India v Australia, 1st Test - India Player Ratings

Pushed against the wall for the first time, Virat Kohli & Co. were found wanting for the first time in 19 Tests. They were thrashed and humiliated, by the Australian team, who started their tour as underdogs, for a change. Team India didn’t manage to match captain Steven Smith’s score of 109 that he scored on a wearing pitch in Pune. The innings would go down in the history as one of the most skillful by a visiting player and one among the best by a visiting captain. A flurry of records was registered against the Australian team’s name, in a match where the Indian lineup, ‘bettered’ their previous lowest combined score for a Test match, by scoring a mere 212 in both innings combined, their previous lowest score was 272 against Australia, back in 1956-57 at the Eden Gardens. 13 single digit score in either innings would be an indicator of how poorly Indian batting fared against the Aussies. Murali Vijay – 2.5/10 Murali Vijay. (Photo Source: BCCI) Vijay has been the more consistent batsman, among Indian openers who have been tested since Gautam Gambhir & Virender Sehwag parted ways. He had a forgettable match here. He got a peach of a delivery from Josh Hazelwood in the first innings and he poked at it. He should have known what the spinners brought to the table, having played so much domestic cricket. He fell for Steve O’Keefe, the giant of the match in the next. It would be premature to jump into conclusion against Vijay’s failure. He has been quite a calming presence in the middle, despite having different partners to open every other match. It’s imperative for India that Vijay work his way out to see off the new-ball threat in the coming games. Lokesh Rahul – 4/10 KL Rahul. (Photo Source: Twitter) Rahul did score about 60% of India’s score in the first innings. But he was the culprit of the collapse that followed his departure. As Sanjay Manjerekar pointed out, it was reckless of him to play such a shot at that point of time, when he and Ajinkya Rahane were engaged in consolidating the Indian innings, which was shaken by the pacers. Instead, he chose to play a lofted shot, which was uncalled for. In the second innings, Rahul was out lbw playing on the backfoot against a spinner on a minefield of a pitch. Rahul needs to find consistency pretty badly, as he has been a hit-or-miss player for quite a while. When he scores, he scores big and otherwise, he gets out on single digit scores, exposing the middle order to the new ball quite often. Cheteshwar Pujara – 4/10 Cheteshwar Pujara. (Photo Source: BCCI) Pujara was removed by a rip-snorter of a delivery by Mitchel Starc in the first innings. There was nothing much he could do about the ball, which kissed his gloves and landed safely in Matthew Wade’s gloves. He showed his intent to do well in the second innings by returning to the nets at the end of the day. However, India’s premium batsman too fell playing for the turn that didn’t exist and was wrapped on his legs. The ball might have as well run down the leg but with the umpire ruling him out and no reviews left Pujara had a helpless look on his face as he walked back. Virat Kohli – 3/10 Virat Kohli. (Photo Source: BCCI) He scored 13 runs, combined in both the innings. His lowest ever in a Test match. Captain Aggressive was suddenly looking out of place and out of sorts for the first time. He chased a needless ball to give a slip catch in the first innings. In the second innings, like Pujara, he played for the turn and shouldered his arms to see his off-stump shattered. It was a disappointing sight of the premier batsman to see him lose his stumps, anticipating turn that didn’t exist. Virat, the captain was also brought down to earth for a reality check after the fairy tale run of 19 unbeaten matches. He was not helped in the cause by the poor show by his batsmen or the ineffectiveness of his bowlers, barring Umesh Yadav. Generally, a captain who lets his bowlers set their fields, this was the match Kohli was truly tested for his captaincy skills and he came short. Not a matter of concern as the experience will only improve him. Ajinkya Rahane – 3.5/10 India’s Ajinkya Rahane. (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images) Considered one of the complete batsmen in the Indian side, Rahane had soft dismissals in both the innings. In either innings, Rahane closed the face of his bat early to be caught. In the first, it took Peter Handscomb’s brilliance to remove the stylish batsman, while in the second, he gave an easy catch in the covers to Nathan Lyon, both his wickets being gifted to O’Keefe. The Mumbai lad had the opportunity to rebuild the Indian innings with Rahul in the first innings, which ended with Rahul throwing away his wicket. It was startling to see a player Rahane’s technique to be out making the same mistake in both the innings. Wriddhiman Saha – 4/10 Wriddhiman Saha. (Photo