India v Sri Lanka, 3rd Test - India Player Ratings

It was a tale of some spirited batting from a batting lineup that had received a lot of heat from all corners in the recent times. Sri Lankan batsmen showed serious temperament to ensure that the final Test against India at the Kotla, Delhi, ended in a draw. While the senior batsmen, Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews, held the fort in the first innings, the second innings belonged to the rookie batsmen.

Dhananjaya de Silva scored a magnificent ton on his Test return in the second innings. Niroshan Dickwella and Roshen Silva then kept holding on till they ensured that the scoreline of the series went down as 1-0 and not 2-0. For the Indian team, the match proved to be a bitter pill to swallow. It was a case of being so close yet so far – something they had experienced in the Kolkata Test as well.

Now, team India would want to regroup and fix a few minute issues before they embark on a journey that is only going to get tougher, if not the toughest. They have South Africa lined up as their next assignment. For the moment, they will certainly analyse how the individual players fared up in the match. Here we try to analyse the same.

Here are the India Player Ratings for the match:

Murali Vijay – 8/10

Seasoned opener Murali Vijay continued to bat with his sublime form. After having missed out on being named in the playing eleven in the first Test, Murali Vijay has made some strong statements in the next two. He backed up his ton from the previous Test with another one in the Delhi game.

Vijay plundered 155 runs in the first innings and stitched a marathon stand with Virat Kohli. Vijay was unlucky to have missed out on scoring in the second innings and could only register 9 runs before getting dismissed.

Shikhar Dhawan – 6/10

Shikhar Dhawan came back in to the side at the expense of KL Rahul. The pitch on the first day of the match looked like a batting belter. But Dhawan missed out on making the most out of it after getting a good start. He was sent back packing on 23. In the second innings, Dhawan notched up a fifty on his birthday to show some fine form. He scored 67 with the bat in the innings.

Cheteshwar Pujara – 4/10

Over the last couple of years, Cheteshwar Pujara has evolved as the batting mainstay of team India. He had a rare failure in the match – a failure by his standards. He had mustered runs in the first couple of Tests but could not breach the 50-run mark in Delhi.

Pujara batted well for his 49 in the second innings. Surprisingly, he was the aggressor in the brief partnership he shared with Shikhar Dhawan in the innings. Earlier in the game, Pujara had scored 23 in the first innings before perishing to a Lahiru Gamage delivery.

Virat Kohli – 9/10

Indian skipper Virat Kohli continued to reign supreme against the tourists. Kohli hammered his career-best score of 243 in the first innings. The batting effort was a monumental one as it was his sixth double ton in Test cricket and his second successive double ton in the series.

His knock of 243 came off just 287 deliveries with 25 boundaries. In the second innings, he seemed to continue from where he had left in the first innings. He scored a quick fifty off 58 deliveries. With the captaincy, Kohli did not have all the decisions going his way though.

Ajinkya Rahane – 2/10

Ajinkya Rahane’s lackluster form with the bat continued in the series. The final Test saw twin failures coming from his bat. In the first innings, when batsmen made merry, Rahane perished after scoring just 1. The team management desperately wanted him to get runs under his belt and hence promoted him to the number 3 spot. But the veteran batsman largely failed again and scored only 10 off 37 deliveries in the second innings.

Rohit Sharma – 8/10

Rohit Sharma has been one of the impressive performers for the Indian team in the series. He made the most out of the opportunity that he got after replacing Hardik Pandya in the playing eleven. The Delhi Test saw him score twin fifties.

Both fifties showed contrasting characteristics though. In the first innings, he played the waiting game and notched up 65 runs in 102 deliveries. In the second innings, when the team needed the acceleration, Rohit hammered a quick unbeaten 50 off just 49 deliveries.

Wriddhiman Saha – 7/10

Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha did not have a major say in the match with the bat. His services with the bat were not needed by the team in either of the innings. With the gloves, Saha showed why he is best keeper in the country. He took a stunner during the Sri Lankan first innings. The Bengal lad pocketed all catches that came his way in the game.

Ravichandran Ashwin – 5/10

Ravichandran Ashwin toiled hard in the second innings but failed to break the Sri Lankan resistance that saw only two wickets fall on the final day. Ashwin bowled 35 overs and returned with just one wicket. The wicket, though, was of Dinesh Chandimal.

A beautifully tossed up classical off spin delivery. Earlier in the match, he had run through the lower middle order of the Sri Lanka side in the first innings. He had returned with figures of 3/90 in his 35 overs.

Ravindra Jadeja – 6/10

On the penultimate day of the Test, team India looked in firm command with 3 quick wickets to their name. Two of those dismissals belonged to Ravindra Jadeja. Jadeja ended up with 3 scalps in the second innings. He would have certainly liked to add a few more to the tally though. In the first innings, Ravindra Jadeja had bagged 2 wickets in his bowling spells.

Mohammad Shami – 5/10

Pacer Mohammad Shami oozed fire when he got rid of Dimuth Karunaratne on the very first ball of the Sri Lankan innings. He bowled some lethal bouncers that had the Sri Lankan batsmen on their feet. Shami bagged another wicket in the innings. In the second innings, his magic with the ball seemed to fade away. He could only take a solitary scalp as team India kept looking for wickets.

Ishant Sharma – 5/10

Pacer Ishant Sharma went wicketless in the second innings. Needless to concede, team India desperately needed him to strike. The opposition batsmen found it easy to negotiate with him in the innings. Earlier in the match, he had bagged a three-for in the first innings. This included the big wicket of Dinesh Chandimal – the last Sri Lankan wicket to fall in the first innings.