India v New Zealand Test series – Combined XI

It was a heartening finish for the team India as they completed a 3-0 whitewash against a hapless New Zealand side. The Kiwis showed fight sporadically, though. India moved to the top of the ICC rankings with the series win. The Test series began in grand style as India played their 500th Test. Special knocks from Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara set the stage right. R Ashwin stole the show with his 6-wicket haul. But the main man was Ravindra Jadeja, who bagged a five-for and backed it up with a half century. For the Kiwis, Luke Ronchi’s fighting 80 was a solitary positive. The second match was a better one for the Kiwis. Matt Henry bowled some hostile spells to put India on the back foot. Some gutsy lower-order batting by Wriddhiman Saha gave impetus to the Indian innings. Twin unbeaten fifties were up against his name. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s 5/48 blew away the visiting New Zealand lineup. New Zealand were already down and out when they arrived at Indore for the final Test. Indore Test had India written all over it. From Virat Kohli’s magical double ton to Ajinkya Rahane’s fighting 188 – Indian batting exploded. On the bowling front, the Kiwis were found wanting against R Ashwin. Ashwin ended up with career best figures of 7/59 and a match haul of 13 wickets to give India a resounding win. Undoubtedly, the series was action packed. Here are the power performers of the series who form the Combined XI: Tom Latham: Tom Latham. (Photo Source: BCCI) One of the few New Zealand batsman who got success in the Test series was Tom Latham. Latham was quick to adapt to the Indian conditions. Latham started off the tour on a high with high scores in the practice matches. He carried forward the good form to the Kanpur Test, where he scored 58 in the first innings. In the Kolkata Test, where most Kiwi batsman struggled to score, Latham put on a fighting 74 in New Zealand’s total of 197 in the second innings. When the chips were down for the Kiwis in the final Test, Latham initiated the counter attack to come up with another half century. He formed a 118-run stand for the first wicket with Martin Guptill to stage a fightback. On the whole, Latham scored 194 runs in 6 innings at an average of 32.33. He was the second leading run-getter for New Zealand in the series. Cheteshwar Pujara: Cheteshwar Pujara hits a shot during his knock of 50* in the first session of Day 4 of the 3rd Test at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. (Photo Source: BCCI) India’s middle order mainstay batsman Cheteshwar Pujara had a point to prove when he came into the series. His place in the side was being questioned during the Caribbean tour. Pujara was made to sit out of the starting eleven in a Test in West Indies. The man from Saurashtra bounced back in style to reaffirm his authority in the middle order. With 373 runs in 6 matches at an average of 74.6, Pujara emerged as the leading run-getter of the series. He started off with 62 and 78 in the first Test. He missed out on a ton at Kolkata Test too, where he was dismissed on 87 in the first innings. He struck gold in the final Test thought. After scoring a fighting 41 in the first innings, he notched up his 8th international ton in the 2nd innings. An unbeaten knock of 101 saw him move to the top of leading run-getters list in the series. Ajinkya Rahane: Ajinkya Rahane. (Photo Source: BCCI) Ajinkya Rahane has become a key asset for the Indian team at the moment. He amassed 349 runs at an average over 69 in the 6 innings that he batted in. He was next to only Cheteshwar Pujara in the list of leading run-getters in the series. Rahane started off in a mediocre fashion with scores of only 18 and 40 in the first Test at Kanpur. As the series progressed, he built his form in a crescendo ending with an all-time personal highest score of 188. His fighting 77 in the second Test and a crucial partnership with Pujara helped India get a hold on the match. The best was yet to come, though. He scored a brilliant 188 en route a scintillating 365 run stand with skipper Virat Kohli in the Indore Test. He was only unlucky to have missed out on a double ton. Yet again, he perished in an attempt to accelerate for the team’s cause. He scored a brisk 23* off 20 balls in the 2nd innings and looked in supreme touch. Virat Kohli (Captain): Virat Kohli with the Test mace. (Photo Source: BCCI) Indian skipper Virat Kohli had a rough run in the Caribbean series after starting off exceptionally well with a double ton. He got starts and looked to middle the ball in the first two Tests. He got a settled 45 at Kolkata but that was never enough for a man of his caliber. A big score awaited him. He formed a 365 run stand with Ajinkya Rahane in the 3rd Test that saw India score in excess of 550. A brilliant double ton, 211 off 366 balls, was on the cards for the skipper. It was his second double ton. With Kohli coming back to form is a big bonus for India. With the limited overs series round the corner and the England Test series coming up, India look to be in commanding position. Kohli’s captaincy was spot on too. He was right on the money with his decision making. He wasn’t afraid to set attacking fields, a striking dissimilarity from his New Zealand counterpart. Wriddhiman Saha (WK): Wriddhiman Saha. (Photo Source: BCCI) Some solid batting down the order and decent keeping has earned Wriddhiman Saha the title of being the ideal replacement for MS Dhoni in Test cricket. Saha had a memorable Test at Kolkata. Saha’s extraordinary efforts of scoring twin fifties was key to India’s success in the 2nd Test. Saha batted sensibly