India v New Zealand Test Series – India Player Ratings

India completed an emphatic win over New Zealand by whitewashing the visitors 3-0 in the series. The series has been an outstanding one for the hosts. This was only the fourth occasion when India whitewashed an opposition in Test cricket. Most of the players stood out for the team when needed. The stat that stands out among the rest is that the victory margins never reduced. India emerged as the top ranked side with the series win. Among the batsmen it was Cheteshwar Pujara who emerged as the leading run-getter for India. The bowling department saw Ravichandran Ashwin torment the opposition with his off-spin bowling. The first Test at Kanpur marked the 500th Test for India in the history of Test cricket. Half-centuries from Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara set the tone for India. Ravindra Jadeja struck form with both bat and ball to inch India closer to a 1-0 lead. A 10-wicket haul in the match by Ashwin was enough for the hosts to win the match by 197 runs. The action moved to Kolkata for the 2nd Test. Wriddhiman Saha was the man of the moment with twin fifties in the match. A buzzling 5/48 by Bhuvneshwar Kumar rocked the hosts hard and they could never recover. India won handsomely by 178 runs to take an unassailable 2-0 lead. The third and the final Test saw Ashwin dominate yet again with a miraculous 10-wicket win. A double ton from Virat Kohli and a brilliant 188 from Ajinkya Rahane bolstered India’s chances of a whitewash. Here are the India player ratings for the series: Murali Vijay – 5/10 (Photo Source: BCCI) Opener Murali Vijay was the only Indian opener who went unscathed throughout the series. He featured in all 3 matches and scored 186 runs in 3 matches at an average of 31. Vijay’s form dipped as the series progressed. He started off exceedingly well with scores of 65 and 76 in the Kanpur Test. He couldn’t get into the double digits in the Kolkata Test. The final Test was yet another opportunity where he could have cashed in on a batting beauty. However, a horrid runout and a lazy run cost his wicket dearly. He had failed in the first innings too. A dipping form sees him get only 5 in the ratings. With Gautam Gambhir and KL Rahul striking form, Vijay would surely like to up his game an inch more. Shikhar Dhawan – 2/10 Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan. (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images) Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan featured in just one Test. He has been in a poor form for quite some time now. No wonder his place in the side was being questioned by many. Dhawan couldn’t make it to the playing eleven in the first Test. He got his opportunity in the 2nd Test at Kolkata. He was cleaned up on 1 by Matt Henry in the 2nd over of the match. He played cautiously for his 17 in the 2nd innings but that never looked enough for the Delhi opener to seize the spot in the side. He faces a similar crisis as that of Murali Vijay now. With Gambhir and Rahul looking good, Dhawan might have to stay out of the starting eleven now. Dhawan got injured by the end of the 2nd Test and did not feature in the 3rd Test. KL Rahul – 4/10 KL Rahul. (Photo Source: Twitter) KL Rahul walked into the series as a high on confidence batter. KL Rahul had a phenomenal run in the Caribbean where he scored tons in the T20Is and the Tests. Prior to that he had hit an ODI ton on debut in Zimbabwe too. He was drafted in the playing eleven ahead of Shikhar Dhawan in the Kanpur Test. He started off positively and struck a brisk 32 in the first innings. The second innings saw him score 38 off 50 balls. He got the starts but could not convert it to big totals on the occasion. An injury followed that saw him ruled out of the remainder of the series. Had he converted those 30s to scores in excess of 50, he would have got rating higher than 4 for sure. Gautam Gambhir – 5/10 Gautam Gambhir. (Photo Source: BCCI) Gautam Gambhir made a comeback to the national side after a long gap. He announced his return in the final Test when he got his opportunity. An injury to Dhawan and Rahul saw Gambhir drafted in the playing eleven. He started off with a bang as he pulled Matt Henry for 2 sixes in one over. However, he decelerated once the spinners came in. He perished on 29. The second innings marked his revival though. He raced to 50 in just 54 balls. This was his first fifty since 2012. It was also his second fastest fifty in Test cricket and 22nd fifty overall. He had the opportunity in hand to go for the ton too. But he perished a couple of balls later scoring his fifty. He gets a rating of 5 on 10. Cheteshwar Pujara – 9/10 Cheteshwar Pujara. (Photo Source: BCCI) Middle-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara had a point to prove when he came into the series. A lot was spoken about his place in the team. Pujara was made to sit out of the starting eleven in a Test in West Indies. No wonder, Pujara reaffirmed 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. His form is surely a plus point for India in the long domestic season. Virat Kohli – 8/10 Virat Kohli. (Photo Source: BCCI) Indian skipper Virat Kohli struggled to find his feet in the first 2 Tests of the series. He got starts and looked to middle the ball on both occasions. However, a big score waited for him. The moment arrived in the final Test. 