Winning a Test series against South Africa, the world’s No. 1 ranked Test side is a tremendous achievement indeed. What makes India’s big win all the more remarkable is that they completely blanked out the South Africans, never giving them even a whiff of a chance. It is one of the most dominant performances seen in the history of Test cricket, and that makes the victory all the more sweet. So how did the Indian players perform in the series? Let’s find out!
Murali Vijay – 5
Vijay did have his good moments in the Test series, but could never really make it count. He was inconsistent for the most part. Surely, one has come to expect better from India’s most consistent Test batsman for the last 2-3 years. Not his best series for India.
Shikhar Dhawan – 5
Shikar improved as the series got on and his unbeaten 80 in the washed out Test in Bangalore gave him a lot of confidence. But he didn’t really make it count and while he did give India a decent start in almost every inning, like his opening partner Vijay, he didn’t do much of note either.
Cheteshwar Pujara – 6
Pujara had a decent series, but not up to the standards that one expects from someone who is seen as a successor to the great Rahul Dravid. Pujara did get starts in almost every innings that he played in the series, but could never carry on to make a big one. What’s worrying is that he gets bowled by straight balls – which is not what you expect with such a high class batsman.
Virat Kohli – 9
Virat didn’t have his best series as a batsman, but he did more than enough. Indeed, in such a low scoring series, Virat’s batting was more than adequate. It is his performance as a captain that was remarkable. He made all the right bowling changes and field placements. He was aggressive and never allowed anyone to rest on their laurels. A brilliant performance indeed, by one of India’s youngest captains.
Ajinkya Rahane – 8
It is just remarkable how everyone was writing Rahane off after having failed to perform in the first 3 Tests. But he more than made up in the last Test at Delhi, making hundreds in both innings and becoming India’s highest scoring batsman for the series. It was a remarkable turnaround in fortune which just goes to show what a special player Rahane is.
Rohit Sharma – 1
Really, if anyone needed further proof that Rohit Sharma is not cut out for Test cricket, this series would have proved it. We give him the same rating as the number of runs he got in two innings at Delhi – 1!
Wriddhiman Saha – 8
Saha has been one of the standout performers for his side. His contributions down the order have been valuable and his keeping has been simply exceptional. He is a wicketkeeper-batsman, rather than a batsman-wicketkeeper that his great predecessor MS Dhoni was, but he is good at what he does.
Ravindra Jadeja – 9
Ravindra Jadeja made a comeback to Test cricket with this series and he never put a foot wrong. He was always a threat with the ball and blocked his end completely, serving as an ideal foil to India’s main bowler, Ravichandran Ashwin. His batting was good as well.
Ravichandran Ashwin – 10
Ravichandran Ashwin took an amazing 31 wickets in this series, and won his 5th man-of-the-series award – a record for someone who has only played 30 odd Test matches. He is today recognized as one of the best bowlers in the world. Ashwin terrorized the South Africans with his spin bowling, just the great Anil Kumble used to. He is still very young and should lead the Indian attack for years to come.
Amit Mishra – 7
Amit Mishra only got two opportunities in the whole series, but made the most of them. He took crucial wickets such as those of Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Francois du Plessis and should be proud of his efforts.
Ishant Sharma – 6
Ishant had a limited role to play in a series dominated by spinners, but he did well whenever called upon to bowl. Good show!
Umesh Yadav – 9
Umesh only played 2 Tests in the whole series, but was a constant menace throughout with his pace and accuracy. His 3-wicket burst on the 5th day’s play of the Delhi Test was very important for his team.
Varun Aaron – 7
Varun was fast and did well with the limited opportunities that he was given. He is an excellent prospect for India.
Stuart Binny – 0
Not much needs to be said about Binny’s performance.
