Australia vs India, 2nd ODI, 2019: Player ratings

The all-important second One Day International between India and Australia began with the hosts earning the advantage of winning the toss and deciding to go with the obvious option of batting first on a flat track at Adelaide.

With a 1–0 advantage in the series, Australia fielded an unchanged XI, while India handed Mohammed Siraj a debut replacing left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed who had leaked 55 runs at a costly economy of 6.9 per over in the first game. To India’s dismay, the move didn’t pay off as Siraj ended up with figures of 76/0 from 10 overs.

Shaun Marsh continued his purple patch in the limited overs format as he almost batted through the entirety of Australia’s innings and top scored with 131. A 48-run cameo by Glenn Maxwell and a crucial innings by Marcus Stoinis, in the end, meant Australia set a total one run shy of 300. While Bhuvneshwar Kumar ended up with figures of 4/45, Mohammed Shami partnered him well and picked three wickets for 58 runs.

India’s chase began ominously as Shikhar Dhawan played the aggressor and Rohit Sharma tried to get into his groove. Dhawan soon got out after a short stay at the crease. Losing wickets at crucial junctures became a pattern in India’s chase with captain Virat Kohli being the only constant at the other end.

The chase master brought up his 39th ODI century and played what can be attributed as the cliched captain’s knock. As Kohli fell, Dinesh Karthik joined Mahendra Singh Dhoni to finish the job. Karthik played a quickfire cameo to ease the chase and the game ended with Dhoni finishing off it in style.

On that note, let's take a look at the player ratings of both sides.

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Australia

Shaun Marsh was simply outstanding

Aaron Finch: 1/10

India’s plans to bowl straight and exploit Finch’s weakness to incoming deliveries ultimately worked as Finch tried to make merry of a full ball off Bhuvi but lost his stumps in an attempt to do so. His captaincy too, was very defensive, especially when Kohli was new to the crease.

Alex Carey: 3/10

Carey once again failed to convert the start he got as he fell prey to a well-directed surprise short delivery from Shami and could add only 18 runs to Australia’s tally.

Usman Khawaja: 4/10

Khawaja looked aggressive in his short stay at the crease as he scored almost run-a-ball but was run out to a brilliant display of fielding by Ravindra Jadeja. On the field as well, he was average.

Shaun Marsh: 9/10

Marsh marshaled Australia’s batting and played the perfect innings Australia were hoping for, as he built partnerships and carried on making 131 off 123 balls, upping the ante at the right moment and carrying his side to an above par score.

Marcus Stoinis: 8/10

With the bat, Stoinis tried to replicate what he did in the first ODI as he tried to build on with Marsh, but eventually endured a soft dismissal as he under-edged a back-of-the-length ball from Shami to the keeper for 29 off 36. He also picked the priced scalp of Rohit Sharma and was quite economical conceding only 46 runs in nine overs.

Glenn Maxwell: 8/10

Maxwell made the most of his batting position and played to his strengths, making a quickfire 48 off 37 balls. Although his batting position has been debated a lot, it looks well-suited with respect to the batting unit of the team. Maxwell rolled his golden arm over and got the wicket of Ambati Rayudu, bowled four overs at a more than a decent economy of four runs per over

Jhye Richardson: 6/10

Richardson too had a decent game as he conceded 58 runs in 10 overs. He was able to again pick up the wicket of the Indian skipper Virat Kohli and provided a slight glimmer of hope for Australia to get back into the game. For sure, he was the pick of the lot.

Nathan Lyon: 5/10

Frontline spinners on either side had a similar day as both Nathan Lyon and Kuldeep Yadav went wicket-less. Lyon didn’t do much wrong with his bowling and tried to curb India’s scoring rate. He also ended Australia’s innings on a high scoring a four and a six of the last two balls.

Peter Siddle: 2/10

Siddle was another bowler who remained wicketless in the match. He also failed to curb the scoring rate conceding 58 runs in 8 overs. He was arguably Australia's worst player

Jason Behrendorff: 6/10

Behrendorff picked up the wicket of Dhawan early on and went about his job well. He should have mustered another wicket, however.

India

MS Dhoni

Shikhar Dhawan: 5/10

After scoring a golden duck in the first ODI, Shikhar Dhawan played some brilliant strokes and showed glimpses of domination. However, in the process, he edged a skier as Jason Behrendorff was brave enough to pitch one up even after going for a boundary the previous ball. He scored 32 runs off 28 balls. Dhawan also entertained the crowd with his thigh-fives as he caught two catches.

Rohit Sharma: 4/10

After a brilliant century in the first ODI, Rohit Sharma seemed to have realized the chink in India’s middle order batting as he tried to play through the innings and curbed his natural instinct more. Not for long though, having scored 43 off 52, a rash shot off Stoinis’s bowling lead to his departure.

He dropped a catch as well.

Virat Kohli: 9/10

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. With the series on the line, 'King' Kohli stepped up his game and played a gem of an innings to put India into a winning position. The skipper brought up his 24th century while chasing and 39th overall. He scored 104 in 112 balls but failed to finish the chase. He almost never looked unruffled.

Ambati Rayudu: 4/10

Trying to cement his spot at the much tried out number four position; Ambati Rayudu spurned his chance yet again. He lived dangerously throughout his stay at the crease and his troubled stay of 36 balls for 24 runs finally came to an end when he tried to power a ball off Maxwell’s bowling to the stands.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni: 8/10

With a lot of talk about his strike rate in the first game which India lost, Dhoni scored another half-century today. The strike rate at the end of the game though was more than 100. It must be realized that Dhoni will bat with a similar strike rate and whoever comes down has to score quickly.

Regardless, he hung in there, kept the scoreboard ticking and in the end, it almost didn't look like India were chasing almost 300 odd runs.

Dinesh Karthik: 7/10

Coming down at six, Karthik joined Dhoni with India in a little spot of bother. Karthik’s 14 ball 25 runs relieved many Indian fans as helped India get over the line comfortably.

Ravindra Jadeja: 7/10

Jadeja was at his electric best in the field as he ran Usman Khawaja out with a single-handed pick up and throw. He completed his quota of 10 overs, conceding 49 runs and picking the wicket of Peter Handscomb.

Bhuvaneshwar Kumar: 8/10

Bhuvneshwar looked his vintage best, a complete contrast to his performance in the first ODI. He provided the opening breakthrough for the team as he cleaned up Finch and came back in the death to pick the dangerous looking Maxwell and Marsh through his variations. Jhye Richardson’s wicket came as a bonus as he ended up with 4 scalps for 45 runs.

Kuldeep Yadav: 3/10

India’s go-to bowler for wickets had an off day as he went wicket-less. Although Kuldeep looked quite economical in the earlier part of his bowling, two sixes in his last over meant he conceded 66 runs in his 10 overs.

Mohammed Shami: 7/10

Shami might be the answer to India’s hunt for the third seamer spot. In both the ODI’s, he has kept things tight and hasn’t given away too much, and at the same time has been able to pick up wickets at crucial junctures of the game.

Mohammed Siraj: 2/10

Siraj had a forgettable ODI debut as he second-topped the list of bowlers with worse figures on debut. Siraj conceded 76 runs and was unable to bag any wickets. He did create few chances but was unlucky as Rohit Sharma dropped a tough catch off his bowling.