India’s marks out of ten after they beat West Indies 2-0 on their Caribbean tour
Karthik Krishnaswamy23-Aug-20169R Ashwin (17 wickets at 23.17, 235 runs at 58.75)Only three players had scored two hundreds and taken two five-wicket hauls in the same series before Ashwin, and the last time it happened was in a series that everyone now calls Botham’s Ashes. Ashwin’s West Indies-India Test series doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, but there is no doubting his impact. His bowling, particularly when there was a breeze to aid his drift, was a pleasure to watch, and he showed he is perhaps the best in the world at beating batsmen in the air. He worked hard on his batting in the off-season and he was willing to grind it out for long periods, facing more balls than any other Indian batsman in the series, but it’s still too early to say if he can bat at No. 6 against better bowling sides. His limited footwork got him into a few tangles with swing and seam, but that’s not to say he cannot improve that aspect too.8Mohammed Shami (11 wickets at 25.81)Returning to Test cricket after a year-and-a-half’s gap, Shami showed he wasn’t just back to full fitness but also back to his best rhythm. He was India’s best fast bowler in the first two Tests, bowling with pace, making the batsmen play, and troubling them not just with swing and seam but new-found extra bounce as well. By the end of the series, he had bowled more overs than any of his fast-bowling colleagues, suggesting he had become Virat Kohli’s go-to quick.Wriddhiman Saha (205 runs at 51.25, 9 catches, 2 stumpings)A joy to watch behind the stumps, Saha came into the series with his batting ability under a bit of scrutiny, particularly with India looking to play five bowlers whenever possible. He did the job he was expected to when he scored 40 and 47 in the first two Tests, but the score when he walked in at St Lucia, 126 for 5, demanded more. A maiden Test hundred followed, and during the innings he showed on two separate occasions – late on day one and in the first session of day two – that he could switch instantly from single-minded defence to flurries of boundary-hitting, even on one of the slowest outfields in the world.Ajinkya Rahane (243 runs at 121.50)Rahane faced 522 balls in the series, and was only dismissed twice. With India dominant through most of the series, he ended up becoming something of a declaration specialist. His hundred at Sabina Park set India up perfectly, leaving them 304 runs ahead with just under half the Test match remaining. That they didn’t go on and win had little to do with Rahane’s batting and everything to do with the weather, the pitch, stubborn West Indies batting, and a bowling attack that wasn’t at its best on the final day. The second-innings 78* in St Lucia, full of hard, cheeky running, hurried India to another declaration, and this time, with far less time remaining, they managed to pull off a dramatic win.7Bhuvneshwar Kumar (6 wickets at 9.83)Bhuvneshwar did not play the first two Tests, but delivered exactly what his team wanted from him – accuracy, new-ball swing in both directions, and the smarts to know how to bowl to which batsman – when called upon in St Lucia, and did all this in his first Test since January 2015. He was unlucky not to win the Player-of-the-Match award for his 5 for 33 in St Lucia, which broke West Indies’ batting apart and gave India both the lead and the time they needed to force a win with a day lost to rain, and is perhaps unlucky not to get an extra point in our ratings as well.Virat Kohli (251 runs at 62.75)Arriving at the crease with India moving along at under three an over on the first day of the series, Kohli set the tone with a career-best 200 at a strike rate of over 70. It was the innings of a man in stupendous form, but the remainder of the series only brought him 51 runs in three innings, including scores of 3 and 4 in St Lucia, where he batted at No. 3. It’s too early to say whether he will be as successful in that role as he has been at No. 4, and equally difficult to say how often he will try it. As captain, he was unpredictable with his selections, unafraid to make bold and sometimes unpopular calls, and never dull.KL Rahul (236 runs at 78.66)Rahul gave India a pounding selection headache when he replaced the injured M Vijay in Jamaica and promptly made a career-best 158. It was an innings that showed he had the strokes to punish wayward bowling and get off to a brisk start, as he did on the first evening; that he had the ability to shelve those strokes against disciplined bowling, as he did on the second morning; and that he had the appetite to keep going even after a troublesome