The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Yuvraj tops the report card

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 17, 2006

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Sport - Cricket

Yuvraj tops the report card

1. Yuvraj Singh: Fantastic all-round performance. Emerged as a very mature cricketer; batted well; hit the only century of the series; took some stunning catches and bowled with guile, got Kevin Pietersen thrice. An asset to the side.

2. Irfan Pathan: His early breakthroughs hit the opposition hard. Provided momentum and stability to the batting.

3. Rahul Dravid: Emerged a confident man at the helm. Decision to open highlighted his leadership qualities; got the best out of the young players.

4. Suresh Raina: Came of age as a one-day player. Played the winning role in one match and guided in two more. Played crucial knocks and was brilliant in the field.

5. Ramesh Powar: Bowled better than expected; batted better than expected. Added to the options in bowling and proved an able replacement for Murali Kartik.

6. M.S. Dhoni: Did not get to bat higher up except once but showed maturity by batting according to the situation; competent behind the stumps; key man in the scheme of things.

7. Harbhajan Singh: Began with five wickets when under pressure. Bowled admirably. Looked a far more confident bowler than in Tests.

8. S. Sreesanth: Only the fourth Indian to take six wickets in a one-day match; made sound progress and impressed with his aggressive attitude; ability to take wickets on placid tracks a strong point.

9. Robin Uthappa: Brilliant debut to grab the opportunity and create selection problems; appears a long term prospect and should learn from the silly run out.

10. Dinesh Kaarthick: Played only one match but was outstanding behind the stumps. Took two superb catches and established himself as a proper replacement for Dhoni when required.

11. Ajit Agarkar: Very important as far as team management is concerned. Still the best exponent of reverse swing in India.

12. Venugopala Rao: Did not get to bat much but showed the right attitude by being involved all the time; can contribute in difficult situations and has the potential to serve long.

13. Virender Sehwag: Wasted good starts but bowled usefully when asked to. Enjoys immense faith of captain and coach.

14. Gautam Gambhir: His cumulative failures caught up with him; deserves a proper run.

15. Munaf Patel: Very good with the old ball but failed to reproduce Test form. Still a long way to go for him to be a regular.

16. R.P. Singh: Over-rated and suffered for being on bench for too long. Has the potential and needs to be persisted with but should be made to work harder and realize the importance of earning a place.

17. V.R.V. Singh: Looked out of depth and surely has a long way to go before he can establish himself. Strove on batting tracks and paid for experimenting at this stage.

18. Mohammad Kaif: Worst run by an Indian in one-day cricket. Lucky to keep his place and needs to make runs urgently. Fielding alone cannot be an asset.

(List is in the order of rating)

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