India defeated South Africa 2-1 in the three-match ODI series, and here is how the 13 Indian players fared.
Ishan Kishan: 6/10
119 runs @ 41, HS: 88.48, SR: 88.48
Kishan started off with a 37-ball 20, but bounced back strongly in the next clash with a belligerent 93 as India chased down 279 with ease. He had another failure in Delhi but has done enough to tilt the series India’s way.
Shreyas Iyer: 9.5/10
191 runs @ 191, HS: 113*, SR: 111.69
Iyer finished with the most runs in the series and proved why ODIs are his best format. He looked at ease against both pace and spin, and continued with his remarkable form, with scores of 50, 113 and an unbeaten 23-ball 28.
Ruturaj Gaikwad: 2/10
19 runs @ 19, SR: 45.23
Gaikwad made his debut in the first ODI but did not have a memorable outing, taking 42 balls for his 19. His slow innings piled the pressure on the rest of the batters, and India eventually lost by nine runs.
Shubman Gill: 4.5/10
80 runs @ 26.66, HS: 49, SR: 88.88
Gill looked in fine touch at Ranchi but failed to convert his start to a big score: he fell for a 26-ball 28. He stuck around in Delhi but missed out on his fifty, getting dismissed when India needed three for a win.
Shikhar Dhawan: 2/10
25 runs @ 8.33, HS: 13, SR: 50
Dhawan failed to get going with the bat, struggling for timing throughout the series. He started with a 16-ball four, and did not pick up pace thereafter. He gets points for captaincy, especially based on his use of Kuldeep Yadav against Aiden Markram and opening bowling with Washington Sundar against Quinton de Kock.
Sanju Samson: 7/10
116 runs, HS: 86*, SR: 117.17
Every time Samson takes the field and does well, the only question that does the round is why he has not been given a longer rope at the level. He scored an unbeaten 86 in Lucknow, fighting till the end as India lost a close game. However, his insistence on running a second run in the penultimate over gave Avesh Khan back the strike, which potentially cost India the match. He loses a point for that.
Shardul Thakur: 4/10
3 wickets @ 26.33, BBI: 2-35, ER: 5.26
33 runs @ 33, HS: 33, SR: 106.45
Thakur batted once, in Lucknow, and played a crucial knock after India were struggling in their run chase. With the ball, he continued his habit of picking up crucial wickets in the middle overs.
Avesh Khan: 3/10
0 wickets, ER: 4.70
Avesh conceded more than 50 in the first game and came under the scanner for failing to give the strike to Samson in a tight chase, a move that potentially cost India the match. However, though he did not pick up a wicket, his efforts of 0-35 and 0-8 (in five overs) helped pile on the pressure in the last two matches.
Kuldeep Yadav: 9/10
6 wickets @ 17.66, BBI: 4-18, ER: 5.00
Kuldeep showed glimpses of his former self, getting the ball to grip, his googlies making things tough for the South Africans. He got Markram in Lucknow with a beauty and picked up a four wickets in Delhi, the first time in three years that he scalped three or more wickets in international cricket.
Ravi Bishnoi: 1/10
1 wicket @ 69, BBI: 1-69, ER: 8.6
Bishnoi was the most expensive India bowler in the first ODI – his debut game – on a ground that had plenty of assistance for the spinners. No other bowler in the game from the country gave away more than 6.50 an over.
Shahbaz Ahmed: 6/10
3 wickets @ 28.66, BBI: 2-32, ER: 5.05
Shahbaz showed little signs of nerve on debut, in Ranchi. He picked up his first wicket in his fourth over, trapping Janneman Malan lbw, but finished with 10-0-54-1. He improved on that in Delhi, grabbing 2-32 in seven overs, including the big wicket of Markram.
Washington Sundar: 4.5/10
3 wickets @ 25, BBI: 2-15, ER: 5.76
Sundar opened the bowling in both games that he played. He gave away 60 runs in nine overs at Ranchi and then bowled only four overs in the third ODI.
Mohammed Siraj: 8.5/10
5 wickets @ 20.80, BBI: 3-38, ER: 4.52
Siraj was India’s most economical bowler, troubling batters with both his lengths and his bouncers. One of Jasprit Bumrah’s potential replacements in the T20 World Cup squad, he bowled brilliantly in the powerplay and the death, but his poor fielding sees him lose points.