Source: Twitter) Saha had a decent game behind the wicket where he caught 4 catches. His superman-like-catch of O’Keefe off the bowling of Umesh Yadav was spectacular and left everyone who saw it in awe of the man. Captain Kohli was left bewildered having seen the catch from the closest quarter possible. Saha, as has been the case with him, was more than safe behind the stumps. However, he didn’t help his cause by his twin failures with the bat in either inning. Saha gave away his wicket to O’Keefe in both the innings and had nothing much to offer with the bat, unlike his glovework which has been a blessing for the Indian bowlers. Ravichandran Ashwin – 4.5/10 Ravichandran Ashwin. (Photo Source: BCCI) 183 for 7 is an average match figure for a bowler in a Test match. Not if you are Ravi Ashwin and bowling on a rank turner. Ashwin was highly disappointing in the match and his ineffectiveness contributed to Australia out-scoring India by more than double in either of the innings. It may have been two off days but his methods can’t go unquestioned. In the process of trying too many things which to the extent of altering bowling action, he lost the plot. O’Keefe demonstrated simple skills combined with nagging accuracy. Ashwin had too much in the armoury and kept trying each one of them rather than sticking to a simple game plan. When it works, it a joy to watch him outfox the opposition, but he seemed to lack on homework in this match. His form and effectiveness will be pivotal in how India bounces back in the series. Ravindra Jadeja – 5/10 Ravindra Jadeja. (Photo Source: BCCI) Ravindra Jadeja didn’t have a cracker of a match where he should have had the better of the Australians. He couldn’t control the run flow in the first innings even though he picked 3 wickets and he couldn’t pick wickets in the second innings even though he plugged the leakage of runs from an end. His performance should be viewed under the backdrop of Steven O’Keefe, who was playing his first match and had the best returns for a visiting spinner, 12 for 70. What was expected of Jadeja was delivered by O’Keefe. He is supposed to be one of the key reason for India picking 5 regular batsmen but didn’t really make it count when he could have made an impression. Team India would have expected him to do a Starc given the deliveries from O’Keefe the most potent bowler were coming into him. Trying to cut on a pitch w a th variable bounce in the second innings wasn’t a good idea either. Jayant Yadav – 2.5/10 Jayant Yadav. (Photo Source: BCCI) Drafted in as support act for Ashwin and Jadeja, Jayant had a forgettable outing. He leaked too many runs in either innings and looked pretty clueless on what was required to stop the run flow. He gave away runs at more than 4 per over in both the innings. Even though he showed plenty of promise with the bat in his debut series, the youngster didn’t produce anything special in a match that the frontline batsmen had failed comprehensively. Umesh Yadav – 6/10 Umesh Yadav. (Photo Source: BCCI) At the end of Australia’s first innings, Indians were buoyed by Umesh Yadav’s performance on a pitch tailor-made for spinners. Introduced in the 27th over, after Ishant Sharma and the 3 spinners failed to pick a wicket, Umesh answered his captain’s call in his very second ball. He castled David Warner’s stumps with a well-executed plan, by coming around the wicket and not allowing Warner to free his arms. Umesh was very impressive with his control and was a joy to watch. The quickie has been consistently improving over the last year and it was heartening to see him step up on a pitch that was not quite suited for him. Match figure of 6 for 72 is no mean feat for a pacer on a rank turner. Ishant Sharma – 3/10 Ishant Sharma. (Photo Source: BCCI) Ishant was lively in the game against Bangladesh and looked like a threat throughout. However, against a better opposition, he didn’t look so effective and was not expected to do much with the new-ball. However, his inability to build pressure and pick wickets in crucial moments, particularly with reverse swing on offer, should worry the team management. The Indians had a forgettable match and they would want to forget everything soon about this match, barring Umesh. They have got an extra two days for the same and Anil Kumble would have a lot of thinking to do and tactics to be used in the coming games. It’s ok to lose games, but the poor temperament shown by the players needs addressing. Catching in close-cordon has been a worry ever since the legendary Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman left the arena. India dropped three catches of Steven Smith, two of those put down by an unlucky Abhinav Mukund, which will have to be addressed immediately.

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India v Australia, 1st Test - India Player Ratings

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