India v England, 1st Test: England Player Ratings

England walked into the series as the underdogs. From the critics to the pundits, everyone had written them off. After having performed poorly by their standards in Bangladesh, the Indian Test looked like a herculean task for Englishmen. They proved everyone wrong by the performance that they put in at Rajkot. As Alan Wilkins rightly pointed, England has managed to get in the psyche of the Indian team for the remainder of the tour.

England put on a mammoth 537 on the board in the first innings. Centuries from Joe Root, Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes lit up their scorecard. Their  bowlers did a great job too in restricting India to 488 in the first innings. Debutant Haseeb Hameed showed that he is a player for the future and captain Alastair Cook’s masterly ton put England in command. England then was successful in giving India a brief scare. They managed to scalp 6 wickets to put India right on the backfoot. They were unlucky not to have won the game after dominating it for the majority of sessions.

Here are the England Player Ratings for the match:

Haseeb Hameed – 8.5/10:

Young opener Haseeb Hameed made an impressive start to his Test career. As a 19-year old, he showed great promise and temperament in challenging conditions. He took his time to settle in the first innings. He looked technically sound during his 82-ball stay for 31 runs. A better performance, however, was yet to come in the second innings.

He was only unfortunate to have missed out on a century on debut. A well compiled 82 from him saw England in command of the game in the 2nd innings. He provided the ideal support for skipper Alastair Cook and put on 180 runs for the first wicket with him. His fielding was spot on too. Hameed was under the helmet for a majority part of English bowling. He pocketed a couple of sharp catches at the short leg.

Alastair Cook – 8/10: 

Skipper Alastair Cook showed why is the captain resolute in Indian conditions. Cook has an inclination towards Indian pitches and had hit close to 550 runs during their last tour in 2012. After having got a let off in the 3rd ball of the Test match, Cook looked a different player altogether.

He scored just 21 in the first innings but it was his effort in the 2nd innings that put England in the driver’s seat. Cook struck his 30th Test ton and his 5th ton in India. A brilliant knock of 130 from him saw England post 309 as the target for Indians. He let down a couple of sitters in the fielding which he definitely covered up for with his batting.

Joe Root – 8/10: 

Joe Root arrived on the tour with a massive reputation to uphold. Root did no harm to his reputation as he looked perfectly comfortable in tricky conditions. Root struck a masterly 124 in the first innings and never let the Indian spinner take control of the game. His plan of not letting the spinners settle worked well for the English side.

A rare failure for him occurred in the second innings. But in his defence, it could well be said that Root perished in his attempt to slog. Slogging has never been his forte. A dismissal for the team’s cause can certainly be forgiven. He gets 8 on the ratings.

Ben Duckett – 4/10: 

Ben Duckett did not have a major say in this Test match. Duckett was playing only his 3rd Test match. After having batted as an opener in Bangladesh, Duckett was demoted to middle order here in India. The position change did not do any good to him. He failed to make a mark on the track that was a batting beauty.

Duckett managed to score only 13 before being dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin in the first innings. The second innings did not see him bat as Ben Stokes was promoted ahead of him in the batting order.

Moeen Ali – 8.5/10: 

Moeen Ali had an impressive match with both bat and the ball. After having started well with the bat, he made sure that he got a big score under his belt. Ali went on to score 117 in the first innings and staged a marathon stand with Joe Root. He later got the prized scalps of Wriddhiman Saha and R Ashwin in the first innings to end with figures of 2/85.

The second innings saw him get a lot of purchase from the wicket. He got through the defences of Ajinkya Rahane at a crucial juncture in the match. It was Rahane’s dismissal that started the wicket cavalcade of Indian batsmen.

Ben Stokes – 8.5/10: 

Yet another English player who impressed big time in the first Test was all-rounder Ben Stokes. Stokes came into the series with a heavy reputation and absolutely lived up to it. He arrived in the first innings with an aggressive intent. He took very little time to settle in as he started the onslaught on Indian spinners.

With a score of 128, he ensured that England posted a mammoth total on the board. With the ball, he broke the crucial Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara partnership by dismissing the latter. Despite being expensive, he got the key breakthrough. In the second innings too, Stokes hit quick runs to help England declare early. He scored a run-a-ball 29 in the second innings.

Jonny Bairstow – 6/10: 

Jonny Bairstow is the leading run-getter in Tests this year. He had an average outing, though. Bairstow arrived at the crease at the departure of Moeen Ali with England well set. He took the attack on the opposition along with Ben Stokes to hit his shots freely. He took a special liking to the Indian spinners as he smashed 46 off 57 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes.

Bairstow did not get a bat in the second innings. His wicket-keeping was decent too. The English wicket-keeper did drop a couple of half chances but apart from that, he had an average outing at Rajkot.

Adil Rashid – 9/10: 

Performances in this match must have given Adil Rashid a sense of belonging to the Test team as well. He came up with his career best figures for England in this Test. Rashid was clearly the pick of the bowlers for England. He managed to get the prized scalp of Virat Kohli in the first innings. He eventually finished up with figures of 4/114 to be the pick of the bowlers.

In the second innings too, he was a major threat that India had to negotiate. He bowled in great areas and got some good assistance from the pitch too. Rashid’s 3/64 had sent jitters in the Indian dressing room and gave England a sniff at victory.

Zafar Ansari – 6.5/10: 

Zafar Ansari had supporting roles to play with both and ball. He was the last man to be dismissed in the England first innings. He scored a key 32 that kept England going and eventually end at 537. Later on day 3, he bagged the wicket of nightwatchman Amit Mishra towards the end of day’s play.

The next morning he bagged the big fish in the form of Ajinkya Rahane. Ansari finished with 2/77 in the first innings. In the second innings, when Ashwin and Kohli were slowly taking India to safety, it was Ansari who broke the partnership by dismissing Ashwin.

Chris Woakes – 5/10: 

Chris Woakes was only unlucky to have missed out on taking a wicket in the first innings. Woakes bowled exceptional spells of fine bowling. He hit Cheteshwar Pujara on the helmet on three occasions with brilliantly targeted bouncers.

In the second innings, he gave England the early breakthrough by dismissing Gautam Gambhir for a duck. He was the most economical of all  bowlers in the Test match at Rajkot.

Stuart Broad – 6/10: 

The English pacer had not much to do in the Test. However, Broad was the one who picked the first wicket on tour. He caught Gautam Gambhir plumb in front of the stumps to give India the first jolt.

He bowled just 3 overs in the second innings but was seen involved in making key decisions with Alastair Cook. Playing his 100th Test, Broad looked very much into the proceedings for the captain and the team.