AUS v IND 2018-19: COC players’ ratings for Team India in Test series

Team India achieved their maiden Test series win in Australia after 71 years.

No.1 ranked Test side Team India created history down under when they defeated Australia 2-1 in the four-match series. India won the Adelaide and Melbourne Tests, and Australia pulled one back in Perth, while the Sydney Test was drawn due to incessant rain.

It was a collective effort by the Indian team, as the batting finally came through to support the Indian bowling attack, something that they had failed to do in South Africa and England. The major heroes of Indian batting were Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant and as usual, Virat Kohli. Debutant Mayank Agarwal showed why he should have played for India earlier than he did.

On the bowling side, the fast bowlers Bumrah, Ishant and Shami proved why they are the best bowling attack in the world. Their consistently good performance was backed by the spin of Ashwin, Jadeja, and Kuldeep.

Keeping the historic win in perspective, Team COC presents to you the Players’ ratings for Team India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2018-19.

KL RAHUL- 0/10
57 runs in 5 innings of three Tests was the return that KL Rahul got on the back of being given a chance over Shikhar Dhawan in the Australia Test series. KL Rahul, partnered M Vijay for the first two Test matches, had just one score of any significance, 44. Rahul had a quiet tour of England as well, but a century in the last Test in England ensured that he would tour Australia as well.

However, the performances didn’t get any better, as he couldn’t deal with the movement and pace of Australian bowlers and was bowled quite often.

M VIJAY- 0/10

It won’t be an unfair statement to make that this tour could very well be the last Test series for Vijay. After being dropped midway in the England series, Vijay scored some runs in the county cricket in England to stake the claim for the Australian tour and an injury to Prithvi Shaw meant that he got to play the first two Tests at least.

However, the returns continued to be minimal, as Vijay scored just 49 runs with a best of 20 and average of 12.25. The injury to Shaw was a blessing in disguise for both Rahul and Vijay to cement their places as the openers, with Mayank Agarwal knocking on the door, but both failed to provide any speckle of performance.

With the possibility of Prithvi Shaw coming back into the team, it could mean the closure of doors on Vijay’s career who will turn 35 in April this year.

MAYANK AGARWAL- 7/10
Speaking of good performances, Mayank Agarwal finally got the much-belated chance at the top level and he grabbed it with both hands, scoring fifties in his first two Test matches and firmly putting M Vijay out of contention.

The most impressive thing about Mayank was how he neutralized the threat of Nathan Lyon in his debut Test. However, he will be disappointed to lose out on two opportunities on scoring Test hundreds, but a return of 195 runs in two Tests at an average of 65.00 will be more than enough to ensure that he will be in plans of Indian team selectors for future.

CHETESHWAR PUJARA- 10/10
The rock of Indian team batting was Cheteshwar Pujara, who scored 521 runs with 3 centuries at an average of 74.42 and the highest score of 193 runs. He was the backbone of the Indian batting that blunted a very potent attack from Australia including the like of Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc, and Lyon.

Pujara batted for hours and hours and even became the fifth Indian batsman to bat for 1,000 balls in a single series down under. Pujara ensured that India was well ahead in the match and when he failed to get going in Perth, India lost the match. But he showed that how classical Test match batting should be with a sublime 193 in SCG Test, that almost won the match for India, if not for the rain.

VIRAT KOHLI- 8/10
Indian Captain Virat Kohli was subdued by his standards, especially after the bumper England Test series. Kohli scored 282 runs in 4 Tests with one century and two half-centuries. His highest score was 123 and he averaged 40.28.

Kohli might have been on the back burner when it came to dominating the batting charts, but the way he captained and led his troops was the best thing. Once India put the Australians on the backfoot with their batting, Kohli marshaled his bowlers very well and didn’t let a single Australian batsman score a century in four Tests. His captaincy and batting combined for an impressive showing for the series.

AJINKYA RAHANE- 6/10
Ajinkya Rahane scored two fifties in the series and 217 runs with the highest score of 70 and was there to support the batsmen who were in the flow. His fielding was on the point whether in slips or other catching positions. Without an outstanding performance, Rahane still managed to be relevant to the cause of the team’s objective of winning the series and contributed well.

