Live Score
Cricket Teams
Cricket PlayersRohit, Gill poor; Kohli good, Bumrah outstanding: Team India's report card in South Africa Test series
There were some outstanding performances and some forgettable ones too. Here is the report card of Indian cricketers during the South Africa Test series.
India went to South Africa with the dream of winning the first-ever Test series there. In the glorious history of Indian cricket, South Africa is the only place among traditional Test-playing nations where India are yet to win a Test series (Afghanistan don't play at home and India haven't played a Test in Ireland yet). The start was disastrous. India went down to South Africa by an innings and 32 runs almost without a fight in the first Test in Centurion. Where Indian batters struggled to cross 250 in both innings, South Africa nonchalantly posted over 400. It was a poor reflection of India's batters and bowlers.
The second Test was at a venue where they had never won. The stories of final frontier dreams ending up in a nightmare were ripe. The pitch was the fastest and the bounciest in the ball-tracking era and was rated as the third most difficult pitch to bat on outside India. What do India do? They bowl South Africa out in the first innings for their lowest total (55) in close to 100 years and then carry the momentum to win the match by seven wickets inside less than five sessions. India could not win the series but they managed to eke out a draw on South African soil for the first time since 2010.
There were obviously some outstanding individual performances and some forgettable ones too. Here is the report card of Indian cricketers during the South Africa Test series.
Rohit Sharma (4/10 poor): The Indian captain was all at sea against Kagiso Rabada throughout the series. In the first innings of the Centurion Test, he was out trying to pull Rabada, and in the second innings, he was clean-bowled. In Cape Town, he did put up a better show when he decided to take the attacking route but his troubles against the incoming deliveries will always remain a worry. His captaincy in the Boxing Day Test was also questionable.
Yashasvai Jaiswal (4/10 poor): The young left-hander on his first tour to South Africa, showed glimpses of his talent but largely struggled to cope with the steep bounce of the South African tracks. But the way he batted in every innings, it appears that the team management has given him a clear role of taking the new ball on. Whether that succeeds against good attacks and on challenging surfaces is the next big question.
Shubman Gill (4/10 poor): Just like Jaiswal, Gill was also on his first trip to South Africa as a Test cricketer but there is a big difference. Pitted as one of the very few all-format cricketers, Gill, in his third year as a Test batter is yet to conjure anything of substance. Against South Africa, he registered scores of 2, 26, 36 and 10. Yes, one shouldn't judge much based on these four innings as batting was tough, but with an average of 30 after 20 matches and a new number to contend with, time is slowly running out for Indian cricket's blue-eyed boy.
Virat Kohli (7/10 good): Often, Kohli's contributions can fly under the radar if he doesn't get to a big milestone but not during this South Africa tour. The talisman, who averages about 50 in the Rainbow Nation, was a cut above the rest. He didn't score a century but his knocks of 38 and 76 in Centurion and also the 46 he made in the most difficult of batting conditions in Cape Town will be remembered by fans and critics alike.
Shreyas Iyer (3/10 very poor): Let's be honest, Shreyas Iyer is not your No.5 outside Asia. His shortcomings against the short-pitched deliveries make him an easy wicket. If not the bouncer, the length deliveries will get him. Just like it did in three occasions on this South Africa tour. Iyer was so conscious about the stuff pitched in the bowlers' half that his feet were stuck when the length was fuller. He was bowled in both innings of the Centurion Test.
KL Rahul (8/10 very good): Sunil Gavaskar rated KL Rahul's century in the first innings of the Centurion Test as one of the top 10 hundreds by an Indian. It was the perfect mixture of caution and aggression. Rahul was batting at an unfamiliar position of No.6 and the conditions were tough. To top it all, he was losing partners at a rapid pace but the right-hander who was in his comeback Test, landed counter punches on the South African pacers like very would have imagined. Rahul didn't do much in his next two innings with the bat but with the gloves, he was simply outstanding.
Ravichandran Ashwin (6/10, above average): Ashwin wasn't supposed to play on this tour but an injury to Ravindra Jadeja opened the doors for him in the first Test, where he couldn't do much with the bat but with the ball, he did his best in unfavourable conditions. In fact, the only wicket taken by a spinner among the 63 that fell during the two Tests was taken by him. He obviously, had to make way for Jadeja in the second Test.
Ravindra Jadeja (4/10, poor): We're being a bit harsh here considering Jadeja had only one chance to make an impression either with the bat or with the ball on this tour but there really isn't much of an option. The left-hander was out for a two-ball duck in the first innings Cape Town Test to a Lungi Ngidi delivery that kicked on from a length. He was not needed to bat in the second innings and what's worse? He didn't get to bowl a single over in the Test match.
Jasprit Bumrah (9/10, excellent): The player of the series and the best bowler, Bumrah was simply outstanding on his return to Test cricket. He picked up 12 wickets in three innings. The right-arm pacer pretty much single-handedly carried the load of India's bowling in the first Test and in Cape Town, his performance in the first session of Day 2, where he picked up a six-wicket haul was in many ways the biggest reason India didn't get to chase a target which could have been troublesome.
Mohammed Siraj (8/10, very good): In his own words, Siraj was a bit inconsistent in the first Test but the way he came back in the second, picking up a six-wicket haul in the first hour of the Test match to bowl South Africa out in one session for their lowest Test score since readmission to cricket in 1991, spoke volumes of his skill and adaptability. Siraj was the Player of the Match in Cape Town for picking seven wickets in the match.
Shardul Thakur (3/10, very poor): This may turn out to be Shardul Thakur's last tour with the Indian Test side. His bowling form has dipped considerably - he went for 101 runs in 19 overs, the only bowler to concede more than five runs an over in the entire series - and his batting is convincing enough to make him an all-rounder. He was, quite understandably, dropped for the second Test.
Prasidh Krishna (3/10, very poor): Again, we're probably being too harsh to a man who made his Test debut, but boy does Prasidh Krishna need to improve if he wishes to be an ideal bowling partner to Bumrah and Siraj. In the absence of an injured Mohammed Shami, he was India's third seamer on this tour and it didn't go the way he would have planned. Prasidh picked up only two wickets in the two Tests. But the silver lining for him is the backing of captain Rohit.
Mukesh Kumar (7/10, good): Unlike Prasidh, his first trip to South Africa was a tremendous one. Not picked for the first Test, Mukesh was a welcome addition to the Indian bowling attack. All the hard yards that he put in for the last few seasons in first-class cricket paid dividends. He was well prepared, his lines and lengths were much better and the results followed. He picked up four wickets in the Cape Town Test and looked threatening.
