New Zealand defeated India by eight wickets in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at Southampton’s Rose Bowl on Wednesday.
The contest was heading towards a draw when Virat Kohli & Co. faltered on the sixth day, making way for the Kiwis to chase a meagre 139.
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson and middle-order batter Ross Taylor put up a formidable show to help their side cross the finish line.
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra on his Youtube channel, evaluated the dismal performance by Indian cricketers and gave them ratings.
Chopra started the assessment with the openers and proceeded in order of their batting line-up. The 43-year-old gave veteran cricketer Rohit Sharma 6 out of 10 and reasoned that the latter had faced the new ball in English conditions, which was one of the toughest things to do.
Coming to youngster Shubman Gill, Chopra pointed out that the 21-year-old had assisted Rohit during the first innings but got out early in the next. Hence, Chopra gave Gill only four points out of 10.
“I will give Rohit 6/10. He got starts in both innings. I will say the glass is half full because Rohit saw off the new ball in both innings, the most difficult thing in SENA countries. Shubman Gill helped Rohit Sharma in the first innings but got out early in the second innings. Just 4/10,” stated Chopra.
The Agra-born then rated Cheteshwar Pujara and revealed that he’s disappointed with the latter’s performance. Chopra graded Pujara lowly by giving him only two rating points.
“His batting in both innings, you expect more runs from Cheteshwar. In this game, I am going 2/10,” Chopra enunciated.
Moving on, the cricketer-turned-commentator valued Kohli and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane at five points. The duo had built a sturdy partnership in the first innings.
Chopra priced wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant at a score of five since he had made crucial 41 runs in the second innings while trying to do some recovery work.
The former Delhi cricketer gauged all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja’s performance with both bat and the ball and gave him only three points.
While Chopra gave off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin 6 points, he was particularly impressed with pacers Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami and classed them with six and seven points.
For Jasprit Bumrah’s poor show, Chopra gave him only three points.
Final report card of India’s playing XI during the WTC final by Aakash Chopra:
- Rohit Sharma (6/10)
- Shubman Gill (4/10)
- Cheteshwar Pujara (2/10)
- Virat Kohli (5/10)
- Ajinkya Rahane (5/10)
- Rishabh Pant (5/10)
- Ravindra Jadeja (3/10)
- Ravichandran Ashwin (6/10)
- Ishant Sharma (6/10)
- Mohammed Shami (7/10)
- Jasprit Bumrah (3/10)
