India's ODI report card in 2017: Rating the players

The year 2017 was, undoubtedly, one of the best in Indian cricket team's history. Unbeaten in every bi-lateral series they played in, except the one-off T20I series against West Indies, the Men in Blue passed every test of the grand home season with aplomb.

As far as the ODIs are concerned, Virat Kohli's men played a total of 29 matches and emerged victorious from 21 of them. And while the captain led from the front, every player contributed to the team's exceptional run of form.

A 23-man strong contingent played 50-over matches for India in 2017, but only MS Dhoni played all 29 matches. Here, in this piece, we would be rating the performance of each and every player who represented the country in the ODI format for more than two matches this year.

---

Washington Sundar - N/A

Played just the one ODI and ended up with figures of 1/65.

Shardul Thakur - N/A

Played two ODIs and had figures of 0/48 and 1/26.

Mohammed Shami - 5/10

The right-arm pacer wasn't heavily involved in the limited-overs set-up, partly due to injuries and partly because of the presence of premier LOI bowlers in Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah. Shami played three ODIs and bagged four wickets, all of them coming in one match itself.

Shreyas Iyer - 7/10

The youngster was drafted into the Indian ODI team for the three-match series against Sri Lanka at the fag end of the year. Iyer didn't disappoint and scored a total of 162 runs at an average of 54 and strike-rate of over 100. The Mumbaikar slammed half-centuries in two of those matches as well.

KL Rahul - 3/10

Rahul was a part of seven ODIs with the last of the lot coming against Sri Lanka back in September. He managed to score a paltry 52 runs in those matches with his highest score being 17. For now, the Karnataka batsman would want to perform well in the upcoming Test series against South Africa.

Ravichandran Ashwin - 3/10

The off-spinner was taken off the limited overs side after a disappointing performance in the Champions Trophy. Ashwin played a total of nine matches in the year and could pick only eight wickets in them.

Axar Patel - 6/10

Patel played in eight matches this year and bagged ten wickets. He was economical as well, bowling at an economy rate of less than 5.

Dinesh Karthik - 7/10

Karthik was one of the better performers of the team and cashed in on the opportunity presented to him by the selectors. In eight matches, the wicketkeeper-batsman added 183 runs at an average of 61, courtesy two half-centuries.

Umesh Yadav - 7/10

The Vidarbha pacer was a part of the Indian team for the Champions Trophy and the West Indies ODI series and bagged 15 wickets in nine matches. Though he was not as economical, Yadav was among the wickets in most of the matches he played with best figures of 4/71 against Australia in Bengaluru.

Ravindra Jadeja - 3/10

A disappointing year in ODIs for one of the best Test bowlers in the business. In 10 appearances, he managed only eight wickets and was then dropped from the limited overs side along with Ashwin as the wrist-spin duo of Chahal and Kuldeep replaced them.

Manish Pandey - 5/10

It seems as though the Karnataka batsman has been given a rope too long as he has failed to score runs on a consistent basis. In 10 appearances, he was able to score 171 runs, only nine more than Iyer, who played seven fewer matches. In the lead up to the World Cup in 2019, most probably, these two would be fighting for the much-coveted number four spot in the ODI team.

Yuvraj Singh - 6/10

Already a legend of the sport, Yuvraj started the year strongly with a century against England, however, failure to pass the yo-yo test meant he was kept out of the team for a majority of the 12 months. Anyway, he made 11 appearances and scored 372 runs with 150 of them coming in one match.

Ajinkya Rahane - 7/10

Rahane was at his brilliant best in the ODI series against West Indies and Australia, hitting a total of seven half-centuries and a century. In 12 matches, he amassed 586 runs at an average of about 50. However, the fact that Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan pick themselves for the opening slot, mean Rahane's chances in the 50-over format look bleak.

Kuldeep Yadav - 8/10

The Uttar Pradesh youngster was the pick of the Indian spinners, bagging as many as 22 wickets in 14 matches. The highlight of his year was the hat-trick he picked against Australia in Kolkata. The chinaman was economical as well, bowling at an economy of less than 5.

Yuzvendra Chahal - 7.5/10

The leg-spinner was not far behind his fellow wrist-spinner in terms of wickets. He bagged 21 wickets in 14 appearances in ODIs and was as economical as Kuldeep.

Rohit Sharma - 9/10

The hitman missed out on a couple of series due to an injury, however, in the 21 matches he played, he was at his imperious best. Smashing a total of 1293 runs, along with a double century, Rohit was second only to Virat Kohli in terms of runs scored. The Mumbaikar's runs came at an astonishing average of 71.83 and a strike rate of almost 100, courtesy 116 fours and 46 maximums. He slammed six hundreds and five half-centuries as well.

Jasprit Bumrah - 9/10

The 24-year-old pacer was easily one of the best limited-overs bowlers in the world. In 23 appearances, Bumrah bagged 39 wickets with the help of a fifer. The youngster was duly rewarded for his exploits in the LOIs with a place in the Indian Test squad for the South Africa tour.

Shikhar Dhawan - 7/10

Though inconsistency has been an issue, Dhawan has more or less cemented his place along with Rohit at the top of Indian batting order for the 2019 World Cup. In 22 matches, the Delhiite smashed 960 runs at a strike rate of over 100. He slammed three centuries and six half-centuries as well.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar - 8/10

We all were well aware of Bhuvneshwar's ability with the ball, but he impressed with the bat as well this year. Along with bagging 28 wickets in 24 appearances, the pacer scored 132 runs at an average of 44 as well. His 53* against Sri Lanka helped India win the match after the team had lost seven of their wickets.

Kedar Jadhav - 5/10

The Maharashtra cricketer played most of the team's ODI matches this year, but his performances were nothing but average. Apart from a couple of knocks against England earlier this year, he didn't do much of note and was shambolic in the outfield as well. The only positive from Jadhav's outings was that he can be used as a sixth bowling option. He scored 561 runs in 25 matches and bagged 10 wickets.

Hardik Pandya - 9/10

2017 was a breakthrough year for the all-rounder who played all but one ODI for the Indian team. In 28 matches, Pandya scored 557 runs at a strike rate of over 120, slamming 35 fours and 30 sixes in the process. He was also the second highest wicket-taker among Indians in ODIs as he bagged 31 wickets.

Virat Kohli - 10/10

By far the best limited-overs batsman in the world and already a legend of the game, Virat Kohli spared no one. In 26 matches, he slammed 1460 runs at a staggering average of 76.84, courtesy six centuries and seven half-centuries. The only blemish on his near-perfect year, in which he got married as well, was his inability to lead from the front in the Champions Trophy final against Pakistan.

MS Dhoni - 9/10

The only player to play all of the 29 ODI matches for Team India this year, MS Dhoni continued delivering the goods for the nation. He scored a total of 788 runs at 60.61 and affected 26 catches and 13 stumpings. Not only that, both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, when leading the team, fell back to Dhoni in times of need.