India slumped to a 2-1 T20I series defeat to Australia after winning the opening match of the series. It’s their second consecutive T20I series defeat at home after they lost to England last month. Here are the player ratings for the home side from the Australia series.
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Shafali Verma – 6
3 matches, 91 runs at 45.50, SR: 135.82, HS: 64*
Verma starred with the bat in India’s opening win of the series, putting on a 137-run partnership with Smriti Mandhana and finishing the chase unbeaten. However, she managed just one run from six balls in the second game before she was pinned LBW by Kim Garth, and was out after making a fast start in the final match of the series. Having struggled with inconsistency throughout the last year in the T20I format, she’s started 2024 in a similar vein.
Smriti Mandhana – 7
3 matches, 106 runs at 35.33, SR: 100.00, HS: 54
A half-century in the first match of the series for Mandhana and a couple of starts in the following two games. She finishes the series as India’s leading run-scorer, but found limited support from the rest of the batting order.
Richa Ghosh – 7
3 matches 57 runs at 28.50, SR: 121.27, HS: 34
Ghosh made starts in the two innings she was required to bat in but is still searching for her maiden T20I half-century. She top scored in the final T20I of the series and managed to get India up to a total they could hope to defend, hitting Georgia Wareham and Ash Gardner for 80-plus metre sixes. She was also tidy behind the stumps.
Deepti Sharma – 7
3 matches, 5 wickets at 15.60, ER: 6.50, BBI: 2-22
44 runs at 22.00, SR: 97.77, HS: 30
Sharma finishes the series as the leading wicket-taker for India. During the series, she became the first India women’s player to pass 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in T20Is. In the second game, she picked up the crucial wickets of both Australia openers and top scored with the bat, scoring 30 before she was run out off the final ball of the innings.
Amanjot Kaur – 4
3 matches, 1 wicket at 42.00, ER: 10.50, BBI: 1-23
21 runs at 21.00, SR: 131.25, HS: 17*
Given a full series in the side, Kaur struggled to make a meaningful impact with the ball. She picked up her only wicket of the series in the first match where she conceded more than 11 runs and over. She then leaked 19 runs off her two overs in the second game without picking up a wicket and wasn’t handed the ball in the final match. A cameo of 17* off 14 balls in that match was a notable contribution in getting India up to near 150.
Pooja Vastrakar – 6
3 matches, 3 wickets at 20.66, ER: 8.08, BBI: 2-26
16 runs at 16.00, SR: 114.28, HS: 9
After an expensive and wicketless first outing, Vastrakar picked up the pace in the second match, taking 1-8 from two overs. She was the pick of India’s bowlers in the final match of the series, dismissing Tahlia McGrath and Ellyse Perry in consecutive balls.
Jemimah Rodrigues – 4
3 matches, 21 runs at 10.50, SR: 77.77, HS: 13
Despite an impressive ODI series, Rodrigues form didn’t translate into the shorter format. Her top score of the series was 13, having scored the winning runs in the first T20I, finishing on 6 not out. Her wicket for just two runs in the final game triggered a collapse which saw India lose three wickets for six runs.
Harmanpreet Kaur – 1
3 matches, 9 runs at 4.50, SR: 50.00, HS: 6
Kaur hasn’t made it into double figures in any innings of any format against Australia on this tour. She wasn’t required to bat in India’s opening victory and followed with scores of six and three in their following losses. Not only did she fail to perform with the bat, she generated unnecessary headlines by publicly criticising Shreyanka Patil’s penultimate over in the second game during her post match interview.
Shreyanka Patil – 4
3 matches, 3 wickets at 29.66, ER: 7.85, BBI: 2-19
Patil put in a solid performance in the first match, taking 2-19 off 3.5 overs, bowling well at the tail in particular. However, with Australia needing 15 off the final two overs in the second game, Patil conceded 17 off the 19th over, Phoebe Litchfield taking her for two fours before Perry finished the game with a six. Both the boundaries she conceded to Litchfield came off full tosses.
Renuka Singh Thakur – 5
3 matches, 1 wicket at 81.00, ER: 6.75, BBI: 1-24
After a successful cross-format series against England, Thakur didn’t replicate the same results against Australia. Her only wicket of the series came in the first game, and while she bowled tightly thereafter, she didn’t make the breakthroughs needed to keep on top of the Australia batting lineup.
Titas Sadhu – 6
3 matches, 4 wickets at 15.25, ER: 6.10, BBI: 4-17
Sadhu put in a brilliant performance in the first match, taking 4-17 and earning the Player of the Match award. She dismissed McGrath and Ash Gardner within three balls of her second over having already snared Beth Mooney in her first. However, she went wicketless in the other two matches.
