India vs. England Oval Test Player Ratings

One wonders what sort of motivation can a team muster up going into a Test match already humbled 3-0 in a most convincing manner. The Indian team’s body language answered that interrogation with another tame performance. The Oval Test could be reduced to the same formula that was effective throughout the series; unfit Indian bowlers, English domination in all departments and an unconditional surrender on part of the Indian batsmen excepting “the wall”.

The loss at the Oval was all the more disappointing because the conditions were hardly harsh. The pitch was fit for batting and the sun shone for 4 days to their convenience. Veterans failed and youngsters fell short of expectations. The series was a nightmare for the Indians that would not be forgotten very easily. One can only hope that the repercussions are constructive and no hasty decisions are made.

Here is an assessment of the team’s performance in the Oval Test. In the process, I will also shed some light on the overall performance of the concerned individuals in the series.

Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag 2/10: The swashbuckling opener from Delhi was called in the middle of the series and was being looked upon as “the crisis man”. Ironically, he became a crisis himself and will now head back home without participating in the ODI series for which he was originally named. With a king pair in the 3^rd Test, he did little to resurrect himself in two innings of the Oval Test.

Sehwag’s performance gave us little to ponder upon but he will be all over in the media for the wrong reasons. He turned up for the series without having fully recovered from his long standing shoulder injury. It was very naïve of him and the administrators to have made this decision and it certainly cost the team.

Rahul Dravid 10/10: The outstanding graduate from this class that is otherwise filled with long faces. Dravid scored 3 centuries in the series and looked plush in confidence. His feet moved as if he had not aged in all these years. He carried his bat at Oval and all his innings came while the wickets tumbled at the other end. His contribution becomes all the more significant as he saved the team from uncomfortable situations by opening in the absence of Sehwag and then Gambhir. Unfortunately, his teammates failed him.

Gautam Gambhir 5/10: One cannot point a finger upon the integrity of Gautam Gambhir. He has the temperament required from a Test Cricketer but he has been extremely unfortunate with the injuries. The Oval Test saw him bat at number 9 for the team in both the innings. Even though he did not add to the score he showed the intention but his body failed him. This is a sympathetic assessment for him.

Sachin Tendulkar 5/10: The great man was never himself in this series. From Lords to the Oval and at all the stops in between, Indian fans rushed to the stadiums in search of the “super-century” but it never came. He was at the verge at Oval in the final innings but he succumbed to the nervous nineties. I believe rightly so. The little man’s career has such sparkling milestones and had this super century come now, it would have been a timid one. He has been missing his children we are told, and age does catch up in a long and demanding series such as this. He is human after all.

VVS Laxman 4/10: Consider him failed. The most irksome disappointment for me in this series was Laxman’s draught of runs. He had no excuse of a busy calendar or failing health. His was a case of irresponsible batting. Faltering into the temptation of the short delivery time and again in a repeat of his dismissals was frustrating to watch; not expected from a veteran like him.

Suresh Raina 4/10: Raina showed promise in the West Indies and began the tour in England with a century in the practice match. However, when it came down to the actual showdown he fell helplessly short. His inability to deal with quality fast bowling is a worry for Indian cricket that is being constantly lured by the Siren that is T-20. His contribution in the last 2 Tests was near to negligible and he must prove himself in the English conditions in the coming ODI’s. Substandard.

Ishant Sharma was a positive for me

MS Dhoni 5/10: Dhoni bears a massive burden as the Indian captain. Keeping in England was not an easy task and there is much talk about his sore fingers. From time to time, he failed to adapt his game to the requirements of the circumstances. He did so in the 3^rd Test but lacked assistance and hence my concern is not so much so about his batting ability as is about his temperament and captaincy.

Dhoni ran short of ideas throughout the series as was inevitably seen in the massive scores England got. The Indian team failed to get 10 wickets in the Oval Test and a part of the blame must go to his field settings. Add to that the irresponsible shot selection in the final innings. He seemed frustrated.

Amit Mishra 6/10: There is abundant praise stocked for Mishra’s competitive nature as exhibited in his batting performance at Oval. He decided to put a price on his wicket sending out a lesson to some top-order batsmen. However, his bowling had no sting. Things could have been different had he got the opportunity to bowl on the 4^th or 5^th day. I believe he should be selected ahead of Harbhajan Singh for the next series.

Ishant Sharma 7/10: Sharma gets the benefit in my assessment for having bowled in great volumes in the last two months. The workload has been back-breaking and thus he returns home for some rest. He led the bowling attack with little success in the absence of Zaheer Khan but was above par in his own performance. He ran in with great heart. Once again, he received no favors from his colleagues.

RP Singh 4/10: I don’t know why he was called as a replacement in the first place. I think giving him a chance in the Oval Test ahead of Munaf Patel was a mistake. However, I have the advantage of speaking in hindsight. At the same time, his fitness levels were appalling. Go hit the gym lad.

Sreesanth 4.5/10: If RP Singh needs to hit the gym, Sreesanth needs some assistance. And you know in what matter I mean this assistance to be. With enough experience in his bag, he still looks like a novice whenever called into the Test side. I wonder if this might be the end of the road for him. The problem with him is that of consistency. He can be brilliant in spells and distressing in others.