India's Test Report Card 2018: Rating the players

Rishabh Pant

Rating- 7/10

Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant made his Test debut after Dinesh Karthik misfired and he has now cemented his spot in the Indian Test team. The aggressive keeper batsman has scored 537 runs in eight matches averaging a good batting average of 38.35. Pant's only issue seems to be his over-aggressive approach which has cost him his wicket and he seems to be on course to address that.

He averaged 92 against the Windies, 27 against England and 31.83 against Australia. He scored a brilliant 114 alongside KL Rahul in the Oval Test after a top-order collapse showing character and aggression at the same time. India have been expecting the same kind of innings from him but it hasn't materialized.

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Ishant Sharma

Rating- 7.5/10

Ishant Sharma

Ishant Sharma's excellence in Test match Cricket has been unchanged in 2018 as well. He has picked up 40 wickets in 11 matches at a good bowling average of 22.27. He was brilliant against South Africa where he picked up eight wickets with a great bowling average of 18.75.

Against England, he had 18 wickets and against Australia, he has handled the new ball well. His testing spell of bowling against South Africa in the match where he picked up 5 wickets was his best performance in the entire year. Ishant's consistency is something to praise.

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Ravindra Jadeja

Rating- 7.5/10

Ravindra Jadeja

Jadeja is one player who has been underutilized this year. The bowling all-rounder has played only five Tests this year and has had a positive run of games scored 228 runs averaging 45.60 and picked up 24 wickets averaging a good 22.62. He picked up six wickets against Afghanistan and seven against West Indies.

Against England, he picked up seven wickets and scored 99 runs in the only match he played. He was given a chance to play against Australia in the third Test and he performed very well with the ball. He scored a brilliant 100 against West Indies and picked up seven wickets against them. India must certainly give more opportunities to 'Sir' to reap the profits.

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Mohammed Shami

Rating- 7.5/10

Mohammed Shami

Mohammed Shami has been good in Tests this year and has been good with his bowling despite a tumultuous personal life. He has picked up 46 wickets from 12 matches in 2018. He made an instant impact in South Africa picking up 15 wickets in three Test matches averaging a brilliant 17.50.

In England, he wasn't too good as he picked up 16 wickets in five matches. He was good against the Windies and has been good so far in Australia. He has used the reverse swing well and has cleaned up the Aussie tail on many occasions.

One instance where he impressed was the second innings in Perth. He used the bounce of the drop-in pitch at the Optus Stadium and bowled a testing spell of classic Test match bowling. His bouncers and reverse swinging deliveries fetched him six wickets. Shami is certainly a big asset to Indian cricket.