bout of cramps. He followed that with a half-century in St Lucia, but it was an innings that showed he can still be a fidgety starter, prone to wafting at balls in the channel. He still has work to do on his catching as well, and put down a couple of chances at third slip in St Lucia.Bhuvneshwar Kumar broke West Indies’ batting in St Lucia, his first Test since January 2015•AFP6Ishant Sharma (8 wickets at 32.12)A typically Ishant-esque series. At times, he attacked the stumps, used the short ball well, and looked like the most dangerous bowler in India’s attack. At other times, he struggled to make batsmen play, his line too wide of off stump to test them. There were some wayward spells too, such as the one he bowled post-lunch on the first day in Kingston, where Marlon Samuels took full toll of his long-hops. In the end, he finished with a typically Ishant-esque average – 32.12 – and strike rate – 63.0 – against an average batting side. With the likelihood that India may only play two seamers – and possibly only one – at most times during the long home season ahead, he may have to do better than that to keep his place.Ravindra Jadeja (3 wickets at 15.66)Like Bhuvneshwar, Jadeja might have finished with a better rating had he played more Tests. He did everything expected of him when he replaced Amit Mishra in St Lucia, getting through his overs in a blink and giving away less than two runs an over. But two of his wickets – Roston Chase in the first innings and Jermaine Blackwood in the second – came about in an unfamiliar manner, with the batsmen reaching out to drive slow, loopy balls outside off stump, suggesting he may have learned new tricks as well.5Shikhar Dhawan (138 runs at 34.50)Started the series brightly, showing plenty of self-control outside off stump while scoring 84 in Antigua, but did little of note in the next two Tests, and was left out in Port of Spain. It looks like he will remain on the bench when India begin their long home season, but as a left-handed opener capable of scoring quickly, he will remain in the team management’s thoughts.Cheteshwar Pujara (62 runs at 31.00)Only batted twice, weathered testing spells in both innings, and got out to soft dismissals after doing all the hard work. India tend not to lose top-order wickets in clusters when Pujara is part of their line-up, and that solidity cannot be underestimated, but he will remain an in-and-out member of the squad unless he makes bigger scores more consistently than he has done in the last two years.Umesh Yadav (5 wickets at 29.80)Five wickets in Antigua, where he swung the ball both ways and looked menacing in short, sharp bursts. None in Jamaica, where his bowling was wayward in both innings, particularly with the second new ball on the final day, which was India’s last chance to get through West Indies’ lower order and force a win. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s accuracy suddenly looked more enticing than Umesh’s pace, and he lost his place in St Lucia. Given the competition for fast-bowling slots and the potential narrowing of the available slots in home conditions, Umesh will need to do more to remain a first-team regular.4Amit Mishra (6 wickets at 38.66)Sometimes, Mishra’s figures don’t reflect how well he has bowled, and there were times during the first Test and in the first innings of the second – when he bowled a classical spell of drift and turn – when this was the case. But on the final day in Kingston, he actually bowled poorly, sending down a regular allotment of full-tosses and half-volleys, and contributed to India’s worst bowling day of the tour. Having begun the series with his captain’s backing to do a more attacking job than Ravindra Jadeja in less spin-friendly conditions, he ended up losing a place in the pecking order.Rohit Sharma (50 runs at 25.00)There is some truth to Kohli’s assertion that Rohit hasn’t got a long-enough run in the Test side to establish himself properly, but there is also truth to the idea that he hasn’t done enough with the chances he’s got. His selection in St Lucia came out of the blue, and caused all manner of reshuffling in India’s line-up. He has only had two chances to bat since then, so it’s a little too early to say whether or not the move has worked.M Vijay (7 runs at 7.00)Batted once, got out to a snorter, hurt his finger in the process, and did not get to bat again. A strange sort of series for India’s best opener over the last three years. Having been left out in St Lucia despite regaining full fitness, Vijay came back in Port of Spain, at Dhawan’s expense. India look likely to start their home season with a Vijay-Rahul combination at the top of the order.
