India vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2018: Team India Report Card - How Rohit Sharma & Co fared against Pakistan

The Indian team has been on a roll in the 2018 Asia Cup and after a comprehensive show in the group stages, India have continued to dominate in the Super Four stage. After a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh on Friday, Rohit Sharma and boys did one better on Sunday as they beat arch-rivals Pakistan by nine wickets. And leading the charge was none other than skipper Rohit with an unbeaten century.

Hindustan Times takes a look at the performance of the Indian players in the Super Four encounter against Pakistan in Dubai:

Shikhar Dhawan – Rating: 9.5/10, Verdict: Excellent

When you cannot deduct points on any count, punish the batsman for getting run out after scoring a century. He should have batted on and on and ensured that it was a 10-wicket win for India. But then, it was a brilliant knock from the Indian opener as he looks a completely different batsman from the one that struggled against the red ball in England just a couple of weeks back. On the front-foot or off the back-foot, Dhawan has been a delight to watch as the opener has simply taken opposition bowlers to the cleaners.

Rohit Sharma – Rating: 10/10, Verdict: Excellent

Rohit ‘hitman’ Sharma has taken to captaincy like fish takes to water. A brilliant show once again with the bat as Rohit has now ensured that his average against Pakistan looks just as good as it does against other international teams. Perfect with his field placements and bowling changes when India were on the field and even better when it came to chasing down Pakistan’s total under lights. Yes, he did get a life, but then, the scoreboard only registers the score and that will forever show that the Indian skipper scored an unbeaten 111 as India registered a 9-wicket win over the arch rivals.

Ambati Rayudu – Rating: 5/10, Verdict: Average

Didn’t have much to do and must be credited for staying unbeaten on 12 as India romped home by 9 wickets. Apart from that, there was not much that Rayudu had to do on his birthday. In fact, he had more calories to burn in dodging the teammates when they were aiming to smear cake on his face after the win.

MS Dhoni – Rating: 8/10, Verdict: Very Good

The Dhoni Review System struck again. This time it started the downfall as Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman were looking confident at the crease even though they hadn’t scored too many runs. But Chahal hit Imam on the pads and Dhoni got the decision reviewed. The rest as they say is history. He was once again there to help Rohit in taking the calls on the field as India looked to ensure that Pakistan never really managed to breathe freely.

Dinesh Karthik – Rating: NA

He was almost non-existent on the field on Sunday apart from picking up a few balls on the boundary. DK didn’t have anything to do with the bat as the top order reigned supreme.

Kedar Jadhav – Rating: 3/10, Verdict: Very Bad

After impressing so far with the ball, Kedar disappointed in the game on Sunday as he went for 20 runs from his 3 overs and failed to pick wickets. More than the bowling figures, he ensured that the Pakistan batsmen got off the hook in his overs and scored freely after the other Indian bowlers had tied them down.

Ravindra Jadeja – Rating: 3/10, Verdict: Very Bad

After making a brilliant comeback to the limited-overs team against Bangaldesh, Jadeja failed to continue the show against arch-rivals Pakistan as he gave away 50 runs from his 9 overs. With the Pakistan batsmen clearly looking to take the attack to the left-arm spinner, Rohit refrained from getting him to bowl his full quota of 10 overs.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar – Rating: 6/10, Verdict: Average

Neither did Bhuvi pick wickets, nor did he manage to build pressure on the Pakistan batsmen. In fact, he went for 22 in the 42nd over of the innings as Asif Ali got stuck into him. 22 off the 46 runs that he conceded from his 9 overs came in that single over. Clearly, Bhuvneshwar could have put on a better show.

Kuldeep Yadav – Rating: 9/10, Verdict: Very Good

Brilliant from the Indian left-arm spinner as he once again showed why the team management rates him so highly. While he started off by dismissing the dangerous Fakhar Zaman just when the batsman looked to be getting started, Kuldeep kept a tight hold on the Pakistan batsmen right through the innings. The fact that even Shoaib Malik had to read his googlies off the pitch showed how well the Indian spinner was bowling as the Pakistan batsman is known to be one of the best players of spin in world cricket.

Yuzvendra Chahal – Rating: 9/10, Verdict: Very Good

Having started off poorly in the series, Chahal rose to the occasion in the all-important game as he picked the crucial wickets of Imam-ul-Haq at the top and then Asif Ali in the death overs. While Imam’s wicket gave India the upper-hand at the top, dismissing Asif was very important as the lower-order batsman was going hammer and tongs at the end of the innings. He finished with 2/46 from 9 overs.

Jasprit Bumrah – Rating: 9.5/10, Verdict: Excellent

Bumrah has been the find of the Indian team management in the last couple of seasons. From being the go-to-man with the white ball to picking wickets with the red one, Bumrah has been the star of the Indian bowling attack in recent times. He once again rose to the challenge on Sunday as he finished with figures of 2/29 from his 10 overs. He in fact also bowled a maiden over at the top of the Pakistan innings to build pressure from the word go.

First Published: Sep 24, 2018 11:40 IST