England vs India 2014 - 3rd Test: Players ratings for Team India

On 10th July 2011, MS Dhoni decided to draw a test match in Dominica, West Indies. Since then India hadn’t won a single overseas match. They faced humiliation in England and Australia, lost one and drew one in New Zealand and South Africs.On 25th August 2013, the English players decided to urinate on the Oval’s pitch to celebrate their Ashes win. Since then they had played 9 matches and had won in none. Lost 7 and drawn 2.India broke the Dominica Curse at Lord’s and England followed suit at the Ageas Bowl. England’s performance was simply outstanding and a team that manages to dominate the opponents in all sessions like they did deserve to win. The home team would be really happy with the way they played. They outperformed India in every aspect of the game. They bowled well, batted well and their catching in the slips was exceptional.India’s woes started with Jadeja dropping Cook at 15 and ended with Moeen Ali’s 6-67. The way India played in this match was reminiscent of the 2011 series. Batsmen threw away starts, the slip fielding was horrible, and bowlers were clueless about line and length. Only Rahane was the positive in the whole match. He stood his ground while all others around him were falling like nine pins.The negatives were in heaps. Let us take a look at how the Indian players performed and score them accordingly.

#1 Shikhar Dhawan

It came as a huge surprise to everyone when Shikhar Dhawan’s wasn’t the first wicket to fall in India’s second innings. That is how bad he has played in the series. He has an average of just 20 in the 3 Test matches. His scores of 6 and 37 in this match are not what you’d expect from your opener. Add to that his slip fielding woes. He dropped regulation catches at second slip which ensured that the English batsmen scored big. With Gautam Gambhir looking behind his shoulders, he’d be extremely lucky if he gets to play in the next match.

Contribution: 6 and 37

Score: 3/10

#2 Murali Vijay

He has been India’s best batsman in the series. He has scored 364 runs at an average of 60. In the first innings, he looked set for a big score before getting bowled by Stuart Broad. But his suicidal run out in the second innings was what cost us the match. When the team required surviving 120+ overs to save the match, your most in-form batsman throwing away his wicket to a run out would be the best way to get out. NOT.

Contribution: 35 and 12

Score: 4/10

#3 Cheteshwar Pujara

He has often been compared with Rahul Dravid. His vigil of 120 balls at Lord’s showed glimpses of his similarity with “The Wall”. But in this match he looked as clueless as everyone. This match provided him with the opportunity to rise up to the occasion and take India out of trouble. He has now gone 12 innings without scoring a single century and his failures are hurting the team big time.

Contribution: 24 and 2

Score: 3/10

#4 Virat Kohli

For a player who was being called India’s best hope for winning the series, his performance has been abysmal. He looked set to score big in both the innings but could not. He threw away perfectly good starts both times. He had a dinner date with, no not Anushka Sharma, but Michael Vaughan and let us hope he has learnt some tricks of the trade from him.

Contribution: 39 and 28

Score: 4/10

#5 Ajinkya Rahane

He was the lone warrior in the match. He looked to set to repeat the heroics of the Lord’s match here too but got out to Ali’s spin bowling. He wanted to go for the big shot but ended up gifting his wicket. He was the only one who gave a fight in the second innings as he made a gritty 52* while others around him fell to Anderson’s swing and Ali’s spin.

Contribution: 54 and 52*

Score: 7/10

#6 Rohit Sharma

The only thing talented about him in this match was his brain fades. He got out to a mindless shot in the first innings just 5 minutes before Tea. Similarly in the second innings he got out to Anderson playing a very poor shot. He did take his maiden Test wicket and that was his only worthwhile contribution to the match.

Contribution: 6, 28 and 1/26

Score: 3/10

#7 MS Dhoni

He continues to fail to impress in the Tests with his batting. He has struggled against Anderson and it is there for all to see. He struggled in the second innings and got out to a ball which should have been left alone. His team selection didn’t work either and he needs to identify the problems and sort them out. He would not want this series to be 2011 all over again.

Contribution: 50 and 6

Score: 5/10

#8 Ravindra Jadeja

Alastair Cook would be extremely grateful to him. He dropped Cook when he was at 15. What could have been another failure for Cook got converted into a confidence building 95. He couldn’t perform with the bat. In the bowling department, he did take 5 wickets but he was out bowled by Moeen Ali.

Contribution: 31, 15 and 2/153, 3/52

Score: 5/10

#9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar

He was the only seam bowler who looked to take wickets in the Indian contingent. Bell, Root and Ali fell to him in the first innings while he made sure Robson went back cheaply in the second innings. A rare failure with the bat added to India’s misery.

Contribution: 19, 0 and 3/101, 1/59

Score: 6/10

#10 Mohammad Shami

Much was expected from him after his sensational debut against West Indies in 2013, but he hasn’t exactly lived up to the promise. Varun Aaron and Ishwar Pandey are sitting in the dugout while Shami fails to get wickets. He hasn’t troubled the batsman at any point of time in the series.

Contribution: 5, 0 and 1/123, 0/24

Score: 2/10

#11 Pankaj Singh

Ishant Sharma’s injury made sure Pankaj Singh finally got his first Test cap. But with Ishant Sharma’s spot in the team, he seems to have acquired his luck too. He deserved three wickets at the end of England’s first innings, but a mixture of Rod Tucker and the slip fielders denied him any. In the process, he got the worst figures for a debutant bowler.

Contribution: 1*, 9 and 0/146, 0/33

Score: 4/10