Last Updated on 6 years by Charbel Coorey
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| Image credit: Getty Images |
For the second time in a row, an Australia-India T20I series ended in a 1-1 draw.
The last one was in India, and this one felt the same, with seas of blue at Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. The fans didn’t end up disappointed, with the Indians picking up a deserved victory in the final game. To be fair, Australia can’t be disappointed either, with the Melbourne game perhaps a lucky escape where India had the upper hand.
I said I’ll take another 1-1 series draw before the series started, and I stick by it against a good Indian side. The key difference was India stuck to the basics, whereas Australia tried to be too fancy. In this article, I will look at each player in this series and put forward a light-hearted review. Each player will be put under the microscope and rated out of ten.
As always, feel free to leave a comment!
Australia
Aaron Finch: Take us back to Zimbabwe. Finchy hasn’t quite hit his straps since then, and Australia hopes that he will in the upcoming Tests. 5
D’Arcy Short: Put him in a Hobart Hurricanes jersey when he plays for Australia. 4
Chris Lynn: Put him in a Brisbane Heat jersey when he plays for Australia. Some fine moments at the Gabba, but like his Australian career, not sustained for long enough. Was sent in much later at Sydney. 5
Glenn Maxwell: Excellent with the bat in the first game, and excellent with the ball in the last. Not a great deal in between. Needs more consistency, otherwise his name might need to be changed to the ‘Part Time Show’. 6.5
Alex Carey: Knocked the bails off in Brisbane and thought the batsman hit wicket. Was he being elite honest? Looked decent with the bat in the final game, and will continue to be a key player for Australia as the new Vice-Captain. Full of composure, Carey is set for big things. 5
Ben McDermott: Didn’t get run out once. Extraordinary. Looked in fine touch in Melbourne to get Australia to some semblance of respectability. Disappointing golden duck to finish the series. 5
AJ Tye: A steady economy rate of 11.85. As many boundaries conceded as Mr. Tye has variations. A yorker or two would help. 3
Adam Zampa: Australia’s best performer this series. Will the selectors finally get the message that he needs to be the first spinner picked for white-ball cricket? Stick with him like you do with a few batsmen in this side… 8
Jason Behrendorff: Mighty unlucky to be kept out of the side for the final T20I. The Andrew Tye obsession in full flow. Expensive in the first game, but he is a player that can deliver the goods, as he showed in India last year. 2
Billy Stanlake: Everyone loves big Billy. Everyone feels down when big Billy gets hurt. Will continue to offer a good edge to Australia’s T20 attack. Just the one game. 3
Nathan Coulter-Nile: “Anything AJ Tye can do, I can do better”, said Coulter-Nile after the Sydney game. Three overs for 40 in Sydney – his only overs for the series. Good with the bat, though. 2
Mitchell Starc: Brought in for the final game, and bowled well. Finding his rhythm is Starc. Gave us a brilliant laugh after the game, too! 6
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| Mitchell Starc’s best ever delivery? |
India:
Rohit Sharma: *Insert West Indies and Sri Lanka joke here*. 3
Shikhar Dhawan: Superb. Surprisingly didn’t fire against the Windies recently in eight white-ball matches at home, but he was on fire in this series. Will be dreaming about Nathan Coulter-Nile tonight. 9
KL Rahul: In breaking news, KL Rahul has replaced Internet Explorer as the slowest thing in the world. Not a series for the strike rate for Mr. Rahul… Also missed a key run out in the first match. 2
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| Not the best series for KL Rahul. |
Virat Kohli: To all India fans, cherish and appreciate Virat Kohli. Sure, he can make some errors tactically as captain, but he is the master of the run chase. India were in control in Sydney as long as Kohli was there. Superb comeback after a tough night in Brisbane. Were the Virat Kohli detractors nervous about him getting out in the third T20I? I bet they were. 7
Rishabh Pant: Two dismissals softer than my sleeping pillow. Disappointing from a powerful player. 3
Dinesh Karthik: The killer. Killed the nagin dance in the Nidahas Trophy in March, and then helped kill Australia’s hopes of a first T20I series win over India. Excellent series. 8
Krunal Pandya: Tough first game, superb next two games. Man of the match in Sydney. 7.5
Kuldeep Yadav: Bet the Australians would rather read a boring book than trying to read Kuldeep Yadav. Absolutely brilliant in all three matches. Economy rate of just 5.50 with four wickets. 8.5
Bhuvneshwar Kumar: 2/68 in 10 overs for the series are figures not surprising for Bhuvneshwar. Steady for the most part. Excellent in Melbourne. 6
Jasprit Bumrah: The best white ball bowler in the world. Everyone has a tough day, which was Sydney for Bumrah. Don’t @ me. 7
Khaleel Ahmed: Memorable wicket celebrations. Not so memorable economy rate. Lots of promise with this guy, though. 6.5
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An exciting series comes to an end.
As always, and Australia-India series provides plenty to be excited about. Hope you enjoyed this piece, with a few laughs.
Time to bring on the Tests!
Thanks for reading!
