Indian cricket team suffered a stunning defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka in the first T20I of the 3-match T20I series on Tuesday at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune. Indian batsmen remarkably failed against the Sri Lankan pacers on a helpful pitch for the latter. India only managed to score 101 runs for the loss of all 10 wickets in 18.5 overs after Sri Lanka sent them to bat first winning the toss. Sri Lanka chased that mediocre total in 18 overs, losing 5 wickets. India are now winless in their 4 last four matches at home.
Player ratings of Indian ‘stars’:
Rohit Sharma
One of the most in-form batsmen in the world at the current moment stayed at the crease for just 2 balls, as Rohit was dismissed by the debutant Sri Lankan bowler Kasun Rajitha on his second ball.
Rating: 0.5/5
Shikhar Dhawan
Dhawan here gets points, mostly for his good fielding. He scored only 9 runs off 13 balls where the only talking point of his batting was a six. While, in fielding, he took two important catches at the mid-on position.
Rating: 2/5
Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane made a comeback in this match from an injury but lasted for just 4 balls. He hit one four and got out on the last ball of very first over of the match.
Rating: 1/5
Suresh Raina
Raina was the second highest scorer for the Indian team. He scored 20 runs off 20 balls with one four and one six. However, he never looked comfortable against the Sri Lankan bowlers. In the second innings, he picked up a wicket of Chandimal and took a spectacular catch.
Rating: 2.5/5
Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj started in a good fashion but later he disappointed his fans. He hit six of just his second ball but he was dismissed after some time. He scored only 10 runs off 14 balls. In fielding, he looked very ordinary.
Rating: 2/5.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Dhoni’s performance was very ordinary in this match. He got out very cheaply scoring only 2 runs. While it is true that Dhoni should not be the only one to be blamed for this loss, but he failed to inspire with his captaincy as well.
Rating: 1/5.
Hardik Pandya
All-rounder Hardik Pandya scored only two runs while he failed to pick up any wicket. He was bowled better than he batted.
Rating: 1/5.
Ravindra Jadeja
Like other batsmen, Jadeja also got out very cheaply as he scored just 6 runs. But he was quite good in fielding. He made some good saves and bowled decent enough.
Rating: 2/5
Ravichandran Ashwin
Ashwin was only Indian player who played well in the entire match. Ashwin contributed 31 runs in 24 balls while he also took 2 wickets for 13 runs in 3 overs. His important knock in batting helped India to reach the total of over hundred runs. He could not do much with the ball as he came to bowl very late.
Rating: 3.5/5
Ashish Nehra
Ashish Nehra bowled quite well as he picked up two wickets – dismissing two SL players. Also, he gave an important support to Ashwin while batting where he came to bat in the 14th over and faced 19 balls. However, he only scored 6 runs but it was a good supportive act.
Rating: 3/5
Jasprit Bumrah
Bumrah bowled extremely well but was unlucky to not take any wicket. Sri Lankan batsmen were looking uncomfortable of his bowling. In batting, he failed to get off the mark as he got run-out.
Rating: 2.5/5