Sri Lanka v India, 5th ODI - India Player Ratings

Team India continued their dominating run in the ongoing tour of Sri Lanka. After having convincingly whitewashed the hosts in the Tests, the men in blue stamped their complete authority with a 5-0 whitewash in the ODI series as well. Leading the 5-match series 4-0, the Indian team had every option to tinker around with their combinations in the final ODI.

They stuck with the rookies they fielded in the previous ODI and the team came up with yet another complete performance. From the Sri Lankan point of view, they were never really in the game. Batting first, they should have posted a total in excess of 300 to offer some competition to this star studded Indian batting lineup. But they ended up with a total under 250 and were completely outplayed in all departments – something that just summarizes the kind of time they have been having in the recent times.

Talking about the game, Sri Lanka recovered well after two early jolts with Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne scoring fifties. Upul Tharanga had earlier scored a key 48 as well. But barring these three, no other batsman could show resistance and they ended up with a total of 238 on the board. In the run chase, it was the chase master Virat Kohli who reigned supreme yet again to see team India seal the series 5-0.

Here are the India Player Ratings for the 5th ODI:

Ajinkya Rahane – 2/10

After being named as the Player of the Series in the ODI series in West Indies, Ajinkya Rahane was benched for the first four ODIs of this series. He finally got his chance in the final ODI with Shikhar Dhawan being ruled out as he had headed home early. However, the veteran Mumbai batsman could not capitalize much on the solitary chance that came hi way. Rahane struggled for 17 deliveries for his 5 runs before becoming Lasith Malinga’s victim in the 5th over.

Rohit Sharma – 3/10

Rohit Sharma had been the power performer for the Indian side in the series. He was leading the run scorers chart with his consistent showing. Rohit had a rare failure at work on the day though. He hit an odd boundary en route his 20 ball 16. He was dismissed in the 8th over by Vishwa Fernando.

Virat Kohli – 9.5/10

Indian skipper Virat Kohli led from the front in the run chase. Kohli brought up his second ton of the series and helped India register a comfortable 6 wicket win to seal the series 5-0. He remained unbeaten on 110 that came off 116 deliveries with 9 fours to his name. The ton marked his 30th ton in the ODIs. Kohli has now equaled Ricky Ponting’s tally of 30 ODI tons.

Manish Pandey – 4/10

Manish Pandey saw himself being drafted in the playing eleven in the previous ODI. He was retained in the side for the final game as well. Pandey, who had to bat at number 6 in the previous game, was promoted back to his preferred number 4 spot in this match. In absence of KL Rahul, Pandey had the ideal chance of making things work for him. He did all the hardwork to score 36 off 52 deliveries but ended up getting dismissed when many thought he would get going.

Kedar Jadhav – 8/10

Kedar Jadhav was long due for a good knock. The critics had started to question his position in the team. Jadhav responded well with a handy fifty to his name in this match. He got the right opportunity and had skipper Virat Kohli guiding him from the other end. He scored 63 off 73 deliveries with 7 fours to his name.

MS Dhoni – 8/10

MS Dhoni had a wonderful time behind the stumps on the day. He was involved in as many as four dismissals during the course of the Sri Lankan innings. He took two catches, was involved in completing a run out, and had a stumping to his name as well. When he stumped Akila Dananjaya off the bowling of Yuzvendra Chahal, he became the first wicket keeper in the history of ODI cricket to complete 100 stumpings.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 9.5/10

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the pick of the Indian bowlers in the match. The wily pace bowler took a five wicket haul to keep the Sri Lankans at bay in the final ODI. He started off well by dismissing Niroshan Dickwella for 2 in his very second over on the day. He then sent Dilshan Munaweera packing. Later, he came back to send the set batsman Lahiru Thirimanne on 67. Lastly, he capped off with the wickets of Milinda Siriwardana and Lasith Malinga. Bhuvneshwar bagged 5/42 in the 9.4 overs that he bowled.

Kuldeep Yadav – 7/10

Kuldeep Yadav performed decently with the ball in the match. He was one among the two specialist wrist spinners in the line up for the match. Kuldeep took the big wicket of Angelo Mathews. He managed to get an edge of the bat of the former Sri Lankan skipper and MS Dhoni completed the catch with ease. Kuldeep returned with figures of 1/40 in the complete quota of 10 overs that he bowled on the day.

Yuzvendra Chahal – 7/10

Yuzvdendra Chahal was the most economical bowler for team India on the day. The leggie bowled his complete quota of 10 overs and gave away only 36 runs. He choked up the run flow of the Sri Lankan team in the middle overs. Chahal had a wicket to his name as well. He got rid of Akila Dananjaya in the match.

Shardul Thakur – 2/10

As promised by skipper Virat Kohli prior to the game, the new entrants from the previous game got another go in the final ODI. One of the beneficiaries of these words was pacer Shardul Thakur. Shardul had a tough time with the ball though. Upul Tharanga took a special liking to his bowling in the powerplay. Shardul leaked 48 runs in the 6 overs that he bowled on the day at an economy rate of 8. He went wicketless.

Jasprit Bumrah – 6/10

Jasprit Bumrah has been the player of the series for team India. Bumrah has consistently bowled well in the series – be it with the new ball or the old ball. He did not disappoint in this game either. He returned with figures of 2/45 in his quota of 10 overs. He took the key wicket of Upul Tharanga and then scalped Malinda Pushpkumara in the slog overs.