India v Australia 2nd Test- Australia Player Ratings

Whoever said that Test cricket was dying must be on cloud nine after watching today’s ripper of a Test. The series has not seen a single 300+ score so far, but these have been extraordinary ones. The 2^nd Test today had a closure on Day 4, with India winning the match by 75 runs and levelling the series 1-1.

On Day 1, India were bowled out for 189 after winning the toss and electing to bat first. It felt like Pune on repeat with Nathan Lyon shaking the Indian foundations. Day 2 saw the Indian bowlers staging a brilliant show, though Australia kept their resilience intact and scored 274 with a lead of 87 runs.

India started to fight back with the help of Rahul, Pujara and Rahane but not without trouble from other batsmen. Starc and Hazlewood today ripped the batting line up into tatters as India managed to set a target of only 187 runs. The tug of war had only gotten more intense after Renshaw, Warner and Smith fell in quick succession after short stints of bravery.

Here is the player ratings of Australia’s XI:

David Warner- 3.5/10

Warner has been in good form lately. However, in this series so far and in this match, he has not been able to reflect that. In both his innings, he got a decent start but fell due to lapse in concentration, misreading the balls, luck with the DRS and his fascination for getting dismissed by R Ashwin.

In the first innings, his 67 ball 33 came to an end as he was bowled by Ashwin with the ball ripping past his off stump.  Today was the 9^th Time he became Ashwin’s bunny as he was dismissed for 17 runs. However, you could give him leverage in the second innings for he was unlucky with the DRS. Something similar to Virat Kohli’s yesterday. An extra point for him taking risks against Ashwin despite his record against him.

Matt Renshaw- 6/10

The 20-year old has been having a brilliant series. Except for his score in the second innings today, he is most definitely Australia’s most impactful batsman in the series so far. He showed great composure in the first innings where he scored 60 off 196 on a difficult pitch as he steadied the innings. It was one of the best knocks by a man so young, in India. He handled the sledging gracefully and gave it back with the bat, before being stumped on a  Jadeja-delivery.

In the second innings, he faced only 12 balls with just 5 runs under his name. But it’s safe to say, the credit goes to Ishant Sharma to bowl a peach of a delivery that he was meaning to bowl the entire over. Despite his failure in the second inning, he deserves a 6 for his classy knock on the other day.

Steven Smith- 4.5/10

The Aussie skipper has invited trouble and criticism (also, justification) with his move of looking towards the dressing room for a hint on review. Not sure whether marks for sportsmanship count, but if they do, it’s a duck. However, even performance wise in this match, he was ordinary. Today, he scored 28 off 48 and was dismissed LBW by Umesh Yadav.

In the previous innings too, he was sent back to pavilion after his 52 ball stay where he scored 8 runs. Apart from that, his role as captain has been fairly alright. Though, he looked like the clueless captain when Saha and Ishant played, he used his bowlers well in the first innings and did some brilliant fielding himself too.

Shaun Marsh- 6/10

Shaun Marsh played a fighting knock in the first innings. India’s progress in the match was stunted when he had settled. He went on to score 66 off 197, the highest score by an Australian in the entire match. However, he left the crease due to a soft dismissal on an ordinary delivery by Umesh Yadav.

In the second innings, he looked out of sorts when Indian bowlers were all over Aussies.  I say so, not just because of his performance but also because of his lack of confidence in opting for a review that would have gone in his favour. He was dismissed at 9 by Umesh Yadav again.

Peter Handscomb- 3/10

In the first inning, he pretty much gifted his wicket as he fell into the hands of Ashwin off Jadeja. He scored  16 in his 30 ball stay at the crease. He is not a bad player against spin but he has fallen to spinners both times.

In the second innings too, he was expected to hold on to his wicket as the Team was left reeling. But, he fell at 24 off 67 and become Ashwin’s fifth-wicket of the innings. He was looking to loft the ball but it clearly wasn’t meant to be for him.

Mitchell Marsh- 2/10

Not entirely sure what his role in the Team is. The Aussie fans are very particular (and, possessive) about their players but this one player gets trolled by them too. He went for a duck in the first innings as he became Ishant Sharma’s much-awaited wicket.

In the second innings, he scored 13 off 16. He played a shot that sent the ball into Karun Nair’s hand, making it a simple catch. Honestly, the wicket came out of nowhere. Also, there is not much to talk about his bowling because he has bowled just 5 overs in totality and I’m sure he too is wondering the point of that.

Matthew Wade- 3.5/10

He had inflicted two stumpings in the first innings, otherwise no opportunity for him behind the stumps. He was dismissed for a duck in the second innings just seconds before Tea was called. He should have held on to it because the collapse for Australia had begun by then.

In the first innings, he was fairly good on a pitch that was extremely difficult to bat on. It was a handy knock and added useful runs for the Australian total and pushed their lead further, adding pressure on India.

Mitchell Starc- 5/10

India cannot take a breather until Mitchell Starc doesn’t depart. He was extremely good with both the ball and the bat in the previous match. Though it could have been better, he scored a handy 26 off 52 in the first innings. But, during the on-going collapse in the second innings, he couldn’t do anything. The spin was too good for him as Ashwin dismissed him for 1, followed by a send back from Ashwin, similar to the one he used.

With the ball, he took the lone wicket of Abhinav Mukund in the first innings with 39 runs conceded and then took those of Rahane and Nair in the next with 74 runs leaked. In the second innings, he was the most expensive among the lot with over 4.50 runs per over.

Steve O’Keefe-  4.5/10

After a stellar performance at Pune, he seemed a little pale because there was nothing extraordinary on display in this one. He took the single wicket of Nair in the first inning with 40 runs conceded and the wickets of Rahul and Ishant in the next with 36 runs conceded. He didn’t go more than the economy rate of 1.90.

Nathan Lyon- 7/10

He recorded the best bowling figures in a losing cause for Australia with figures of 8/50 in the first innings. He had wrecked havoc for the Indian batsmen in the first innings and had bowled some tight lengths, with accurate lines. The quality of spin was too good for the Indians and he had left them clueless. Very surprisingly, he remained wicketless and pretty expensive as he conceded 82 runs in the second innings. So, he gets the rating majorly for his first performance.

Josh Hazlewood- 6/10

The case is opposite here. He remained wicketless in the first innings but was the man for Australia in the next innings. He went for 42 runs in the first innings and made a comeback in the second innings with figures 6/67. He ripped the batting line up apart and made sure they didn’t reach a lead of 200 runs as he provided the Australians regular breakthroughs. His rating too remains majorly on the basis of his second innings’ performance.