World T20 Report Card: Kohli, Ashwin top the class; Yuvraj fails

India may have finished second best to Sri Lanka in the World T20 final but the team’s surprising run to the finals had plenty to celebrate. Virat Kohli was the obvious star with the bat while R Ashwin’s return to form and Amit Mishra’s emergence gave the bowling attack some bite in conditions that suited spin. There were some lows too, of course and Firstpost has handed out marks for the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. Virat Kohli (319 runs, 106.33 Avg, 129.14 Sr) 9/10 Virat Kohli is in the form of his life. In the World T20, he showed why he is one of the best in limited-overs internationals as he piled on runs at will. He was unstoppable and with 319 runs from six matches, he surpassed Tillakaratne Dilshan (317) to register the most runs in a single World T20. With four fifty-plus scores, he also equaled Mathew Hayden’s record of most fifties in a single edition of the tournament. The only game in which he failed to score significantly was against Australia, where he scored 23. [caption id=“attachment_1469671” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The good and the bad of India’s World T20 campaign. Getty Images[/caption] R Ashwin (11 wickets, 11.27 Avg, 5.35 Econ) 8.5/10 Ashwin was the bowler of the tournament for India. With 11 wickets from 6 matches, he ended up as the joint second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament. He choked the batsmen with his clever variations and was Dhoni’s go to man during crucial junctures. He bowled frugal spells while opening the bowling and also in the middle overs which built tremendous pressure. His brilliant spell of 4/11 helped India outclass Australia and earned him his second Man of the Match award. And then there was the small matter of the ‘T20 ball of the century’ to Hashim Amla. Amit Mishra (10 wickets, 14.70 Avg, 6.68 Econ) 8/10 Mishra set the tone for India in the tournament with two Man of the Match awards in the first two matches, against Pakistan and West Indies. He troubled the batsmen with his drift and astute googlies. He was the third-highest wicket-taker with 10 wickets from 6 matches. However, he appeared to let the pressure get to him in the semi-final and final and was not as effective, taking just one wicket from the two matches and conceding 68 runs from 7 overs. MS Dhoni (50 runs, 50 Avg, 125 Sr) 8/10 India came into the tournament with a cloud around the team on and off the field. There was questions raised about Dhoni’s integrity in the Indian Supreme Court. Through it all Dhoni kept going, marshaling his resources and taking India to a third World Cup final under his leadership. He was flexible – dropping Shikhar Dhawan and Mohammad Shami half-way through the tournament – and unusually aggressive, asking Amit Mishra to give the ball air and keeping a slip in place even in the later overs. He was perhaps too loyal to Yuvraj Singh but that was an understandable mistake, even if it might have cost India another World Cup. There wasn’t much needed for Dhoni’s bat through the tournament but when he was pressed into service, he was gracious enough to allow Virat Kohli to hit the winning runs in the semi-final. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4 wickets, 25.75 Avg, 5.42 Econ) 7/10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar was really good with the new ball and often troubled the batsmen with his swing. Among the fast bowlers, he had the best economy rate - 5.42 - and kept things tight often early on, which was beneficial for the spinners from the other end. Suresh Raina (63 runs, 31.50 Avg, 128.57 Sr) 6.5/10 Though he did not get many chances to bat, he looked impressive when he did. Against Pakistan he made sure that he finished off the match with a fine 28-ball 35 and against South Africa in the semi-final, he came in at a tricky situation and released the pressure with a breezy 21 off 15 balls as India chased down 173. He performed decently with the ball too and scalped the wicket of Mahela Jayawardene in the final. Rohit Sharma (200 Runs, 40 avg, 123.45 Sr) 5/10 Rohit Sharma had a decent tournament. The talented opener came into the tournament on the back of some poor form. But he quickly got into the groove and was instrumental in providing good starts up the order. He hit back-to back fifties against West Indies and Bangladesh. Chasing a daunting target against South Africa in the semi-final, he along with Ajinkya Rahane provided a decent start(39 from 3.4 overs). He was on course for a good innings in the final against Sri Lanka but departed at a crucial juncture for 29. Still too inconsistent. Ravindra Jadeja (3 runs, 3 Avg and 5 wickets, 28.00 Avg, 7.36 Econ) 3/10 Jadeja didn’t get a chance to contribute with the bat but his bowling disappointed. He wasn’t able to adapt to the conditions as well as Ashwin as Mishra did, often bowling too quickly. He leaked runs at 7.36 runs per over and more often lifted the pressure on opposing batsmen. Mohit Sharma (2 wickets, 31.50 Avg, 9 Econ) 3/10 Mohit’s excellent game against Australia, when he came in as a replacement for Mohammad Shami, won him a place in the semis and finals, but he failed to deliver. In conditions which should have suited his wicket-to-wicket bowling, he struggled and was expensive without looking like taking wickets. Ajinkya Rahane (54 runs, 18 Avg, 100 Sr) 3/10 Having come in half-way through the tournament, Rahane gave India a good start in the semi-finals against South Africa but that was sandwiched by two less convincing outings. He seems to believe he can’t play his natural game in this format and tries too many things, which has led to inconsistency. Yuvraj Singh (100 runs, 20.00 Avg, 98.03 Sr) 2/10 This is the one tournament Yuvraj would like to forget. He had a horror time and looked all at sea. He could garner just 100 runs from five innings. After failures in his first two innings, he provided some hope of a return to form with a 43-ball 61 against Australia. But he had the worst time of the tournament in the finals against Sri Lanka. Virat Kohli was going great guns at one end but Yuvraj sucked all the momentum as he failed to rotate the strike and struggled to even make contact with the ball. His 11 off 21 balls in the finals against Sri Lanka might be one of his worst innings every in a major final from a key player. Shikhar Dhawan (31 runs, 10.33 Avg, 83.78 Sr) 2/10 Dhawan made a useful 30 against Pakistan but that was followed by scores of 0 and 1 and a stay on the bench for the rest of the tournament. Has struggled for consistently in recent times as bowlers have worked out that he can play rash shots if he is tried down in the early going. Mohammad Shami (2 wickets, 43.50 Avg, 8.70 Econ) 1/10 The worst of India’s frontline bowlers in the tournament, Shami was rightly dropped after three games. He wasn’t able to find the right line or length for the low and slow pitches in Bangladesh and possibly just needed a rest after playing so much cricket.