Team India Report Card - How India fared against Afghanistan in Southampton | Cricket - Hindustan Times
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Team India Report Card - How India fared against Afghanistan in Southampton

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | By
Jun 24, 2019 08:35 AM IST

Indian bowlers led by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami showed their class and pedigree as they held their nerves to hand India their fourth win of the World Cup campaign.

An inspired Afghanistan gave India a massive scare in Southampton on Saturday, but the Indian bowlers led by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami showed their class and pedigree as they held their nerves to hand India their fourth win of the World Cup campaign.

India's Mohammed Shami celebrates with Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuzvendra Chahal.(AFP)
India's Mohammed Shami celebrates with Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuzvendra Chahal.(AFP)

On a sluggish pitch, the Afghan spinners restricted the Indian batting order to 224/8, and were in command during their chase. Mohammad Nabi was playing a flawless innings towards the end, but his dismissal which led to a Shami-hat-trick sealed the deal for Kohli & co,.

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Hindustan Times takes a look at the performance of the Indian players in the third Test at Trent Bridge:

KL Rahul - Rating: 5/10, Verdict: Average

KL Rahul had a decent start with the bat on a sluggish track and despite the in-form Rohit Sharma departing cheaply, Rahul did well to build a partnership with skipper Virat Kohli to settle down the nerves. But a horrible reverse sweep on a fuller delivery from Mohammad Nabi ended his innings. Skipper Virat Kohli blamed poor shot selection as one of the reasons for India’s struggle, and Rahul’s innings came to an end on 53-ball 30 because of exactly the same reason.

READ | Virat Kohli and co. edge out Afghanistan in thriller- Watch highlights

Rohit Sharma - Rating: 1/10, Verdict: Poor

Rohit Sharma had a rare poor outing Afghanistan. The batsman struggled against quality spin bowling early on with the new ball, and simply failed to get going. Sharma let the pressure come on himself, as he scored just 1 run in 9 ball. A googly from Mujeeb ur Rahman ended his struggle, as he decided to come forward to defend it, but completely missed the turn and the ball knocked down his stumps.

Virat Kohli (c) - Rating: 7/10, Verdict: Good

Skipper Virat Kohli was the leading-run scorer for India against Afghanistan. The right-handed batsman tackled the spin bowling beautifully and, even though wickets continued to tumble on the other end, he maintained a strike rate of over 100 and continued to rotate strikes. In his innings of 63-ball 67, Kohli just hit five boundaries, scoring a major portion of his runs via singles and doubles. But the batsman failed to reach the century mark as he sliced a slow one from Mohammad Nabi to Rahmat Shah at point insde the circle. Kohli’s departure was the turning point in the match, as India failed to reach the 250-mark which was expected to be competitive on the difficult surface.

Vijay Shankar - Rating: 4/10, Verdict: Average

Vijay Shankar was included in the World Cup squad because of his three-dimensional abilities. But Shankar was not given the bowling and he failed to play a big inning despite getting off to a start. The right-handed batsman started building a partnership with Kohli, and was looking good, batting on 29 in 41 balls. But he was deceived by a length ball from Rahmat Shah, as he stretched forward. It went to umpires’ call when Shankar reviewed, sealing his fate. The World Cup is yet to see the best of Vijay Shankar - but will he get another opportunity in the tournament?

READ | Sachin Tendulkar not happy with MS Dhoni-Kedar Jadhav partnership

MS Dhoni (wk) - Rating: 3/10, Verdict: Poor

MS Dhoni really struggled with the bat against Afghanistan, as he wasted plenty of deliveries in the death overs, and did not rotate strike too often, thus building the pressure on the tail. Dhoni scored just 28 runs in 52 balls with a strike rate of 53.85. The batsman, then, failed to hit big shots in the death overs, and was stumped for only the second time in his career. Dhoni, though, delivered as a leader on the field, as his advice to Mohammed Shami proved crucial in India’s thrilling final over win.

Hardik Pandya - Rating: 6/10, Verdict: Good

Hardik Pandya failed to get runs on the board, struggling to find rhythm on a slower surface against spinners. But the allrounder shined with the ball as he picked up two big wickets in the match, which helped India in getting back into the game, from a point where they looked completely out of the match. The right-armer picked up the wicket of skipper Gulbadin Naib, who sliced it to Vijay Shankar in the deep midwicket. Later, Pandya got the prized wicket of Najibullah Zadran from a slow, off-cutter, which was flicked to Yuzvendra Chahal at short midwicket.

Kedar Jadhav - Rating: 6/10, Verdict: Good

Playing his first match of the tournament, Kedar Jadhav displayed confidence against the solid Afghanistan spin attack, as he scored his maiden World Cup half century. The right-handed batsman scored 52 runs in 68 balls, and ensured India get enough on the board to make the target tricky for Afghanistan. His innings played crucial in the end, with Afghanistan falling short by just 11 runs.

Kuldeep Yadav - Rating: 3/10, Verdict: Poor

Kuldeep Yadav had a poor outing against Afghanistan, after a brilliant show against Pakistan. On a surface which was completely dominated by Afghani spinners, the chinaman failed to get a single wicket. Kuldeep, though, managed to slow down the run rate in the middle overs, giving away just 39 runs in his quota of 10 overs, thus building pressure on the opposition. But on a surace where Afghanistan spinners picked up five out of eight wickets, Kuldeep was expected to do more.

Mohammed Shami - Rating: 10/10, Verdict: Excellent

Mohammed Shami was brought into the side with Bhuvneshwar Kumar picking up an injury - and how he seemed to have cemented his place in the team now. The right-armer was excellent in his first spell, giving just four runs in his first six overs with one maiden. He also cleaned up Hazratullah Zazai, who was looking dangerous at the top. Shami, was then, given the tough task of defending 16 runs in the final over. The bowler was hit for a boundary on the first ball, but kept his cool to pick up a hat-trick and pull of an excellent win for India.

Yuzvendra Chahal - Rating: 7/10, Verdict: Good

Yuzvendra Chahal was crucial for Indai in in the middle and death overs. The leggie cleaned up the experienced Asghar Afghan in the 35th over. With the bowler gtting a bit of a turn, Chahal was given the responsibility to bowl in the death overs as well. In the 46th over, a flighted delivery from the right-armer dismissed Rashid Khan, who was batting on 14 in 15 balls. Kohli acknowleged the role Chahal played in the death overs after the match. He was better of the two spinners the men in blue employed on the day.

Jasprit Bumrah - Rating: 9.5/10, Verdict: Very Good

Jasprit Bumrah was back to his best against Afghanistan. The right-armer failed to get a wicket with the new ball, but was asked to return into the attack in the 28th over, with Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahid building a solid partnership and Afghanistan cruising towards the target. In one over, Bumrah dismissed both the batsmen, thus bringing India back into the hunt. The fast bowler, then, was given the task of restricting Mohammad Nabi as much as he can to allow Shami to have a breathing space in the final over. In the penultimate over, Bumrah gave just 5 runs and Afghanistan had to score 16 to win in the final over. He was awarded the man of the match for his performance.

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