Indian players’ report card from the South African ODI examination

Indian players’ report card from the South African ODI examination

It has been gruelling two months and a fascinating one in that. India’s tour of South Africa was full of excitement, drama and unpredictability. The end result was a testimony to the fact that the series was contested by two of the best teams in world cricket these days. For India, it was again a case of individual brilliance cushioning the poor team effort. In the ODI series, only four Indian players excelled while all the others failed miserably. This is a very worrying scenario for the team going into the World Cup. MSN now reviews the performance of each Indian player in the just-concluded ODI series, which was India’s pre-final to the World Cup examination

Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Performance in ODI series

Matches	Runs	Highest	Average	100s	50s
5	75	38	15.00	0	0

Performance review: Very ordinary batting display. Just could not get going with the bat. Especially the shot in the last ODI to get out just about showed how mentally weak Dhoni is with the bat in his hand at this point of time. Needs to get it right big time. No need of fancy 'helicopter' shots Mr. Captain. Dhoni's miserable run could hurt India going into the World Cup. Captaincy questions too remain. The decision to field first and chase under lights in the decider came as a big surprise

Rohit Sharma

Matches	Runs	Highest	Average	100s	50s
5	49	23	9.80	0	0

Performance review: If anyone would have quietly smiled looking at Rohit Sharma's efforts in the series, it would be the Indian selectors. After all, their decision to not pick him in the final 15 World Cup squad was vindicated with the horrendous run of scores by Rohit. IPL franchisees also need to reassess what they are doing with the precious millions. The lesser we speak the better

Murali Vijay

Matches	Runs	Highest	Average	100s	50s
3	18	6	6.00	0	0

Performance review: What do we need to say at all? Facing quality bowling attack is a completely different ball game when compared to going slam bang in IPL for Chennai Super Kings. This is a big lesson that the third opener for India would have learnt after disastrous efforts with the bat.

Virat Kohli

Matches	Runs	Highest	Average	100s	50s
5	193	87*	48.25	0	2

Performance review: Stood tall amidst the ruins. Virat Kohli justified his status as the best number 3 in ODI format for India with a stellar display yet again. He was focussed and has improved leaps and bounds with his temperament and that should augur very well for him and for India going into the World Cup.

Yuvraj Singh

Matches	Runs	Highest	Average	100s	50s
5	91	53	18.20	0	1

Performance review: Barring that patient fifty in the second ODI where he and captain Dhoni rescued India to some sense of respectability, which eventually won India the match; Yuvraj Singh has been more a bowler and less a batsman in the series. He is no longer the player who can single-handedly win matches. At least, he has been giving that impression often in the last year or so. Will be very surprising if he retains his place in the playing eleven once the big guns return for the World Cup

Suresh Raina

Matches	Runs	Highest	Average	100s	50s
5	111	37	22.20	0	0

Performance review: There was a big debate before the World Cup final squad selection as to whom among Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma should make the cut. Unfortunately, if Rohit was a disaster, what would you call Raina? Abysmal performance in the ODI series. The fact that bowlers could think Raina out every time even before he walked out to the middle just about showed he is now surviving merely on his past glorie

Yusuf Pathan

Matches	Runs	Highest	Average	100s	50s
3	166	105	55.33	1	1

Performance review: He wasn't just the lone centurion for India in the ODI series but also the lone man to defy the opposition. Fire for fire. That was Yusuf Pathan's approach through the series. He almost pulled off a miraculous series win for India with a stunning century in the final match. Gave enough reasons to make Dhoni and think tank to wonder why he wasn't chosen in the first two ODIs and also why he is being made to bat so low down the order. He was surely the 'Pathan' of the series

Harbhajan Singh

Matches	wickets	Average	Best figures	Economy rate	Bowling strike rate
5	4	51.25	2/23	4.36	70.5

Performance review: Again back to erratic bowling. Harbhajan Singh had given hope after an outstanding effort in the test series but flattered to deceive in the shorter version. He was economical agreed but India needs wickets to come from their spin spearhead and that is exactly what Bhajji could not give. On turning tracks in the sub continent during the World Cup, Harbhajan really needs to get his line right. He was quite handy with the bat though although it is still too early to brand him as a genuine all-rounde

Zaheer Khan

Matches	wickets	Average	Best figures	Economy rate	Bowling strike rate
5	9	25.11	3/43	4.87	30.8

Performance review: The series saw Zaheer Khan come up with brilliant strike rate and that augurs very well for India's chances in the World Cup. Zak did everything that a fast bowler and a leader of a bowling attack should have done during the series. Bowled with pace, swing and carried just the required amount of aggression. South African captain Graeme Smith would vouch for it.

Munaf Patel

Matches	wickets	Average	Best figures	Economy rate	Bowling strike rate
5	11	18.72	4/29	5.02	22.33

Performance review: Simply outstanding and where did it come from? Munaf Patel was never rated very high due to his inconsistent performances over the years but in the ODI series against South Africa, consistency was his prized possession. He was sharp, accurate and did all the right things that a fast bowler should do. What came as a bonus for India was that Munaf was a match-winner.

Ashish Nehra

Matches	wickets	Average	Best figures	Economy rate	Bowling strike rate
4	3	58.00	1/27	6.69	52.00

Performance review: Very poor effort from a bowler who squeezed past Sreesanth in the race to the final fifteen for the World Cup. Nehra did very little to justify his World Cup selection. On helpful wickets where other lefties like Zaheer and Tsotsobe were getting it spot on, Nehra failed miserably. What is making matters worse for Nehra is his inability to stand up to face pressure situations

Sachin Tendulkar

Matches	Runs	Highest	Average	100s	50s
2	31	24	15.50	0	0

Performance review: Very out of sorts in the brief period he was present out in the middle. While it will be very difficult and absurd to assess a player of Sachin's stature based on just two outings, it definitely is still a worry. For India's chances to brighten, Sachin needs to get back to prime fitness and also spend enough time out in the middle during the group stages. Qualifying for the last eight is not a difficult proposition for team India but winning three matches on the trot after that would need the Master to be at his very best

Parthiv Patel

Matches	Runs	Highest	Average	100s	50s
2	49	38	24.50	0	0

Performance review: He briefly attempted to give an impression that he was a better bet than Dhoni given recent form. Parthiv looked solid with the bat under testing conditions in the final ODI. Exactly what Dhoni hasn't been doing. But then, for Parthiv, it was a case of nothing to lose as he anyway doesn't figure in the World Cup squad

Piyush Chawla

Matches	Runs	Wickets	Batting Average	Bowling average	Bowling economy rate
1	8	0	8.00	-	4.57

Performance review: he is the 15th member in the World Cup squad and even now most of us are wondering why he made it to the squad. Just played one match and looked pedestrian at best. Harsh to be over-critical without giving him chances but certainly, the Indian selection think-tank need to decide what to do with him during the mega even

Image source: AFP, AP
Source: India Syndicate