Every year EA Sports drops a new edition of their popular football video game – FIFA, with one and all awaiting the latest FIFA Player Ratings. The first thing a fan is excited about is to find out how much their favourite players and clubs are rated, which indicates the prominence they hold in world football.
So, here in an interesting spin-off, we have taken the liberty to rate some of the top Indian cricketers according to their cricketing skills and make them their very own FIFA Player Ratings cards. Here’s how it goes:
VIRAT KOHLI
Overall – 94
Pace – 93 | Attack – 90 | Defence – 96 | Physicality – 94
Arguably India’s best white-ball batsman in history, captain Kohli tops our FIFA Player Ratings chart. His overall rating of 94 reflects the dynamism he brings to the cricket field in any format of the game.
He sprints between wickets like an international sprinter, that too with pads on, so his pace rating of 93 is a fair reflection of his ability to run fast.
He isn’t a slogger and prefers to play conventional shots for big hits. He doesn’t attack from the word go, but rather takes his time and wears the opposition out. So, his attacking skills stand at 90, slightly lower than others.
He is technically the most solid batsman in world cricket presently and has a compact defence to go with it. Bowlers find it impossible to beat his defence so it’s only fair that his defence rating will be the highest at 96.
Added to this, he is also the one who changed the fitness standards of Indian cricket. He has raised the bar so high that fitness has become a prerequisite in world cricket in recent times and hence, he finds his physicality rating right up there at 94.
ROHIT SHARMA
Overall- 92
Pace- 86 | Attack- 94 | Defence- 88 | Physicality- 89
Since 2013, Rohit Sharma has evolved as one of the best ODI openers India has ever seen. He has three double-centuries to his name in ODI cricket which is a feat unheard of. He has never lost an Indian T20 League final, winning five out off five times, while leading the team on four occasions. His overall rating of 92 is a fair reflection of what a brilliant player he is.
However, one facet of his game which he would want to improve would be his fitness levels and his running speed. He’s no Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni when it comes to running between the wickets but isn’t the worst either. So his pace rating of 86 justifies his ability.
When people talk about Rohit’s batting, there seems to be a common consensus that Rohit perhaps has an extra second while batting than the average joe out there. This reflects in his effortless hitting ability. Rohit possesses the power to decimate opposition’s bowling line-up and has one of the best attacking games in the world at present. His attack is his biggest strength, so we rate him 94 on that aspect.
Rohit is susceptible to swing bowling and can be found out early in the game. His defence isn’t the most sound and that makes him vulnerable to the new ball. We’ll rate him 88 on his defence.
Not the fittest individual in the Indian team but still passes the yo-yo test regularly with ease. He hardly ever cramps up in his massive innings and is a strong lad when it comes to power hitting. We rate him 89 on his physicality.
JASPRIT BUMRAH
Overall- 90
Pace- 94 | Attack- 93 | Defence- 90 | Physicality- 92
Jasprit Bumrah is the most unorthodox and effective bowler going around in world cricket. His adaptability across formats and in different situations of a match is second to none. He has pace, control and swing going for him which makes him unplayable at times. His overall rating is at 90 but will only increase in years to come.
Jasprit regularly bowls over 140 kmph and can clock over 150 kmph as well. That’s rapid and the batsman always seems harried while batting against him. His raw pace is his biggest asset and we’ll rate him 94 on that.
He can mould his bowling according to the conditions or the situation of the match. In attack, the Gujarat boy is relentless and doesn’t let the batsman breathe. Thus, we’ve rated him 93 on his attack.
His comeback post his back injury wasn’t great and we saw him leaking runs in the death overs and uncharacteristically missing his yorkers. His 88 defence rating has taken a hit after the tour of New Zealand, but we are sure he will jump right back in the future.
Jasprit is lean, fit and can run in for his captain all day with the same amount of energy. His fitness levels are high and that makes him 92 on his physicality rating.
MS DHONI
Overall- 89
Pace- 90 | Attack- 94 | Defence- 89 | Physicality- 91
MS Dhoni, no doubt, remain India’s most successful limited-overs captain and the best finisher white-ball cricket has ever seen. He turned 39 recently and hasn’t played for the national team since the 2019 World Cup, so his overall rating has taken a slight hit at 89.
Irrespective of his age, Dhoni is lightning fast when it comes to running between the wickets. His pace is right up there with the very best and we’ve rated him 90 on it.
A dasher, smasher and a daunting batsman for the bowlers to bowl at, Dhoni can hit almost every ball for a six. With his striking ability, his attack rating remains at an impressive 94.
Defence has never been Dhoni’s strength, though he still finds a way out to negate tricky situations. Thus, we rate him 89 on his defence.
If you talk about strength, fitness, running ability and durability, Dhoni stands out in every category and that’s reflected in his high physicality rating of 91.
YUZVENDRA CHAHAL
Overall- 86
Pace- 87 | Attack- 91 | Defence- 84 | Physicality- 85
One of India’s first names on the team sheet in white-ball cricket, Chahal’s rise has been a pleasant surprise for all cricket fans. He’s 29 currently and one would assume he’s at the peak of his career. Taking into account his performances in the past years, he deserves an overall rating of 86.
He isn’t the tallest or the strongest player in the team but when it comes to running, he’s surprisingly electric on the field and thus, gets an 87 rating for his pace.
An attacking leg-spinner, he’s always going for wickets. Even if the batsman is smashing him all around the park, he’ll still flight the ball and look to pick up wickets. He’s a gutsy bowler and a wicket-taking option for captain Kohli, and deserves a rating of 91 for his attack.
Because of his innate nature of picking wickets all the time, he tends to be expensive on his bad days. There are times when he doesn’t bowl the defensive lengths or speed, and so his defence rating stands at 84 as of now.
Though he has pace, he’s lean, short and doesn’t have the big guns going for him. Hence, we can’t rate him any higher than 85 for his physicality.
What is your take on these FIFA Player Ratings? Let us know your thoughts!
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