India v New Zealand, 2nd ODI - India Player Ratings

Team India were handed a shock defeat in the first ODI against the visiting New Zealand side recently at Mumbai. The men in blue had arrived in to the ODI series riding on superlative wins over Sri Lanka and Australia. They were tipped to run rout the Kiwi side and dominate them big time. However, a spirited show from the Kiwis stunned the Indian team and put them under pressure.

Amidst this situation, action moved to Pune where the two sides locked horns in the second ODI. The way team India played, it was pretty much clear that they did their homework right before the match. Indian bowlers bowled tight lines to put a choke hold on the opposition. As a result, the Kiwis could only manage 230/9 on the board in the first innings.

In the run chase, the Indian side looked pretty calm despite losing Rohit Sharma early in the innings. Shikhar Dhawan guided the team with a fifty in the first half of the chase. In the second half, the comeback veteran Dinesh Karthik set things up for the Indian win. All in all, it was a complete performance from the team to level the series 1-1.

Here are the India Player Ratings for the match:

Rohit Sharma – 2/10

Coming in to the game, both the Indian openers were under some pressure to score. They had failed to muster runs in the first ODI which cost the team dearly. While Shikhar Dhawan got going, Rohit had yet another off day at work. He struggled for his 7 runs in the match and played out 19 deliveries. He never looked comfortable during his stay at the crease.

Shikhar Dhawan – 8/10

Shikhar Dhawan found his feet moving right in the game. He looked in good form and this comes as a very good news for the Indian team. Dhawan did not allow the opposition bowlers to settle and played his shots at will. He scored a well complied 68 that came of 84 deliveries. He hit five fours and a couple of sixes during his stay at the crease.

Virat Kohli – 5/10

Skipper Virat Kohli had emerged as the lone ranger for the team in the first ODI. He had scored a magnificent ton to announce his arrival in the series. Certainly, he arrived at Pune with good form. This was evident from the three boundaries and a six that he hit during his 29 ball stay at the crease.

He scored 29 before edging one to Tom Latham off the bowling of Colin de Grandhomme. He could not convert his good start to a big score on the day. But he had earlier covered up for it with some very impressive bowling changes in the match.

Dinesh Karthik – 9/10

Team India has been experimenting big time with the number 4 slot in the recent times. They have tried many players in the last couple of series at the slot. In this game, comeback man Dinesh Karthik got his shot at the number 4 position. Karthik, who plays at the same position for his domestic side, made the most out of the opportunity. He hit a match winning fifty that guided India home in the match. He scored an unbeaten 64 in the game.

Hardik Pandya – 7/10

Hardik Pandya had a decent outing in the game. He contributed to the team’s cause with both bat and the ball. He scored a quick 30 off 31 deliveries with a six and a couple of boundaries. He was unfortunate not to have finished the game for the team. Earlier in the match, he had dismissed the in-form batsman Ross Taylor with a beautiful short ball.

MS Dhoni – 6/10

Former skipper MS Dhoni is always under the radar to perform. His services with the bat were not needed for long in the match. The top order did the bulk of the scoring for the team. Dhoni arrived at the crease towards the end of the run chase and scored an unbeaten 18 off 21 deliveries. Earlier, he had taken a couple of catches during the New Zealand innings.

Kedar Jadhav – 7.5/10

With every passing game, the role of Kedar Jadhav in the team seems to be changing. Jadhav was brought in as the first change bowler in the match – a move that left many bamboozled. Ever more surprising for the fans, Jadhav delivered well with the ball. Albeit he did not get any wicket, he gave away only 31 runs in 8 overs. His services with the bat were not needed on the day.

Axar Patel – 7/10

Axar Patel was drafted in the side for the match at the expense of Kuldeep Yadav. Axar bowled decently in the game but could not keep a check on the run flow. He gave away 54 runs in his spell of 10 overs. However, he dismissed the centurion of the previous ODI, Tom Latham. He squared him up with a peach of a delivery.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 9/10

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been having a dream time at the field in the recent times. He continued his good show with the bat. The veteran campaigner scalped 3 wickets in the Kiwi innings to be the pick of the bowlers. He returned with figures of 3/45 in his quota of 10 overs. He accounted for the wickets of both the openers and then for the wicket of set batsman Henry Nicholls in the death overs.

Jasprit Bumrah – 9/10

Jasprit Bumrah was ideally the pick of the Indian bowlers on the day. He bowled two maidens during his spell and that in itself speaks volumes about the time he had at the crease. In the 10 overs that he bowled, he gave away only 38 runs. He was the most economical bowler for India in the match. He scalped two wickets, that of Mitchell Santner and the big fish Kane Williamson.

Yuzvendra Chahal – 7.5/10

Leggie Yuzvendra Chahal was the solitary wrist spinner in the Indian line up on the day. He bowled a decent spell of 8 overs and yielded only 36 runs. He bowled a few odd off track deliveries but managed to cover it up with a couple of wickets towards the end of the innings. He dismissed Colin de Grandhomme and then backed it up by sending Adam Milne for a golden duck.