and batted with the tail to show great character. Saha scored unbeaten scores of 54 and 58 that earned him the Man of the Match in Kolkata. His keeping has also been blemish free. Saha has looked clean behind the stumps and has been effective as a wicketkeeper too. This is certainly a good sign for India in the longer run as they have found a stable head in Saha for the wicketkeeping role. Luke Ronchi: Luke Ronchi. (Photo Source: BCCI) Luke Ronchi was the most successful batsman for the Kiwis in the series. He aggregated 200 runs and has now almost cemented the number 5 spot for the summer. With New Zealand lined up to play Bangladesh and South Africa at home, he will give a tough run for money to Henry Nicholls for the middle order position. He got a score in the 30s in the first innings of Kanpur Test. He came up with an improved performance in the 2nd innings. He was the standout performer for New Zealand with 80 runs to his name. A couple of more 30s followed in the Kolkata Test. On the whole, he got starts on every occasion. More than any other Kiwi batsman, he showed great character and adaptability to subcontinental conditions. Ravindra Jadeja: Ravindra Jadeja. (Photo Source: BCCI) Ravindra Jadeja reestablished himself as the all-rounder in the side. He was named the Man of the Match in the first Test at Kanpur for his spectacular all-round show. It was Jadeja’s unbeaten 42 that bailed out India out of trouble in the first innings and helped them post 318 on the board. He followed it up with 5/73 to restrict New Zealand to just 262. He scored another unbeaten 50 off just 58 balls to put India in command of the game. His batting was being questioned and he answered the critics in style. On the bowling front, he bagged a 3-wicket haul in the second innings of the Kolkata Test. He bagged 2 wickets each in both innings in the final Test. He played the second fiddle to Ravichandran Ashwin in the bowling department. He finished the series with 14 wickets to his name. He was the second leading wicket-taker in the series with 14 wickets to his name in 3 matches. Mitchell Santner: Mitchell Santner. (Photo Source: BCCI) Mitchell Santner has been a revelation for New Zealand cricket in the recent times. The young left-arm bowler has been equally effective with the bat too. He showed great character when he tried to stage blockathons at times when New Zealand batting collapsed. Santner scored 159 runs in the series and is ahead of the likes of Kane Williamson in the leading run-scorers list of the series. On the bowling front, he was the most successful Kiwi bowler on the tour. He bagged 10 wickets in 3 matches. He bagged a 3-wicket haul to start his tour. As the series progressed, the Indian batsman got a knack of his lines and lengths. But Santner bowled long spells and had his moments and close chances. Only if he had his share of luck, the statistics would have been slightly different for him. Ravichandran Ashwin: Ravichandran Ashwin. (Photo Source: BCCI) R Ashwin was the player of the series in every sense of the phrase. He viciously spun his web around the kiwi batsmen. The visitors had absolutely no idea about what the man from Tamil Nadu was up to. Ashwin scalped 27 wickets in the 3 matches at an average of 17.77 and bagged 3 five-wicket hauls. Ashwin bagged 4/94 in the first Test and completed his 10-wicket haul in the second innings with 6/132. The second Test saw the seamers rule the roost but Ashwin left his mark there as well. The way he plotted against each player was commendable. The final Test saw him singlehandedly rip apart the New Zealand batting. He bagged 6/81 in the first innings and then followed it up with career best figures of 7/59 in the 2nd innings. He made Kane Williamson his bunny and dismissed him on 4 occasions. Trent Boult: Trent Boult. (Photo Source: BCCI) Trent Boult emerged as the best pace bowler of the series with 10 wickets to his name. He is only next to Jadeja and Ashwin in the leading wicket-takers list of the series. He bowled his heart out on tracks which offered little or no assistance to pace bowling. He wasn’t afraid to dig the ball short on flat turners. He leaked only 333 runs for his 10 wickets in the series. His best effort came in the second Test when he bagged 3/38. He got two 3-wicket hauls in the series. Even in the final Test, when Indian batsmen piled up over 550 runs, Boult did not give up. He ran up to the mark with the same aggression and eventually saw the back of Ajinkya Rahane to dismiss him on 188. Boult’s consistency is a big bonus for the Kiwi side. Mohammad Shami: Mohammed Shami. (Photo by JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images) Mohammad Shami will be remembered for his spell in the Kolkata Test where his hostile reverse swing bowling was a little too much for the visitors to handle. It was the last session of the last day when Shami ruled the roost. He started sending the Kiwis back to the pavilion and the spinners took over from thereon. He bagged 3/46 in the 2nd innings getting rid of the New Zealand middle order. His pace aggravated the collapse of New Zealand batting and India’s series win. Earlier in the match, he had bagged 3/70 in the first innings. Overall, he scalped 8 wickets in the series to earn a rating of 6 on 10. He went wicketless in the final Test. Much to his defense, the conditions weren’t favorable enough to suit his style of bowling. Shami often created the ideal pressure situation with tight line and lengths. The Indian spinners then cashed in on the opportunity to bag wickets at will. Also read – Twitter Reactions: Team India celebrate No. 1 Test ranking

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