India vs. South Africa: Ranking the Squads After the ODI Series
South Africa made history by winning their ODI series against India 2-3, claiming their first-ever ODI series win on Indian soil. The season had its ups and downs for both sides, but in the final match, South Africa dominated in all aspects.
AB de Villiers did what he does best—bat like a freak—and he was well supported by Quinton de Kock and Faf du Plessis. The bowlers did the rest, and the result was emphatic: South Africa won by 214 runs.
While that might seem quite intense, the teams were actually closely match for most of the series. The series being squared at 2-2 heading into the final match was proof of that. Almost every game went down to a tight contest, and while India’s bowlers copped a beating in the final match, they pushed South Africa close.
For these rankings, we have used a number of formulas to rank the players individually. Unsurprisingly, South Africa came out tops in all of the total tallies, but there were a number of individual areas where things were much closer than you might expect.
Using a formula to decide the rankings removes subjectivity from the judging of the rankings. The formula used is below, and totals for each player will be revealed on each slide.
Bowling
For Every wicket: 5 points
Economy rate 3.00 or below: 15 points
Economy rate 4.00 or below: 10 points
Economy rate 5:00 or below: 8 points
Economy rate 6:00 or below: 5 points
Bowling average below 20:00: 15 points
Bowling average below 25:00: 10 points
Batting
Every hundred: 25 points
Every 50: 15 points
Average above 50:00: 20 points
Average above 40:00: 15 points
Average above 30:00: 10 points
Overall Bowling Results
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South Africa's total points for bowling was 251 compared to India's 215, and they outperformed India in every aspect across wickets, economy rate and average, but the totals were close.
India earned 170 points for wickets taken by their bowlers and South Africa earned 190. Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada were the difference between the two teams, but more on that later. When tallying the economy rate points, South Africa were ahead by just six points with a total of 36 compared to India's 30.
Averages is where India's bowlers lost out. No points were awarded for averages above 25:00, and after AB de Villiers was let loose in the final ODI, India's bowlers suffered, and just one—Ravi Ashwin—managed to earn points for his average.
It's worth noting that this was a problem across the board, with only two of South Africa's bowlers—Morne Morkel and Kagiso Rabada—earning points for their averages (18.85 and 24.10 respectively). Dale Steyn just missed out with an average of 26.70.
Overall Batting Results
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Once again, South Africa came out tops overall with 270 points compared to India's 240 points. In terms of averages, South Africa managed 75 points in total with India not far behind with 70 points.
The Proteas batsmen scored more hundreds than India, with South Africa taking 150 points and India managing just 75. However, when it came to 50s, India won with 120 points while South Africa had just 45 points.
Players Ranked 11- 25
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There were just two players (Farhaan Behardien and Suresh Raina) who earned points for both batting and bowling. In their cases, their scores for both were tallied together to give their overall ranking.
It is important to note that there was no exception made for a player who played just one game compared to a player who played five. While this isn’t an ideal way of calculating the rankings, it does still provide a fair overview of performances.
The players who did not make the top 10 are listed below. The biggest surprise is how many spinners failed to crack the top 10, considering just how spin-friendly Indian pitches usually are.
| Player | Ranking points | |
Ravi Ashwin | 35 | |
| Harbhajan Singh | 35 | |
| MS Dhoni | 35 | |
| Suresh Raina | 35 | |
| Axar Patel | 30 | |
Amit Mishra | 25 | |
| Farhaan Behardien | 20 | |
| Mohit Sharma | 20 | |
| Shikhar Dhawan | 15 | |
| Umesh Yadav | 15 | |
| Kyle Abbott | 10 | |
| Aaron Phangiso | 5 | |
| Chris Morris | 5 | |
| JP Duminy | 5 | |
| Stuart Binny | 0 |
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10. Imran Tahir, 40 Points
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Imran Tahir remains one of the best limited-overs bowlers in world cricket, but he had a pretty tough tour. He managed seven wickets, but struggled to control the game against India's batsmen, who are all fine players of spin.
Tahir's average for the series was 36.85—much higher than his overall bowling average of just 22.94 in one-day cricket.
9. Virat Kohli, 55 Points
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With one fifty and one hundred and an average of 49.00 for the series, Virat Kohli probably feels he could have done much better by his high standards.
