Rating India's Test cricketers in 2017

After ending 2016 on a high with huge series wins against New Zealand and England, India had the challenge of extending their winning streak against Australia. While they eventually won the series (albeit with a hiccup in Pune), the side found new stars and brushed off the rust from the old ones.

Here's rating the Indian players who represented the side in 2017 in Tests:

Rating: 5/10

That innings of 303 turned him into a newspaper headline for a day, but the stark reality was that the pressure that followed was too much to handle for a two-Test veteran like Karun Nair.

He played three Tests this year, but came a complete cropper, salvaging 54 runs in four innings. He did not play after the Australia series.

A solid performer on debut in 2016, Jayant Yadav was one of the many options India had in the spin department, but the emergence of other backup options like Kuldeep Yadav has pushed him off even the benches.

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Rating: 7/10

He's been on the fringes for quite a while, but was plucked out of wilderness late last year. Having hammered away runs consistently in domestic cricket, Abhinav Mukund was drafted as the fourth opener and got a few scattered opportunities owing to injuries to the first choice players. Apart from a half-century against Sri Lanka, he failed to make a big impact.

Rahane has struggled for runs recently

Going by his lofty standards, it was a sub-standard year for Ajinkya Rahane, who was unable to translate his limited-overs success as comprehensively in the whites. He looked the part at the start of the year and even notched a hundred in Sri Lanka, but his recent showings against the same opposition at home raised quite a few eyebrows. He is one of India's biggest hopes on the challenging South African pitches. Hopefully, he can shake off the rut real quick.

Pandya scored a century in his debut series

Rating: 8/10

India's find of the year in 2016, Hardik Pandya impressed one and all with his quick progression for the country, evolving with each passing game. While his game is well-suited for the shorter versions, Pandya was tried out in Tests as well, as an impact player who could change the complexion of a match with some quick runs or surprise wickets. He scored a century in his debut series, although his bowling was found to be wanting.

The chinaman has been turning heads since the U19 World Cup in 2014, but Kuldeep Yadav got his true due only in 2017, when he managed to usurp Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja to hold his own place in ODIs. In Tests, he played just two games, but showed what he is worth by picking up four wickets on debut, and nine in total.

For someone as talented as Rohit Sharma, it is extremely painful to see his Test career not pick up as it was expected to. Having been awarded the limited-overs captaincy in the absence of Virat Kohli, Rohit is breaking records one after another in shorter formats, but is still wading through deep waters in Tests. He got to play only two matches, but scored a century and two fifties, to be counted as a serious middle-order contender.

Rating: 7.5/10

Ishant Sharma is slowly finding his best form in whites

He is a completely different bowler from the quick but wayward Umesh Yadav that was on display before the 2015 World Cup. As a red-ball bowler, he has improved by leaps and bounds, and has corrected his radar to bowl in the right areas. This year, he played the majority of the games, and picked up 31 wickets, ending as India's most successful pacer.

After an insipid series against Australia early this year, Ishant Sharma returned to domestic cricket to try and regain his lost touch. He returned in some style, extracting bounce and seaming the ball into the batsmen appreciably, just like the good old days. In six games, Ishant picked up 14 wickets, delivering the ball closer to the batsman rather than hurling it back of a length consistently, like he used to during his days of poor form.

Rating: 8.5/10

Bhuvneshwar Kumar's Test career took off in 2017

We're experiencing Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2.0, and it is a treat for the eyes and soul. Possessing remarkable control over the ball, and delivering it quicker than in the initial phase of his career, Bhuvneshwar is a serious threat with both the old ball and new. His Test career has been start-stop owing to injuries as well as the preference to spinners on home games, but has now emerged as a starting XI option due to his performances in the recent past.

Over the last three and a half years, Wriddhiman Saha has proven that he belongs to the big stage: there are hardly any skirmishes in his keeping technique, although his batting has been a tad inconsistent. In 2017, the Bengal player racked up 423 runs at an average of 42.30, with two hundreds and one fifty.

Murali 'Monk' Vijay had to battle a wrist surgery through a major chunk of 2017, but when he returned, he showed why exactly Team India fans missed him so badly. His composure on the crease is matched by none in Indian cricket, and that's what the team requires heavily at the top of the order. Since returning, he played six games and amassed 520 runs, including three centuries at an average of 53.60.

Shami will play a vital role for India in South Africa

When his troublesome knee is not bothering him, Mohammed Shami is India's best bet to eke out wickets even on drab surfaces. A handy exponent of swing bowling, Shami couldn't play more than five games for India, but picked up 19 wickets, and was Kohli's go-to man when the situation demanded.

He might be doubtful for the opening Test between India and South Africa, but a fit Shikhar Dhawan has been a boon for India, especially after making his comeback. Down and out after injuries and poor form, Dhawan bounced back admirably in the Champions Trophy, and was in top form in Sri Lanka. He ended the year with 550 runs from five games, at an average of 68.75.

Rating: 9/10

Rahul recorded seven consecutive fifties in Tests

While his batting performances went downhill, Ravichandran Ashwin continued his supreme form with the red cherry across 2017, carrying forward his good run from the 2016 season and translating the same this year. The Garfield Sobers 2016 Player of the Year, Ashwin prised out a total of 56 wickets in 11 games.

Supremely talented but carrying some rotten luck at the moment, KL Rahul assembled a record seven fifties in consecutive Tests, and ended with two more, but failed to breach the three-figure mark. His positive approach at the crease bodes well for the side, especially when opening with the more reserved Murali Vijay.

Rating: 9.5/10

Just a year and a half ago, there were serious questions raised on Cheteshwar Pujara's approach to Tests, with some saying that he had gone into a rut and was unable to come out of it. Pujara turned things around, and how, emerging as India's best red-ball batsman (if he already wasn't), amassing a massive 1140 runs at an average of 67.05, with four hundreds to his name.

Kohli led from the front

Taking a cue from Pujara's long vigils at the crease (as he himself admitted), Virat Kohli had a bumper 2017 in the whites, being only the second Indian to collect upwards of 1000 runs in the format. With three double centuries to add to his previous tally of 3, Kohli proved that he has corrected his temperament to score daddy hundreds in the longest format as well.

His stocks might have gone down in ODIs, but Ravindra Jadeja is still ruling the roost in Tests. For quite a while, he was atop the world rankings for bowlers in Tests, and rightly so, given his ability to turn the game on its head with an accurate spell of bowling. He picked up 54 wickets from 10 games, a tally that included 3 five-wicket hauls.