial game, something Mithali's women were looking for in the first few matches.

Unfortunately, they haven't been ab;e to get the push in the final overs and have ended up few runs short in most of the matches. But, once Veda Krishnamurthy was called into the side, she took the responsibility and took care of scoring some quick runs at the death.

In the four matches she played so far, Veda has notched up 102 runs at an average of just over 25 and strike-rate of 111, something that is very good in women's cricket. She is perfectly doing the role that Hardik Pandya does with the bat for the men's team. Apart from her heroics with the bat, Veda has been a safe fielder and has saved a lot of runs for the team in the field.

Punam Raut celebrates her century against Australia

Ekta Bisht - 7

Ekta Bisht has been India's best bowler in the World Cup as she has accounted for 9 wickets, the joint most with Deepti Sharma in spite of playing a match less. Ekta took her wickets at an average of just over 28 and economy of 3.

She was very instrumental in India's win over Pakistan as she ended with figures of 5/18, the best figures by an Indian in a World Cup match before Rajeshwari bettered it few matches later.

In spite of taking the most number of wickets, she got a lesser rating because of her consistency. Leaving out the Pakistan game, she managed to take just 4 wickets in five matches at an average of 60. She was eventually dropped from the XI for India's last group stage game.

Punam Raut - 8

Somewhere in between Mithali's magic and Smriti's heroics, people forget about the contribution of Punam Raut, who is having a great time in England.

Opening the batting, she played a perfect foil for Smriti in the first two matches and when the latter failed with the bat, she took the centre stage and saved India from blushes.

Extra cover: Virat Kohli mixes up Mithali Raj and Punam Raut in congratulatory Facebook post

Punam scored 281 runs in seven innings at an average of 40.14 and a strike-rate of just 66. She starts on a cautious note and when she gets her eye in, she steps on the accelerator and goes for her shots.

Deepti pose with her Man of the Match trophy after the match against Sri Lanka

Deepti Sharma - 9

Without a doubt, Deepti Sharma has been the unsung hero of India's campaign in the World Cup. Coming into the World Cup after scoring a record 188 against Ireland (the highest by any Indian woman in ODIs), a lot was expected from Deepti's bat.

But, Deepti gave more than what was asked for from her. The all-rounder has been India's most valuable player in the tournament as she has starred for Mithali and co. with both bat and ball. 177 runs from 6 innings at an average of 36 with the bat and scalping 9 wickets with the ball at an average of 30 and an economy of 4.35 shows what she has brought to the table.

Mithali Raj - 9

Without a doubt, Mithali is one of the greatest to have played the sport and in the ongoing tournament, she became the undisputed GOAT as she kept breaking records throughout the tournament.

Having a mini skipping session and reading books before coming out to bat, Mithali showed no signs of nerves in what probably could be her final World Cup, something from which she gets extra motivation to win the trophy that has eluded her in her career.

The skipper is leading her side from the front by scoring consistently in almost every match in the group stage. She has amassed 356 runs in 7 innings at an average of 51 with three fifties and a century in the must-win game against New Zealand. She will look to continue her good run and take her side to glory.