Still, with some form under his belt, Kohli’s chance to shine will come in the Test series starting next week.
8. Dale Steyn, 55 Points
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It feels almost criminal to see Dale Steyn so low in the rankings. Make no mistake, Dale Steyn is still the best bowler in the world, but when he is bowling alongside somebody like Kagiso Rabada, he is more than happy to take a back seat and ease up a little bit. Knowing that he has a tough Test series coming up, Steyn wasn’t at full tilt for the whole series, but he still did exceptionally well.
Steyn bagged 10 wickets at an average of 26.70 and an economy rate of 5.68—not bad going for a guy who is taking it easy, is it?
7. Morne Morkel, 58 Points
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Morne Morkel’s ability to get extra pace and bounce on Indian tracks is really impressive. He didn’t play all of South Africa’s matches and who knows how different the results might have been if he had.
In the 12 ODIs he has played in India, he averages a respectable 24.14 and had the lowest average of all South Africa's bowlers on this tour. With seven wickets at an average of 18.85 and an economy rate of 4.40. South Africa must be looking forward to what he’s capable of in the Test series.
6. Rohit Sharma, 60 Points
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Rohit Sharma has come a long way since starting his career many moons ago. He did have a somewhat inconsistent series against South Africa, though. After hitting 150 in the first ODI, he managed just three in the second.
He added 65 in the third match and then failed to pass 21 in the remaining two. Still, he had a tidy average of 51 for the three games. His ranking probably flatters him a little bit considering how inconsistent all of India's batsmen were.
5. Ajinkya Rahane, 60 Points
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Ajinkya Rahane was by far India’s most consistent player in this series, so it’s no surprise that he ranks the highest. He did not manage to score a hundred but chipped in with three fifties—the only Indian batsman to manage more than one.
South Africa’s bowlers deserve immense credit for managing to keep such prolific batsmen so quiet, and Rahane deserves immense credit for digging in when the going got tough.
4. Kagiso Rabada, 68 Points
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In a series where batsmen dominated and tracks were flat, Kagiso Rabada showed why he is considered a future legend. With 10 wickets at an average of 24.10 and an economy rate of 5.12, Rabada led from the front when Morne Morkel was out of action.
If these rankings were entirely subjective, Rabada would probably be second on the list, to underscore just how impressive his achievements as a bowler were in a series where runs flowed like water from a tap.
He is wise beyond his years and has a deadly yorker. Even more exciting is that Rabada is hitting the 150km/h with relative ease. Could it be possible that one day he will be bowling at 160km/h? On a fast track in South Africa, it might very well be possible.
3. Quinton De Kock, 70 Points
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Quinton de Kock already had an impressive record against India before the series began and has now added to that.
He now averages 74.11 against India in nine matches and averaged 63.60 on this tour. After being dropped against Bangladesh just a few months ago, this is exactly the kind of series De Kock needed to find his mojo again. It’s a great shame that he won’t be part of the upcoming Test series, it could have been the perfect platform to ease him back into the longest format of the game.
South Africa have a tough home tour against England coming up over the summer, but the domestic four-day competition does not start until a few days before the series begins. It means that if South Africa wanted to see how De Kock was managing in the longest form of the game, they won’t be able to.
2. Faf Du Plessis, 90 Points
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In an ordinary world, Faf du Plessis’ stats would be considered consistent. He scored three fifties and a hundred and averaged just over 80.00. Sadly for Du Plessis, he does not play in an ordinary world with an ordinary team, he plays in the same team as AB de Villiers.
Still, coming second in a team with the best batsman in the world isn’t bad going. If these rankings didn't rely purely on stats, Du Plessis would have won plenty of extra points for his determination to bat on when he was cramping really badly in the fifth and final ODI.
1. AB De Villiers, 95 Points
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With three hundreds to his name, including a genius display of improvisation and reinvention of batting in the fifth and final ODI, it’s no surprise that AB de Villiers tops the rankings.
If these rankings were done entirely on subjective opinion, De Villiers would have come out top, too. There simply is no other player in world cricket who can so completely and totally dominate a game right from the moment he steps out to bat. The fact that he scores all around the wicket at will and can single-handedly take the game away from the opposition counts massively in his favour.
He averaged nearly 90 on this tour, and South Africa will be pleased as punch that he has hit form right before the Test series begins.
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