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Home  » Cricket » Report Card: Jaiswal 10/10, Ashwin 9/10, Jurel 9/10

Report Card: Jaiswal 10/10, Ashwin 9/10, Jurel 9/10

By HARISH KOTIAN
March 11, 2024 11:38 IST
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It was one of India's finest performances in a Test series in a long time.

Rarely has any team has challenged the Indians at home the way Ben Stokes did, especially in the first few games before they eventually ran out of steam at the end.

 

India, missing a host of their top players, did an unbelievable job to bounce back after a shock loss in the first in Hyderabad, courtesy some excellent performances from their young stars, to claim a 4-1 series triumph.

The likes of Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Devdutt Padikkal and Akash Deep had a debut series to remember as they exceeded all expectations.

The young Yashasvi Jaiswal made everyone sit and take notice with his record-breaking run with the bat, while the bowlers Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja came up with some fine performances to carry India to victory.

Here's how India's players fared in the England series:

Rohit Sharma (9/10)



Like his team, captain Rohit Sharma also endured a slow to start to the series. He didn't score too many runs in the first two Tests and his captaincy also came in for a bit of criticism.

But once he blasted his way to a brilliant 131 in the third Test in Rajkot, not only were the runs back but Rohit also started making more impact as a skipper.

He smashed a fifty and another century in the last two games to finish with 400 runs at an average of 44.44 in the series, with two centuries and a fifty.

England's unconventional 'Bazball' tactics did seem to have affected Rohit in the first Test but he did well to counter them with his well-planned moves in the next four games.

Yashasvi Jaiswal (10/10)



Yashasvi Jaiswal was the player of the series by a long way as he went past at least the 50-run mark in all the five Tests.

Playing in his first Test series at home, the youngster proved to be unstoppable with the bat, giving England a taste of their own 'Bazball'. He amassed a record 712 runs with two back to back double centuries and three fifties and was instrumental in India's brilliant comeback with his splendid knock of 209 in the Hyderabad Test.

He joined the legendary Sunil Gavaskar as the only two Indian batters to score more than 700 runs in a bilateral Test series.

The left-hander tallied a huge 712 runs at an average of 89.

The 22-year-old has made an impressive start to his Test career, going past the 1000-run mark in nine games, average 68, with three hundreds and four fifties.

Shubman Gill (9/10)



Shubman Gill came into the series with a lot of question marks over his place in the Test team.

And his twin failures and India's defeat in the opening match in Visakhapatnam only worsened things.

But Gill bounced back in style in the Hyderabad Test. His second innings knock of 104 -- his first score of more than 50 in 12 innings -- proved to be the difference on a turning pitch in Visakhapatnam.

Once the monkey was off his back, Gill started churning out runs more consistently.

He hit fifties in the next two games followed by a century in India's dominating victory in the last game in Dharamsala.

Gill finished with 452 runs at an average of 56.

Sarfaraz Khan (8/10)



Sarfaraz Khan was made to wait to break into the Test team and when the opportunity did come he made sure to grab it with both hands.

He started with two aggressive fifties in his debut Test in Rajkot, as he proved how the experience of playing domestic cricket is so vital for a cricketer.

Sarfaraz failed in the two innings in Ranchi before he struck another half-century in the Dharamsala Test to finish with 200 runs in the series at an average of 50, with three fifties.

He averages an incredible 68 in first class cricket with 4112 runs from 48 games.

Devdutt Padikkal (8/10)



Devdutt Padikkal was another debutant who made hay as the sun shone.

Picked in the Dharamsala Test in place of the struggling Rajat Patidar, the Karnataka left-hander made an immediate fifty on debut as he stroked his way to a fluent 65.

He is another player who was picked in the Test team on the back of some great form in the Ranji Trophy and for India 'A'.

Dhruv Jurel (9/10)



Dhruv Jurel enjoyed a memorable series with both bat and gloves.

Before the series began, hardly anyone had heard of the UP wicketkeeper, the son of a Kargil war veteran.

Jurel, 23, who was picked in the Test team after having played just 15 first class games, repaid the selectors' faith with a match-saving innings of 90 in the first innings of the fourth Test in Ranchi.

Fittingly, he hit the winnng runs in the second innings as he stroked 39 not out to help India seal the series 3-1 with one match to go.

Jurel scored 190 runs with the bat, while he was quite safe with the gloves too as he pouched five catches and effected two stumpings.

K L Rahul (8/10)



K L Rahul continued his recent good form with an assured half-century (86) in the Hyderabad Test.

But unfortunately, he was ruled out of the rest of the series with a quadriceps injury, which he first suffered during the IPL last year.

Rajat Patidar (1/10)



Rajat Patidar, who was picked as Virat Kohli's replacement for the Test series, failed to live up to the hyphe.

Patidar enjoyed a lot of backing from the team management as he got to play in three straight Tests despite not looking convincing at all.

He managed just 63 runs in the six innings, out of which 32 came in the first innings of his debut Test in Visakhapatnam.