HANUMA VIHARI- 5/10
Hanuma Vihari had a lackluster series with 111 runs in three Tests. He also opened for India in one of the Tests, when both Rahul and Vijay were dropped from the team. However, Vihari must have rued chances of not making the most of the starts he got throughout the series and would like to forget his stint as an opener.

RISHABH PANT- 9/10
Rishabh Pant has firmly cemented his place in the Indian Test team as the no.1 keeper-batsman. Though his wicketkeeping skills are a work in progress, with much work needed when keeping to the spinners and diving; he did make a record of taking 20 catches in a series.

However, his biggest contribution came with the bat, as he scored 350 runs in the series with a career-best 159* in the SCG Test that helped India post 622/7d. Pant continuously scored runs in the series when needed and at a good rate. He even left Virat Kohli behind to become the second highest run-getter in the series, behind Cheteshwar Pujara.

RAVINDRA JADEJA- 7/10
Ravindra Jadeja played two Tests and scored a brilliant 81 in the SCG Test and picked 7 wickets. He was brilliant in both the MCG and SCG Test matches, picking up crucial wickets and aiding the fast bowlers to the hilt. Not playing Jadeja in the Perth Test cost India the match and with his increasingly dependable batting, Jadeja might again become a staple in the Indian team.  

R ASHWIN- 5/10
R Ashwin starred in the Indian win at Adelaide by picking 6 wickets in the match. He matched the Australian spinner, who also picked 6 wickets and was sure of playing through the whole series.  However, for someone who has played just one format since last year and a half, Ashwin’s fitness has been an issue.

His poor fitness hampered India in England as well and now his fitness cost India a more dominating performance in the series. A good showing here would have also brought him contention for the limited overs team as well.

KULDEEP YADAV- 6/10
Kuldeep Yadav got to play just one match in the series, but what match it proved for him. Kuldeep played in the SCG Test and picked up a fifer, the first by an Indian left-arm chinaman bowler in Australia, first by an Indian spinner in his first Test in Australia and it also made Kuldeep the first left-arm wrist spinner to pick up fifers both at home and away.

JASPRIT BUMRAH- 10/10
Jasprit Bumrah continued his good form in Tests after his showing in South Africa and England, by picking up 21 wickets in four matches, including the best of 6/33 and match haul of 9/86. He also bowled the maximum overs in the series, 157.1, an ode to his fitness.

Bumrah was bowling at the stumps and adjusted his line and length according to needs of the pitch and the conditions. He also picked up 48 wickets in his debut year in Tests, a record for any Indian bowler.  

MOHAMMAD SHAMI- 9/10
Mohammad Shami proved to be the workhorse bowler for India and picked up 16 wickets in the series with a best of 6/56. Shami had previously toured Australia in 2014-15, but this performance proved to be a game changer for India.

He brilliantly bowled giving India the much-needed firepower with both the new and old ball. He complimented his fellow fast bowlers well and got amazing reverse swing during the end overs of the day. Though Shami proved to be a tad bit expensive, he helped Bumrah and spinners keep a lid on Australian batting.

ISHANT SHARMA- 9/10
Ishant Sharma picked 11 wickets in 3 Tests that he played. His best bowling was 4/41 and the amount of bowling he did was amazing since he mostly bowled long spells at one go. He changed his length of bowling to suit the pitch and conditions to inflict the most damage to the Australian batting.

UMESH YADAV- 1/10

Umesh Yadav got to play just one Test in the series, at Perth and picked two wickets, including the much-wanted wicket of Pat Cummins, who frustrated the Indian bowling a lot in the series.

ROHIT SHARMA- 5/10
Rohit Sharma returned to the Test fold, playing two Tests and scoring 106 runs. His best score was 63* and he averaged 35.33. He missed the final Test at SCG as he returned home to Mumbai to be with his wife and newborn daughter, missing the celebrations of historic Indian Test series win.