India v England, 3rd Test - India Player Ratings

Team India registered a thumping 8 wicket win over England in the Mohali Test. The win has now given them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the 5 match series. Coming into the match, a lot was been talked about the toss playing a crucial role. Despite losing the toss, the Indian bowlers did a brilliant job to restrict England to 283 in the first innings.

The batsmen responded positively too. Parthiv Patel made a comeback to the side after a gap of 8 years. He showed great character at the top order. The middle order succeeded in piling on the agony for the visitors. The second day saw a minor hiccup in the last session. What followed from thereon was a great display of grit by the lower order batsmen of India.

The number 7, 8 and 9 got fifties and that gave India a handsome lead of 134 runs. The morale was high and it went soaring higher when the hosts managed to strangle England for just 236 in the second innings. With 103 to win, India chased it down with ease to register an emphatic win. India will surely head into the Mumbai Test as clear favorites.

Meanwhile, it is necessary to know who performed well in the 3rd Test and who missed the trick. Here are the India player ratings for the third Test:

Murali Vijay – 2/10

Murali Vijay was a clear disappointment for India in this Test. Being the senior opener in the playing eleven, a lot was expected from him. He had a promising start to the series when he scored a magnificent ton at Rajkot. However, he has failed to get big runs since then.

He managed to score just 12 in the first innings before getting a beauty by Ben Stokes. The second innings was even worse for the Tamil Nadu opener as he could manage only a duck after facing 8 balls. He could have taken his time to settle in and chase 103 for the win.

Parthiv Patel – 8/10

If someone wishes to know how to grab an opportunity, one should take lessons from Parthiv Patel. Drafted in as a replacement for Wriddhiman Saha in the team, Patel made a dream comeback for India after 8 years. He looked solid with his batting in the first innings before getting out on 42. He went a mile ahead in the second and hit an unbeaten 67 in quick time to help India win by 8 wickets.

He was clearly one of the biggest positives for the team in the Test. His wicket keeping was decent too. A brilliant stumping saw Ben Stokes dismissed in the first innings. A couple of good low catches summed up the perfect game he had.

Cheteshwar Pujara – 6.5/10

Cheteshwar Pujara has been the most consistent batsman for India in the last couple of months. Having scored tons in the first two matches, he continued his merry run in the third. He hit a good fifty in the first innings to lay the foundation of a high score for India.

He perished soon in the second innings in his attempt to finish off the match soon. However, that does not take any credit away from the golden run of form he is having.

Virat Kohli – 7/10

Indian skipper Virat Kohli looked aggressive in his intent right from the word go. Not only did his character show up in his batting, but also in his captaincy. He has only got better with his captaincy as the series has progressed.

Brilliant field set for the left-handed batsmen and the off-spinners bowling in tandem to them worked wonders for India. On the batting front, he led the Indian charge with a gutsy 62 off 127 balls that gave impetus to the Indian first innings.

Ajinkya Rahane – 2/10

If there has been one batsman who is yet to perform for India in the series, it has to be Ajinkya Rahane. Rahane’s poor run with the bat continued in the series. With just 63 runs in 5 innings thus far, one would want to believe that the Mumbai batsman will be back to form soon.

Rahane himself admitted that he is just one good knock away from striking form. He managed a duck in the first innings. His slip fielding was good though. He took a sharp catch to dismiss Joe Root in the second innings.

Karun Nair -2/10

One has to feel bad for the debutant Karun Nair. Nair has been on the fringes of making the national debut for quite some time now. Having got his opportunity, he was asked to bat at six.

He was only unlucky to be dismissed run out after scoring only 4 in his maiden Test innings. If Saha gets fit in time, it is highly likely that he might lose his spot to Parthiv Patel in the starting eleven at Mumbai.

Ravichandran Ashwin – 8/10

India’s number one player with the ball has shown why he is rated as the number one all-rounder as well. Ashwin continued his good form with both bat and the ball in the Mohali Test. He managed to get the better off the English skipper Alastair Cook in both the innings.

With 4 wickets across both the innings in the match, he did his job with the ball. When India faced a slight downfall in the first innings, he stood up with the bat. An elegant 72 saw Ashwin resurrecting the Indian innings. He clearly deserves every inch of the point and praise that he gets.

Ravindra Jadeja – 9/10

Ravindra Jadeja was named the Man of the Match for a reason. Jadeja was spectacular for India with both bat and ball. He carved a match-winning 90 that saw India post a sizeable 417 in the first innings. He was unlucky to have missed out on his maiden Test ton but had surely done a fabulous job.

Earlier in the match, he had dismissed Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes in the first innings. He bagged two more wickets in the second innings to finish with 4 wickets in the match.

Jayant Yadav – 8/10

The way young off-spinner Jayant Yadav has shaped up, he is surely one of the biggest revelations for the hosts in the series. He has shown enough maturity to belong at the highest level. He bowled with precision and guile in both the innings.

He returned with figures of 2/49 and 2/21 in the two innings and played the ideal second fiddle to Ashwin. He came in at number 9 and hit his maiden Test fifty in the first innings. Batting with the tail, he hit 55 off 141 balls.

Mohammad Shami – 8.5/10

Even though the entire topic of discussion is always the spin trio, the pacers have done equally well. Mohammad Shami showed yet again why he is the leading pacer for the Indian team. He was the pick of the bowlers in the first innings as he scalped 3/63. He managed to use the short ball to perfection across both innings.

From Moeen Ali to Adil Rashid, he tormented them all with short stuff. He backed it up with another couple of wickets, 2/37, in the second innings. Yet again, both wickets perishing to short deliveries fired in at serious pace.

Umesh Yadav – 7/10

Umesh Yadav looked as the most impressive bowler on day one. He bowled accurate line with sheer pace to trouble the English batsman. Yet again, he was unlucky as a couple of easy chances went down off his bowling early in the match. He dismissed Haseeb Hameed with a beautiful delivery that rose up to Hameed with awkward bounce.

Later in the day, he managed to send the off-stump of Chris Woakes for a trip with a brilliant in-swinging delivery. He went wicketless in the 8 overs he bowled in the second innings.