Team India had a disappointing outing in the 2021 T20 World Cup. The team that was being considered as the undisputed favourites to win the tournament, could not even make it to the semi-finals and caused hands down the biggest upset of the year.
It all started with an unexpected loss against Pakistan in the super intense match. All the hype that the Indian fans had created with the ‘Mauka Mauka’ chants went down the drain after Pakistan thrashed the blues by 10 wickets, the biggest ever in an India-Pakistan match. Definitely heartbreaking for the Indian fans but more was yet to come.
In the following match against New Zealand, they suffered yet another crushing defeat which more or less ended their hopes of qualifying in the Semi finals and it became a reality when Afghanistan lost to the Kiwis two days back.
This was a reality check for the Indian fans indeed but hope is not lost yet. The 2022 T20 World Cup is at a year’s gap and the Blues can still pull off an epic comeback in the same. But for that to be possible, we have to analyse our mistakes and learn from them.
For that, let us take a dive deep into the performance of the Indian players in the T20 World Cup and rate them accordingly.
- Rohit Sharma (8/10) – After a series of disappointing performances in the first two matches, the Hitman finally made a sensational comeback in India’s third match against Afghanistan. He in fact became India’s second highest run-scorer in the T20 World Cup 2021 with 174 runs in just 5 matches.
- KL Rahul (8.5/10) – Just like Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul too had a slow start in the tournament. He too struggled in the first two matches against Pakistan and New Zealand respectively but then came back with a bang. His quickfire 18-balls 50 against Scotland helped India achieve the best net run rate in Group 2 but that ultimately went in vain as New Zealand won against Afghanistan. Rahul was the highest run-scorer of Team India. He scored 194 runs in 5 innings.
- Virat Kohli (7/10) – Virat Kohli was India’s lone warrior in the match against Pakistan. When all the other players fell down, he alone made sure that India reached a respectable score. He then failed to do well against New Zealand and never got a chance to bat ever after in the Tournament. However, if we judge him based on his captaincy, we sadly cannot give him much points.
- Suryakumar Yadav (4/10) – After a not-so-good performance in the first match against Pakistan, Sky was dropped in the next match against New Zealand and Ishan Kishan replaced him. But the latter’s horrible display made sure that Suryakumar Yadav makes his way back into the team and he did pretty well in the remaining matches.
- Rishabh Pant (5/10) – If the 2021 T20 World Cup confirmed anything, it is Rishabh Pant’s position in India’s Playing XI across the formats. He was decently good in both batting and wicket-keeping and if compared with Ishan Kishan, he was simply outstanding.
- Ishan Kishan (0/10) – Simply disappointing. Not much to judge him on as he played only one match against New Zealand and in that match too, he scored just 4 runs.
- Hardik Pandya (4/10) – He is one player whose inclusion in the Team was constantly being questioned. It was a known fact that Hardik Pandya was not going to bowl in the T20 World Cup and the fact that he was selected irrespective of it, baffled critics. He played one good innings against Afghanistan but apart from that, his contribution to the team was non-existent.
- Ravindra Jadeja (9/10) – Probably the best performer of team India in the 2021 T20 World Cup. Jaddu has turned himself into the most consistent player of the Indian Cricket Team lately and he is a must have for the blues. Alongside Jasprit Bumrah, he was the highest wicket-taker of Team India and with the bat as well, he was very responsible.
- Ravichandran Ashwin (9/10) – The surprise element of the 2021 T20 World Cup, Ravichandran Ashwin proved to the National selectors that they had made a big mistake by keeping him out of the T20 Squad. Surprisingly enough, he picked up 6 wickets in the 3 matches that he played and was the second highest wicket-taker of Team India.
- Jasprit Bumrah (8.5/10) – Undoubtedly the best bowler that India currently have and he proved it once again. After a poor performance in the first match, Bumrah bounced back in the second match against New Zealand and was spot on ever since.
- Varun Chakravarthy (2/10) – A lot was expected of him but he simply could not live up to the expectations. His form was nothing like what he had maintained in the Indian Premier League and he was too costly without picking up many wickets.
- Rahul Chahar (1/10) – Not much to judge on as he played only the last match against Namibia. He did not pick up any wicket in that match and was India’s most costly bowler.
- Mohammad Shami (7/10) – Mohammad Shami was subject to much criticism after the India vs Pakistan match but he showed his calibre from the second match onwards. Shami picked up 6 wickets in the 5 matches that he played in.
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/10) – Again, not much to judge on as he played only one match against Pakistan in which he was extremely poor. This is probably the end of Bhuvi’s reign in the Indian T20 team.
- Shardul Thakur (2/10) – When Bhuvi failed, the plan was to bring in Shardul Thakur who would act as an extra batsman as well. But Shardul failed in both departments and was only decent.