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 was on the cards for the skipper, the 2nd of his career. His score of 211 stood tall among the rest. 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 looks 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. Ajinkya Rahane – 8/10 Ajinkya Rahane. (Photo Source: BCCI) Middle order batsman Ajinkya Rahane was in prime touch by the end of the series. Rahane scored 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 had a timid start to the series with scores of only 18 and 40 in the first match. As the series progressed, he only got better. He scored a fighting 77 in the second Test and forged a crucial partnership with Pujara in the process. 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. He scored a brisk 23* off 20 balls in the 2nd innings and looked in supreme touch. He gets 8 on 10 in the ratings. Rohit Sharma – 7/10 Rohit Sharma. (Photo Source: BCCI) Rohit Sharma was a controversial selection in the team after a dismal outing in the Caribbean. However, the Mumbai batsman came out strong to show why he is still considered to be destructive on his given day. Sharma scored 35 in the first innings at Kanpur. He made it even better with an unbeaten 65 in the 2nd innings. He was the standout performer for India in the batting department in the 2nd innings at Kolkata. While most of the batsmen failed to make good connection with the bat, Rohit showed why Eden Gardens is his fortress. A match winning knock of 82 runs set the base for India’s emphatic win. The final Test saw him score another half century, an unbeaten 51, in just 63 balls to propel India past 550 run mark. Clearly, he had silenced all his critics. He gets 7 on 10 in the ratings. Wriddhiman Saha – 7/10 (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 wicket keeper too. This is certainly a good sign for India in the longer run as they have found a stable head in Saha for the wicket keeping role. Ravindra Jadeja – 7/10 Ravindra Jadeja plays a shot. (Photo by PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP/Getty Images) Ravindra Jadeja got his named etched as the all-rounder of the side yet again. Jadeja 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. Jadeja did not get much opportunity to bat thereafter kudos to some good solid top order batting by India. 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 gets 7 on 10 for his improved all-round show. Ravichandran Ashwin – 9.5/10 Ravichandran Ashwin. (Photo Source: BCCI) Ravichandran Ashwin has been the player of the series for India. He viciously spun his web around the kiwi batsmen. The visitors had absolutely no idea about what the man from Tamil Nadu was upto. 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 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. Mohammad Shami – 7/10 Mohammed Shami. (Photo Source: BCCI) 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 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. Umesh Yadav – 5/10 (Photo Source: BCCI) Umesh Yadav picked 2 wickets in 2 matches. One couldn’t blame him much for the shortage of wickets in the wicket column. He bowled very few overs as the series was dominated by the spinners. However, he was hostile in the limited opportunities that he received. He bowled with pace in the first Test and di the same in the third test. He bagged 1/13 in 8 overs with 4 maidens in the 2nd innings of the final Test. Earlier in the first Test, he scalped 1/33 in 15 overs with 5 maidens to his name. Bhuvneshwar Kumar – 8/10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar. (Photo Source: BCCI) Bhuvneshwar Kumar made the most of the only opportunity that he got in the 2nd Test. He could not make it to the starting eleven in the first match. But the seaming conditions in the Kolkata Test saw him drafted into the starting eleven. He ripped apart the Kiwi batting lineup with a brilliant 5/48. His swinging deliveries did not let the opposition batters settle in at the top order. He did not play in the 3rd Test and was replaced by Umesh Yadav. He got the solitary wicket of Jeetan Patel in the second innings. He gets 8 for the fact that he did his job when it was needed the most. Also read – India v New Zealand, 3rd Test – 5 Talking Points

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