Rating India's Test cricketers in 2017

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.