Team India’s report card: Shubman Gill 10/10, Rohit Sharma ?/10 after Nagpur failure

The Indian team continued their shine in white-ball series vs England, as after their 4-1 victory in the T20Is, they started the ODIs with a bang too, as they beat visitors in Nagpur by .. wickets. In a match where ex-India skipper wasn’t played due to a knee injury, his presence was certainly not missed, as there were great performances in plenty.

InsideSport rates all the individual XI players, based on their performances in the 1st ODI on Thursday.

Something seems to be seriously wrong with the captain. He is just trying too hard with the bat, and is falling to poor shots again-and-again. After being set a modest target of 248, Rohit could not remain patient, and gifted his wicket to Saqib Mahmood. He got out for 2 from 7, playing a poor shot.

Yashasvi Jaiswal – 3/10

Despite being a seasoned pro for India already, Yashasvi Jaiswal made his debut in Nagpur, but it wasn’t a very memorable one. He was dismissed for 15 from 22, where he struck three boundaries. He unnecessarily poked at a delivery outside off, as Archer set him up beautifully. Having said that, he took a stunning, backward-running catch to get rid of Ben Duckett.

Shubman Gill – 10/10

Coming in to bat at number 3, Gill aced his position as he led India across the line in the run-chase. The Indian vice-captain showed great patience en route his 87-run knock that was studded with 14 boundaries. In no manner did Gill look like he was in a hurry in Nagpur as he patiently went about his innings, playing primarlily as anchor to aggressor Shreys Iyer and from then on taking the resposibility to complete the run-chase for India.

Shreyas Iyer – 8.5/10

For whatever time Shreyas Iyer was out of the Indian team, across formats, it was a loss to the Indian team. When India was down at 19/2, the middle-order batter counter-attacked with a stunning innings of 59 from 36. That was enough to instill the belief in the team, that they would win from there on. He was dismissed while attempting a sweep on Jacob Bethell.

Axar Patel – 8/10

Despite his spell of 1/38, Axar redeemed himslef with the bat in IND vs ENG 1st ODI. The southpaw, who ws promoted to number 5, smashed 52 off 42 deliveries as he helped the hosts chase down the 249-run target in no time. Coming ahead of the likes of KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya and Jadeja, Patel did extremely well to keep his calm and ensure that Inida continued piling up runs.

Hardik Pandya – 5/10

India’s MVP, Pandya didn’t have much to do in the match, but then he just about did the job with the ball in hand. While there were no wickets to show against his name, he was instrumental in lowering the scoring rate. In 7 overs he gave away 37 runs, and this was his 1st ODI after his injury in the World Cup 2023.

Ravindra Jadeja – 8/10

This man is a certain genius, and that must be reminded to one and all, again. When England batters were going at over 7 rpo, he came in and put brakes on the scoring rate. Not just that, he returned with figures of 3/26 in his 9 overs. He combined well with other spinner Axar Patel.

Harshit Rana – 7.5/10

For a bowler to come in with a tag of a replacement players, and then go on to perform, is mighty difficult. But Harshit showed why he is a special find for the Indians. After going for 26 in an over by Phil Salt, the pacer returned with figures of 3/53 in 7 overs. All this, on his debut, which is a big achievement.

Kuldeep Yadav – 3.5/10

After making a comeback post a hernia surgery, the chinaman bowler looked a little rusty in the ODI. He did bowl well in patches, but wasn’t as effective, as he is usually. He bagged 1/53 in his 9.4 overs; that only shows, he largely struggled to find his groove. But this series will be a good chance for him to get into some rhythm.

Mohammed Shami – 5/10

Still early days to be talking about Shami’s performances, but he had an average outing against England. He bagged 1/38 in his 8 overs.. but what was lacking is, his rhythmic run up. His seam position was excellent as usual, but something is still missing.

*KL Rahul didn’t get an opportunity bat in the match.