Monday, February 1, 2016

The Fantastico 4 who made 3-0 Possible in Australia

The Indians inflicted a rare whitewash on the Australian Team in the T20I series by defeating them 3-0 in the process climbing to the top of the ICC T20I Rankings. This was a perfect start for Team India as they play T20I's against Sri Lanka and the T20I Asia Cup in the prelude the bigger picture of hosting the ICC WT20 in March-April 2016.

The Fantastico 4 who made this victory possible!

Rohit Sharma

He gave a good start to the Indians in all the three matches and with Shikhar Dhawan out of sorts, it was Rohit who gave India the push that helped them achieve big totals in all the three matches. With scores of 31, 60 and 52 he was the rock at the top of the order and together with Kohli laid the foundation for all 3 Indian victories. Rohit was the rock at the top who took on the fearsome Tait and also held steady after India lost Dhawan early.

Virat Kohli

He was the star batsman scoring 199 runs in 3 innings while getting out only once. His scores of 90*, 59* and 50 ensured that India posted two huge totals for the Australians to chase at Adelaide and Melbourne while his 50 at Sydney held the middle order together in the third T20I. He was also a panther in the field except one blemish in the last T20I where he dropped Watson in the deep. He was the Man of the Series and played the biggest part in Team India's win over Australia.

Jasprit Bumrah

Bumrah picked up 6 wickets in the three matches at a strike rate of 11.5. Although his economy rate of almost 9 was on the higher side but he was exceptional in the death overs with his accurate searing yorkers. It was his 3-23 in Adelaide that turned the tide in India's favour after the Aussie openers had got off to a rapid start. He was the young star that was discovered by India and he will surely be one to watch out for in the near future.

Ravindra Jadeja

Jadeja picked up 5 wickets in the three matches and it was he who put the screws in the middle overs and strangled the life out of the Aussie middle order. His economy rate of less than 8 is also very good considering that almost 200 runs were scored in all the three matches. He was the best Indian fielder on display making several sprawling saves in the outfield while also plucking catches out of the thin air.

There were other players who played their part in India's victory like Suresh Raina who guided the Indian chase in the final T20I and R Ashwin who was brilliant in patches but the above mentioned Fantastico 4 had the greatest combined impact on the T20I series sweep that India achieved.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

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