India v England 4th Test - India Player Ratings

India went into the fourth Test at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai with a 2-0 lead in the 5-match series. It was important for the visiting England team as they looked to stay alive in the series to enforce a 2-2 draw whereas for India, it was an opportunity to wrap up the series win in the penultimate game itself.

The pitch was definitely a turner it had something right from the first day and England won a very important toss. They batted first and scored 400 runs courtesy a century from the debutant opener Keaton Jennings. The score looked huge at that time and gave hopes to them to make a comeback in the series.

But, India put up another clinical performance as they surpassed the English score and cruised their way to 631 runs in the first innings. Murali Vijay and Jayant Yadav scored brilliant centuries but, the show was stolen yet again by the captain charismatic Virat Kohli who scored his career best of 235.

England in the second innings were blown away by the spinners who were all over the batsmen from the outset. Ravichandran Ashwin bagged another 10-wicket haul in the match with 6 wickets in each innings. He was well supported by Ravindra Jadeja and Jayant Yadav as the visitors were bundled out for just 195 runs giving India a victory by an innings and 36 runs and an unassailable lead of 3-0 with a game to be played in Chennai.

Here are the India player ratings from the match:

KL Rahul – 4/10:

The opener was drafted back into the side having missed the last Test due to an injury. It didn’t turn out to be a happy comeback for him as he was dismissed for 24 runs off 41 balls. On a turning wicket, he tried to drive a full-pitched delivery from Moeen Ali through the covers but the ball turned in a long way to peg back his stumps.

Murali Vijay – 8/10:

After scoring a hundred in the first Test at Rajkot, the right-hander had gone off the hook a bit and suffered a few low scores on the trot. Coach Anil Kumble reckoned before the game that a big score from Murali Vijay was just around the corner. Vijay indeed repaid the trust by scoring a delightful hundred.

He scored 136 runs off 282 runs with 10 fours and 3 sixes and shared two hundred partnerships, first with Pujara and then with Kohli. It was a very crucial innings in the context of the game as the pitch was spinning sharply and the need of the hour was to spend time in the middle. His strike rate of 48.23 ensured stability to the innings and laid a great platform for a big first innings score.

Cheteshwar Pujara – 6/10:

The most dependable player for India of late was once again looking good for a century in the fourth Test. After the early departure of Rahul, he combined well with Vijay once more to frustrate the English bowlers. The duo shared a stand of 107 runs and took India safely to a score of 146/1 at the end of day 2.

At the start of day 3, he left a straight delivery from Jake Ball and the stumps were shattered. It was an error in judgement that cut short his innings to 47 runs which could have resulted into another big one from him.

ViratKohli – 9.5/10:

It was a treat to everyone who showed up at the historic Wankhede Stadium to witness the modern master at the peak of his powers. He scored his career best of 235 runs and his 3rd double hundred this year. A century partnership with Vijay, fifty partnership with Jadeja and a record 241 runs stand for the 8th wicket with Jayant Yadav kept India inching ahead of the visitors.

Where everyone else was toiling hard for every run, Kohli made batting look easy. He was deservedly adjudged the player of the match for his astonishing innings.

Karun Nair – 3/10:

The injury to Ajinkya Rahane meant that Nair retained his place in the squad but just like the last game, he failed to impress. He could manage just 13 runs off 18 balls before Moeen Ali sent him packing. He never looked comfortable at the crease and the English spinners were all over him.

He would be lucky to hold on to his spot in the team for the third Test in Chennai with Manish Pandey on the bench.

Parthiv Patel – 5/10:

The injury to the regular wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha made way to the ever younger Parthiv Patel in the playing XI. He had played a superb innings in the last Test to see India through in the chase. Though with the bat, he failed to make a mark like the last time, but was excellent behind the stumps.

It was a very tough pitch to keep the wickets on but with the experience of Patel, it was made to look easy. He took 3 catches in 2 innings and inflicted a brilliant stumping of Alastair Cook in the first innings. With Saha been ruled out from the final Test as well, he has a great chance to make a strong case for himself for being the regular keeper in the team.

Ravichandran Ashwin – 9.5/10:

Talk about Indian conditions and spin friendly surfaces and the name Ravichandran Ashwin shines at the top on every list. Continuing on his merry way, he picked up 12 wickets in the Test and took his tally of wickets to a total of 27 in 4 matches.

He was once again instrumental in India’s victory and bagged 6 wickets in each innings. He now has a total of 24 5-wicket hauls and the number one bowler in the world keeps proving his pole position. On the last day, he took all the remaining 4 wickets of the England innings in just 4 overs and demolished any hopes of a fight from the visitors.

Ravindra Jadeja – 8/10:

The left-hander backed up his man of the match performance of the previous game in Mumbai as well. He picked up 6 wickets in the Test and his 4-wicket haul. He kept the pressure up from one end and kept a check on the run scoring.

He picked up the all-important wicket of Alastair Cook in the first innings after the first wicket partnership had put 99 runs. He went on to bag the dangerous looking Jos Buttler that ended the innings at 400. To go with his bowling, he scored 25 runs with the bat and had a crucial half-century partnership for the seventh wicket with Virat Kohli.

Jayant Yadav – 9/10:

Since his debut, the off-spinner has done nothing but impressed everyone with his all-round skills. Earlier he was picking up wickets with his accurate off-break bowling and now he notched up his level with the bat to score a wonderful hundred. Batting at number 9, he scored 104 runs off 204 balls which became the highest score for India at that batting position.

When he came out to bat, the score was 364/7 and India was still trailing the English score by 36 runs. Kohli was batting well at the other end and it was required to hand around with him. Yadav not just hung in but literally outscored his captain at certain stages. With the partnership flourished on the day 4, India took a huge lead of 231 runs over the visitors.

Umesh Yadav – 4/10:

The pacer has been bowling at good speeds and his partnership with Mohammad Shami has given India wickets at crucial stages. But the pitch at Wankhede did not have too much in it for the fast bowlers and assisted mostly the spinners. He did not have much to contribute in the game.

He bowled 11 overs in the first innings and just 3 in the second and remained wicket-less in the game.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 5/10

The last time Kumar played for India, he had picked up 5 wickets against New Zealand on a surface that helped the quickies. But just like Umesh, he did not have too much on offer for the team due to the conditions and managed to grab just one wicket in the Test.

He bowled 13 and 4 overs in the first and second innings respectively. He played his part though when he dismissed the opener Keaton Jennings in the second innings. He bowled a lovely in-swinger to the left-hander from around the wicket that trapped him in front and gave the team an early breakthrough in the very first over.