Surprisingly, a player of calibre of Patidar, who has a good record in first class cricket, fell to spin in all his six innings in the series.

Shreyas Iyer (2/10)



The selectors and the team management finally lost patience with Shreyas Iyer.

Iyer failed to convert his starts in the first two Tests as he got out once in the 30s and twice in the 20s.

He was promptly dropped after the first two Tests as he could manage only 104 runs at an average of 26.

K S Bharat (4/10)



K S Bharat took over as the India Test wicketkeeper after Rishabh Pant's accident but he was unable to seize his opportunities.

While his wicketkeeping was never the problem, his below-par record with the bat has proved to be the major stumbling block, especially with India preferring to play five specialist bowlers.

He averages 20 in seven Tests played so far, with a tally of 221 runs without a single half-century in 12 innings.

This series too, he threw away starts in the first Test in Hyderabad, and his twin failures at his home in Visakhapatnam proved to be his undoing.

Ravindra Jadeja (9/10)



There is a reason why Ravindra Jadeja is ranked as the No 1 all-rounder in Test cricket in the current ICC rankings.

The left-hander continues to make key contributions with both bat and ball for India, whether playing at home or overseas.

This series too, all-rounder Jadeja was at the forefront for India against a spirited England team.

India used him as a floater at times in the series, sending him at No 5 at times, and he certainly didn't disappoint with 232 runs including a century at his home ground in Rajkot along with a fifty.

With the ball too, Jadeja contributed with 19 wickets, including a five-wicket haul in the Visakhapatnam Test when he sent England collapsing for 122 in their second innings.

Ravichandran Ashwin (9/10)



The selfless Ravichandran Ashwin was a major inspiration behind India's come-from-behind triumph in the series.

Ashwin certainly had a series to remember. No sooner had he picked his 500th Test cricket than he had to rush to Chennai in the middle of the Rajkot Test to attend to his ailing mother, who was admitted to the ICU.

He returned to action on Day 4 on his mother's insistence and as coach Rahul Dravid admitted, it was 'the standout moment of the series'.

After a slow start -- 11 wickets in the first three Tests -- not typical of Ashwin in a home series, he stormed back in fine style in the last two Tests.

He took six wickets in the fourth Test in Ranchi when he demolished England in the second innings before making his 100th Test memorable with a nine wickets in the match.

Ashwin finished as the leading wicket-taker in the series with 26 wickets at an average of 24.

Jasprit Bumrah (9/10)



Jasprit Bumrah's six-wicket haul proved to be the major turning point of the series.

The momentum was firmly with England after winning the first Test before he changed the course of the next game with a lethal spell on Day 2.

His sensational yorker to clean up Ollie Pope has already been spoken as 'Ball of the Century' by experts. The fast bowler ripped apart England's middle order with a devastating spell of 6/45 in the first innings and took three more in the next to power India to a thumping 106-run win.

Bumrah was rested for the fourth Test in Ranchi but still managed to pick up 19 wickets in the series at an incredible average of 16.

Kuldeep Yadav (9/10)



Kuldeep Yadav has been India's third choice spinner after Ashwin and Jadeja in the last couple of years but after his excellent showing in this series he has shown that he rightfully deserves a place in the starting XI.

After missing out on the first Test, Kuldeep came into the team in place of an injured Jadeja in the second match. He took four wickets each in the next two games before his superb four-wicket haul in Ranchi.

Before this series, Kuldeep had played just eight Tests in seven years but given a run of few games in a row he showed his true potential as he kept getting better with every match.

Kuldeep destroyed the England batting line-up with a superb spell of 5/72 in the first innings of the Dharamsala Test on a good pitch on the first day and was deservedly named as the man of the match despite Ashwin taking nine in the game.

Kuldeep claimed 19 wickets in the series at an average of 20.

Mohammed Siraj (5/10)

Mohammed Siraj didn't have much to do in the series.

His only performance of note was the 4/84 he took in Visakhapatnam when he sent England collapsing from 299/5 to 319 all out and help India grab a huge lead.

He finished with six wickets in the series at an average of 46.

Akash Deep (8/10)

Pacer Akash Deep enjoyed a memorable debut with a three-wicket burst with a fine exhibition of swing bowling in Ranchi.

Bengal pacer Akash claimed the England top 3 in an incredible first spell by a debutant in Test cricket.

It was courtesy of his spell that England were unable to make most of batting first on a good wicket.

Axar Patel (7/10)

India preferring to go in with Kuldeep Yadav's wicket-taking prowess meant that Axar Patel got only two games in the series.

Axar did a commendable job in the limited opportunities, taking six wickets in the series while scoring 133 runs at an average of 33.

Mukesh Kumar (1/10)

Mukesh Kumar found the going tough against the aggressive English openers.

In the only match he played in the series in Visakhapatnam, he went for plenty of runs.

He went for 44 runs in seven overs in the first innings, while he took 1/26 in five overs in the next and was not considered for the rest of the series.

Photographs: BCCI

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HARISH KOTIAN / Rediff.com

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