Published: Aug 16, 2017, 07:00 AM (IST)
Edited: Aug 17, 2017, 01:59 PM (IST)
India outclassed Sri Lanka in all departments in the three-Test series. After Australia in 2003-04, India became only the first team to clean sweep Sri Lanka in their own backyard. Shikhar Dhawan was awarded Man of the Series for his spectacular performance, scoring 358 runs at 89.5. His staggering 190 in the first Test had set up the foundation for the visitors. That said, the bowling unit played well in tandem. Ravichandran Ashwin ended as the highest wicket-taker, hunting down 17 wickets at 25.88. India made only two changes. The fit-again KL Rahul replaced Abhinav Mukund, while Kuldeep Yadav was drafted to fill in for the banned Ravindra Jadeja. Let us rate each player on a scale from 1 to 10.
Shikhar Dhawan | 9.5/10 | 358 runs at 98.5: Dhawan, once nicknamed Gabbar for his magnificent moustache, goes by the name Daddy D these days. His younger comrades think that the 31-year-old is no more the young dynamo. How wrong they were! After going to lunch at 64 on the opening day of the opening Test, Dhawan went bonkers and romped 126 runs, the second-highest in the second session of a day’s play for India. Virender Sehwag tops the list with 133 runs against Sri Lanka in 2009 at Brabourne Stadium, though that was in the third session. Although he could not convert his start into a big innings in the second Test, Dhawan did so in the concluding one. The Daddy D is now is also known for his Daddy hundreds.
KL Rahul | 8/10 | 142 runs at 71: There is a reason Kohli believes in Rahul. After his stunning show, Rahul now features in the top 10 batsmen of ICC Test Rankings. He slammed 7 consecutive half-centuries in Test cricket during the series, equalling the world record with Kumar Sangakkara, Everton Weekes, Andy Flower, Chris Rogers and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. ’nuff said.
Cheteshwar Pujara | 9/10 | 309 runs at 77.25: Che was the highest run-scorer of the previous home series, and has now continued the stellar show overseas. His consecutive hundreds helped India seal the series before the Pallekele Test. He stitched up two match-defining partnerships, with Dhawan in the first Test and Ajinkya Rahane in the following one. In other words, he is a tediously long but perfectly punctuated sentence.
Virat Kohli | 7/10 | 161 runs at 53.66: He failed in the first innings of the Galle Test, but as expected, made amends with a mandatory hundred. In addition, he was exceptional in getting the playing XI right. Despite Mukund being the first-choice opener, Kohli persisted with Dhawan after Rahul was in the best of his fitness.
Note: Kohli has never played the same XI so far in his Test captaincy, and has won 8 consecutive series.
Ajinkya Rahane 8.5/10 | 229 runs at 76.33: Rahane gets 2 extra points for taking as many as 8 catches, equalling Wriddhiman Saha. He did not disappoint the traditionalists with his batsmanship either. His silken 132 at Colombo helped India register a colossal first-innings score.
Ravichandran Ashwin 9/10 | 132 runs at 44 | 17 wickets at 25.88: Ashwin became the second-fastest Indian to attain the career double of 2,000 runs and 200 wickets. In fact, had Dhawan had not blazed away with another hundred, Ashwin was always in contention for Man of the Series award (he was won the most for India). To cut a long story short, he continued being the champion we know.
Wriddhiman Saha 10/10 | 99 runs at 26 | tirelessly keeping wickets for 1,003 balls in second Test: Kohli has already coined him the world No. 1. Saha scored a solitary half-century, but was exceptional with his wicketkeeping. He did nothing wrong. Well, cricket is a funny game, but being a wicketkeeper is not.
Hardik Pandya 7/10 | 178 runs at 59.33 | 4 wickets at 23.75: He scored his maiden fifty in his very first match and his maiden hundred in his third. In only 3 games, he has compelled the fans to draw comparisons with Kapil Dev. Although many have come and gone, but no one could fill the void. Can Pandya do that?
Ravindra Jadeja 7/10 | 85 runs at 85 | 13 wickets at 28.76: He could have got more wickets than Ashwin had he not been banned for the last Test. ICC has zero-tolerance policy these days for offenders, dishing out demerit points. Jadeja was banned after accumulating 6 of these once he threw ball back to Saha needlessly when Dimuth Karunaratne was already in the crease. Otherwise, Jadeja was brilliant with his slow left-arm spin, blasted an unbeaten 70 and batted with the tail to usher India to a position of strength at Colombo, and as always, fielded magnificently.
Umesh Yadav 7/10 | 6 wickets at 35.8: To bowl pace in spin-friendly conditions is always tough. Once the ball ages, there is very little for the pacers to exploit. Umesh was yet again on the wrong side of the luck. Despite the tough conditions, he bowled at fiery pace and in the right lengths. He deserved more.
Mohammed Shami 9/10 | 10 wickets at 17.70: India miss his services every time he picks up an injury and count their stars when he is at his best. Shami ran in hard without thinking much about injuries. He consistently made early inroads, and never lost vigour during long spells.
Abhinav Mukund 6/10 | 93 runs at 46.5: Dhawan’s blistering 190 left Mukund out for the next 2 Tests. He has always always the first-choice replacement for the injured openers. Although he failed as Dhawan got going, he scored a resolute 81 in the second innings.
Kuldeep Yadav 9/10 | 5 wickets at 19.20: By no means should his marks be deducted, but it would be unfair to rate him a 10-pointer on the basis of one match. That said, Jadeja’s absence was never felt. The Sri Lankans were troubled by his Chinaman bowling. In addition, he scored a vital 26, stitching 62 with Pandya for the eighth wicket.
Benched players: Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Akshar Patel
Here is the series page if you missed all the actions.
India vs Sri Lanka ?/10: How much would you rate this series? Add your marks in the comments section.
