Team India won a thrilling last-ball finish beating Bangladesh by 4 wickets in the finals to lift Nidahas Trophy 2018 played at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on Sunday. The BCCI had decided to rest few of the key players including MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and gave chances to youngsters who demonstrated their potential.
It was a good tournament for team India as they won 4 out of 5 matches, after losing the first match to Sri Lanka. Keeping 2019 World Cup in mind, the team management wanted to check the bench strength, to ensure the backup strength in the event of any injury to regular players.
Here we look at the 5 positives of the second-ranked team India:
- Washington Sundar brilliant bowling in powerplay overs
Washington Sundar was the surprise package for team India in this tournament. During the powerplay overs, he picked 6 wickets, an unusual feat for a spinner. He successfully put pressures on the opposition batsmen restricting the not only the run rate but picking up important wickets.
Overall, he took 8 wickets in 5 matches with an economy of 5.92 runs per over in first six overs. It was an amazing performance by the young Indian bowler who was given the job of bowling in powerplay overs. The young Tamil Nadu lad bowled 78 balls and gave away just 77 runs.
He bowled 58.97% dot balls and gave away fours every 7.80 balls. His best figures were 3/22 against Bangladesh on 14th March. For his brilliant bowling in first six overs, Washington Sundar got his first man of the series award.
- Manish Pandey strengthens the middle order
With no experienced player like Virat Kohli, Rahane, MS Dhoni in the middle order, Manish Pandey played important knocks coming at number 4 that helped team India win matches whenever the top 3 batsmen failed to contribute. He played 4 matches and scored 134 runs, remaining not out on 27 off 19 against Bangladesh on 8th March and 42 off 31 balls against Sri Lanka on 12th March.
In the finals against Bangladesh, he struggled to time the ball but made 28 off 27 balls. He could be prospective middle order batsman in the regular team.
- Yuzvendra Chahal impressive spin bowling
Yuzvendra Chahal made an impact on the tournament with another good impressive outing. He played 5 matches and took 8 wickets. It was a good performance by the leg-spinner who bowled with control, not allowing the opposition to hit big shots.
His best figures came against Bangladesh in the finals where he picked 3 wickets giving away just 18 runs. Along with Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav, the leg-spinner could become the part of Indian key spinning squad with seniors Ashwin and Jadeja for the World Cup 2019.
- Shardul Thakur and Jaydev Unadkat competing for pace options
Shardul Thakur and Jaydev Unadkat were playing as the lead pace options replacing Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah for this tri-series.
Jaydev Unadkat despite going for runs picked 7 wickets in 4 matches. Jaydev Unadkat best figures came against Bangladesh taking 3/38 on 8th March.
His pace bowling partner, Shardul Thakur also bowled well, but in patches during this tournament. He bowled well taking 6 wickets, with best figures of 4/27 from 4 overs against Sri Lanka played on 12th March. Both of them did a decent job and could be a part of World Cup team if they continue to improve their bowling skills of Yorkers and line and length.
- Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan leading the charge
Rohit Sharma was made the captain of this tournament replacing Virat Kohli while Shikhar Dhawan named as vice-captain.
The dangerous batsman came into form in India’s last league match against Bangladesh scoring 89 off 61 and made sure that Men in Blue posted 176 for 3. In the finals too, Rohit Sharma played a captain’s knock off 56 which laid the foundation. Overall, he scored 173 runs from 5 matches. He smashed 9 sixes in the tournament. In the first 3 matches, the Indian captain Rohit Sharma had scored just 28 runs. As a captain of the team, Rohit Sharma has a 100% record of winning matches.
Shikhar Dhawan continued his impressive run from the South African T20I series. The stylish left-handed batsman scored 198 runs in 5 matches and was the third leading runs scorer. In this tournament, he scored 2 half centuries with the best score of 90 runs. He continues to be the best bet for opening slot in limited overs format.