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India vs Australia 2014-15, Brisbane: India marks out of 10

Australia took a 2-0 series lead by chasing down the 128-run target with 4 wickets to spare.

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Murali Vijay's knock of 144 in the first innings was one of the saving graces for India in an otherwise disappointing Test © Getty Images
Murali Vijay’s knock of 144 in the first innings was one of the saving graces for India in an otherwise disappointing Test © Getty Images

India lost by four wickets in the second Test at Brisbane, thereby going 0-2 down in the series. Analysing the performances in the Test, Abhishek Mukherjee dishes out points for the Indians in the Test.

Yet another overseas Test. Yet another defeat for India, making it six in a row on Australian soil across all five major grounds. India reached 408 and reduced Australia to 247 for six, but the Australian tail wagged, providing them with a 97-run lead. After being 75 for one Indians collapsed to 143 for seven in the second innings, and despite some aggressive bowling from Ishant Sharma and a flurry of wickets towards the end Australia won comfortably by four wickets.

Here, then, are marks out of ten for The Gabba Test for the Indian team:

Murali Vijay: 7/10

Vijay had scored fifties in each of the practice matches, and added a diligent yet attractive 144 to that in the first innings. His dismissal off Mitchell Starc in the second innings can be called an aberration and perhaps had more to do with the mysterious “law of averages” than anything else. He continues to remain the consistent rock at the top.

Shikhar Dhawan: 6/10

Despite the criticism, it is difficult to fault Dhawan based on his performance after the second innings at The Gabba. Having scored a cautious 24 in the first innings, Dhawan retired hurt, came back, and battled injury to top-score with 81. Resuming at 117 for six he was eighth out on 203, providing India with a fighting chance.

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Cheteshwar Pujara: 5/10

Cameos are not what the team expects of Pujara. Given the start to his Test career he should have been crossing the 50-mark on a more consistent basis. After a failure in the first innings he did put up a gritty show in the second, and to be fair he got a Josh Hazlewood snorter that took off from a length.

Virat Kohli: 2/10

The expectations were enormous on Kohli as he came into the Test, but he disappointed his fans immensely. He was outdone by bounce in the first innings and by a lack of footwork in the second. He also dropped the crucial catch of Steven Smith in the second innings, which turned out to be somewhat crucial in the end.

Ajinkya Rahane: 5.5/10

Rahane scored 81 in the first innings, but unfortunately got two of the most lethal deliveries of the Test. The one in the first innings was near-unplayable, while a steep lifter got him in the second. He loses half a point for dropping Shaun Marsh.

Rohit Sharma: 1/10

The writing is perhaps on the wall. Despite the runs in the first innings he seldom looked comfortable against pace and bounce. He got a harsh decision in the second innings, but he never really got going. The selectors may want to re-think his place in the XI before the MCG Test. He also loses a point (maybe harshly) for riling up Mitchell Johnson — which, in hindsight, decided the Test.

MS Dhoni: 2/10

A 33 and a duck did hardly anything to improve Dhoni’s stature and reputation as he returned to the Indian side. He gets a point for six catches in the Test, though he loses a point for inert, clueless leadership when the last four Australian wickets added 255.

Ravichandran Ashwin: 3/10

Ashwin played two decent innings (and got a poor decision in the second), but batting was not the reason he was selected in the first place — though some would agree that he is one of the better batsmen in the Indian side. With Karn Sharma also unable to impress, India may want to include Ravindra Jadeja or go with four fast bowlers at MCG.

Umesh Yadav: 6/10

Yadav had taken three of the first four wickets in the first innings, and added two more to his tally in the second. He was quite fast and looked dangerous at times, though he could have been better. Gets a point or so for some delightful slogs in the second innings and giving some runs to give, er, himself a buffer sorts of fight.

Varun Aaron: 2/10

Some may argue that quite a few catches had gone down off Aaron’s bowling, but despite his pace, Aaron looked erratic at times, managing two wickets and going for 5.87 runs an over. Certainly not what India needs from her tearaway.

Ishant Sharma: 6/10

Bowled a lot better than those figures suggest (which were not really bad: six for 155 in a losing cause is quite decent). He managed to get lift from the pitch and bothered the Australians more than any of his colleagues. His position at No. 11, below Umesh and Yadav, is somewhat baffling.

(Abhishek Mukherjee is the Chief Editor and Cricket Historian at CricketCountry. He blogs here and can be followed on Twitter here.)

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