India v England, Test Series - Combined XI

The England v India Test series was about the outright domination of the Indians. It started with a draw in Rajkot and ended in a thrilling game in Chennai. As the series progressed the visitors struggled furthermore and the hosts dished out players one after the other who put up impressive performances and got better every time they took the field.

Toss is considered a huge factor in Tests in India since a big first innings total is always the first blood drawn on subcontinental tracks. Team India managed to lose the majority of the tosses, but still ended up with a thumping 4-0 victory. The injury scares kept coming but the new comers made the most of the chances they got. The series saw some new stars like Haseeb Hameed, Jayant Yadav, Keaton Jennings and Karun Nair come to the fore. The big guns like Virat Kohli and Joe Root lived up to their name. The series had all the ingredients for a blockbuster.

Here is a combined XI of both the teams that made the series a keenly contested one. The contenders were many but the top notch ones make the cut.

1. Alastair Cook (VC)

The England skipper Alastair Cook had a tough time as the in-charge of the team. But with the willow, he surely did what was expected of him. His opening partners changed but Cook was unfazed. He had a brilliant start to the series. A magnificent century, 131 at Rajkot, set the tone for the visitors in the series.

He piled up 369 runs in 5 matches with a fifty and a ton to his name. He reached the coveted 11000 run mark in Test cricket during the last Test at Chennai. He ended up with a fighting 49 in the second innings of the Chennai Test. On the personal batting front, Alastair Cook was a delight to watch.

2. Murali Vijay

Team India have had their problems with an unsettled opening position. However, there has been one man who has been a constant at the top. Murali Vijay showed yet again why he is the settled man at the top order. With 2 centuries in his aggregate of 357 runs in the 5 matches, Vijay often set the tone for India’s giant first innings total.

He started off with a ton in Rajkot. The next two matches saw his form slump a little. But the Tamil Nadu batsman was back in business with another ton in the Mumbai Test. He averaged 44.62 in the series. Vijay hit the most number of sixes in the series (7).

3. Joe Root

Arguably the best batter of the English line up, Joe Root came in with a big reputation in the series. He lived up to his name when he hit a masterly 124 at Rajkot. Since then, he could not get to the three-figure mark but made sure that he often got starts.

He followed up the ton with 4 fifties in the series. Joe Root emerged as the leading run scorer for England on the tour with 491 runs to his name at an average of 49.10.

4. Virat Kohli (C)

Indian skipper Virat Kohli redefined the adage ‘leading from the front’ in the series. The batting maestro piled up a mountain of 655 runs in 8 innings at a staggering average of 109.16 in the series. With 2 centuries and 2 fifties to his name, he was the leading run-getter of the series. He started off in bizarre fashion when he was dismissed hit wicket at Rajkot.

He then saved the game for India with a fighting unbeaten 49. The Vizag Test saw him score a gallant 167. A double ton eluded him then. He covered up for it in the Mumbai Test and scored his third double ton of the year in the 4th match.

5. Cheteshwar Pujara

The Saurashtra batsman Cheteshwar Pujara had a dream start to the series. He scored consecutive tons in the Rajkot and the Vizag Test. He was instrumental in laying the foundation of the Indian innings throughout the series. The most resounding factor of Pujara in this series was the way he adopted an attacking game play.

Any delivery with flight came his way, Pujara got down the track and flicked it with ease. He amassed 401 runs in 8 innings at an average just over fifty. With 2 tons and a fifty, he showed why is one of the most consistent batsmen for the Indian team.

6. Jonny Bairstow

The English wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow continued his merry run this year in the India series. Albeit he did not score a century, he always looked like the most settled batsman in the alien conditions. Bairstow walked in the series as the leading run scorer of 2016.

He carried on from the point and plundered 352 runs in 5 matches at an average of 44 with 3 fifties to his name. His top knock of 89 spoke volumes about the temperament of the young wicket keeper. His wicket keeping looked blemish free too. Apart from a couple of bloopers, he was spot on with the energy levels behind the stumps.

7. Ben Stokes

Ben Stokes remodelled the aggressive game of cricket in the series. In the Rajkot Test, he was the one who broke the shackles and gave the charge to the Indian spinners. In his knock of 128, he had cleared his intention. He gave a strong statement that he will not let the Indian spinners get to his skins in the series.

With a century and a fifty in his aggregate of 345, Stokes averaged close to 39 in the series. With the ball, he was often the wicket taking option for captain Cook and gave crucial breakthroughs. He scalped 8 wickets in the series that included a five-wicket haul too.

8. Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja sealed the series for India eventually. What looked like a 3-0 win ended up being a 4-0 one, kudos to Jadeja’s 7/48 in the final Test. Jadeja was thoroughly consistent with both bat and the ball throughout the series. He wonderfully played the second fiddle to R Ashwin and took charge when mattered.

Alastair Cook became his bunny in the series as the Saurashtra lad got his back on 6 occasions. Jadeja bagged 26 wickets in the series at an average of 25.84 and an economy as low as 2.31. He was no light hooker with the bat either. With 224 runs with a best of 90, he showed he can score well and briskly in the lower order.

9. Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin is currently in a league of his own. There is no denial of the fact why he is the best bowler in Test cricket at the moment. Ashwin justified every bit of the hype that he got prior to the series. Despite starting off the series on a low note, the off-spinner got into the groove and spun his web around English batsman as the series progressed.

He scalped 28 wickets, the most by any bowler in the series, at an average of 30.25 and an economy of 2.75. He had 3 five-wicket hauls to his name in the series. He was an absolute delight to watch as a batsman too. Ashwin scored 306 runs at an average of 43.71 with 4 fifties to his name. Time and again, he added vital runs with the tail to help India post mammoth scores on the board.

10. Adil Rashid

Adil Rashid was arguably the most successful bowler for England in the series. The English team had very positives to take from the series and Rashid was one of them. In the Rajkot Test, when the bowlers found it tough to bag wickets, Rashid scalped wickets at ease.

He finished with 23 wickets in the series – the most by an English bowler on the tour. He averaged 37.43 with the ball and had an economy of 3.7. Rashid also showed that he had in him to bowl tirelessly long spells on tracks that sometimes offered little or no assistance.

11. Mohammed Shami

Mohammed Shami was the most successful pacer in the series. The series was outright dominated by the tweakers. But Shami showed why exactly is he regarded so high in the Indian bowling circle. He played just 3 matches in the series but managed to pick up 10 wickets at an average of just over 25 and an economy under 2.5.

He bowled the short deliveries to perfection to surprise the English batsman. The reverse swing also helped him trouble the English batsmen in the first 3 Tests.