India completed an unprecedented 5-1 ODI thrashing of South Africa in their own backyard in style with a eight-wicket victory in the final match at Centurion.
The Men in Blue romped away to a maiden series triumph in South Africa on the back of another Virat Kohli century on Friday.
Bar the defeat in the fourth ODI, the visitors have beaten the Proteas in comprehensive fashion over the course of the series.
Here, we look at the player report card of Kohli’s men after their historic feat.
SHIKHAR DHAWAN – 8/10
The opening batsmen finished as the second highest run-getter in the series behind his skipper with 323 runs in six innings at an average of 64.6. Dhawan continued with his trend of playing well against the Proteas with a century and two fifties in the series and his contributions at the top order along with Kohli’s was one of the reasons for India’s dominance.
ROHIT SHARMA – 6/10
While the India deputy skipper’s 115 in the penultimate match remains fresh in the mind, it is not east to ignore that he has had a dismal series otherwise. His scores in the remainder of the matches read 20, 15, 0, 5 and 15, a far-cry from his remarkable and consistent 2016. His century has in fact been the only redeeming factor in an otherwise lean tour.
VIRAT KOHLI – 10/10
Simply faultless. There are just no barriers that the Indian skipper cannot pass. He finished the series in style with his 35th ODI ton and third of the series, aggregating 558 in the six matches at a staggering average of 186. It was the first time that an Indian batsman has crossed the 500-run mark in a bilateral series. At this rate, Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 51 centuries will be broken in no time.
There are simply no adjectives left to describe Kohli.
AJINKYA RAHANE – 6/10
The middle-order batsman’s series started in fine fashion with a well made 76 in the first ODI. However, it was as good as it got for Rahane whose form took a dip in the matches to follow before regaining it somewhat with a fine unbeaten 34 in the final ODI.
SHREYAS IYER – 5/10
A poor series for the young man. He failed to find a big knock in his limited outings and was guilty of dropping a fair amount of catches in the outfield. With the number four spot still seemingly up for grabs, the youngster might rue not making more from his opportunity in South Africa.
Iyer failed to make the most of his chances.
KEDAR JADHAV – 5/10
Jadhav played three matches in the series though his batting skills were required only one occasion, where he ended up scoring just the one run. Bowled some part-time off spin but his series was cut short by an injury.
MS DHONI – 7/10
The wicketkeeper-batsman became only the third man in ODI history to effect 600 dismissals and his glove work behind the stumps remains as sharp as ever. His only downside, has been his batting lower down the order where his low strike-rate is starting to become a problem.
Dhoni’s glove-work remains top notch.
HARDIK PANDYA – 6/10
Pandya remains an enigma. He was largely ineffective in the first half of the series before turning up with a match-winning performance in the series clincher for India at Port Elizabeth. The all-rounder will want to add some consistency in his performances.
KULDEEP YADAV – 9/10
Some series from one component of India’s wrist spin-twins. The youngster finished as the highest wicket-taker in the series with 17 scalps and had the Proteas batsmen bamboozled with his variations all throughout. The hosts were still finding it hard to pick him in the final ODI which tells you all you need to know about his series.
Kuldeep is fast developing a fearsome reputation.
YUZVENDRA CHAHAL – 9/10
The senior figure in the spin-twins had an equally stupendous series as he fetched 16 wickets with his leg-spin. He had the one bad game in Johannesburg but was otherwise on the money for most of the series. His partnership with Kuldeep was one the most important factors of India’s triumph.
JASPRIT BUMRAH – 8/10
The Mumbai-pacer showed why is he is considered one of the best bowlers in the limited-overs format. He finished as the highest wicket-taker among all pacers and was equally effective at the start as well as in the death overs.
BHUVNESHWAR KUMAR – 6/10
The senior Indian pacer seems to have been suffering from fatigue by the time the series concluded. He picked up only two wickets in the entire series and was showing signs of struggling with his fitness towards the end. Needs a well deserved rest at this point.
The pacer was off colour in the series after looking excellent in the Tests.
SHARDUL THAKUR – 7/10
The young pacer played just the one ODI, the final game, where he finished with a four-wicket haul. His 4-52 are his best figures in his three-match old ODI career so far.
Did not feature – Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel.
