- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
India have secured a 2-1 victory over Australia, in perhaps the best Test series of the past decade.
Here are my player ratings for each side.
Steve Smith: 10/10
499 runs at 71
The skipper completed one of the finest-ever series away from home by an Australian batsman, adapting brilliantly to difficult, alien conditions and dominating India’s much-vaunted spin attack.
» Match report: Australia lose Test, trophy at Dharamsala
» All the talking points from the India vs Australia series
» The Liebke Ratings
» Ronan O’Connell: Australia squander an elusive series win in India
» How it happened: Day 4 live blog
» Australia versus India fourth Test scorecard
Glenn Maxwell: 8/10
159 runs at 40
Maxwell had to wait a long time for another crack at Test cricket and seized his chance with a sparkling ton in his first innings back, followed by an impressive 45 at Dharamsala.
A lock at six for Australia’s next series.
Mitchell Starc: 7.5/10
Five wickets at 30, plus 118 runs at 29
Australia’s second-best Test cricketer, after Smith, Starc not only posed a constant threat with the ball in his two Tests but also made crucial runs at eight. He owns a brilliant Test record in Asia, averaging 26 with the ball and 24 with the bat.
Steve O’Keefe: 7/10
19 wickets at 23
O’Keefe was steady in the final three Tests, without being a real menace, but he almost single-handedly won Australia the match at Pune – their first Test win in Asia in more than five years.
Nathan Lyon: 7/10
19 wickets at 25
Lyon was poor at Ranchi but in the other three Tests he bowled better than he had in more than a year. After having a wretched home summer, Lyon was back to his best in this series, bowling with improved shape and on a more attacking line outside off stump.
Pat Cummins: 7/10
Eight wickets at 30
All you Roarers who used to scoff every time we published an article on Cummins – “he’s overhyped, only ever played one good match” – are now aware of why many people, including myself, rated him so highly.
He belied the flattest of decks to be Australia’s best bowler at Ranchi and was an intimidating presence at Dharamsala. If he stays fit he’ll quickly become one of the elite bowlers in Test cricket.
Josh Hazlewood: 6/10
Nine wickets at 33
Hazlewood rarely bowls a bad spell, and the same was true of him in this series. But Australia needed more out of their best Test bowler than just nine wickets across four Tests. This was particularly so at Dharamsala, where Hazlewood managed just one wicket on a pitch tailor-made for him.
Matthew Wade: 6/10
196 runs at 33, plus 12 dismissals
Like most Australian cricket followers, I had low expectations for Wade in this series. I thought his keeping would be a mess in these difficult conditions and that he’d struggle to average even 20 with the bat. He proved a lot of people wrong.
Wade conceded more byes than he would have liked, but only missed two genuine chances in four Tests, which is a decent effort. And he finished with a higher batting average (34) than David Warner, Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay, Karun Nair, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb and Matt Renshaw.
Matt Renshaw: 5.5/10
232 runs at 29
Renshaw had a shocking end to the series, dropping two absolutely crucial catches and making 1 and 8 at Dharamsala. But that shouldn’t distract from the fact that, in the first three Tests, he showed a rare ability for an Australian to prosper against spin on dry Indian decks. He looks set to be a 100-Test player.
Peter Handscomb: 5.5/10
198 runs at 28
Handscomb had a strange series. Almost every time he batted he looked comfortable and confident, using his feet beautifully against the spinners. Yet he could not find a way to build on his frequent good starts, except for the incredible fourth innings knock that kept Australia in the series at Ranchi.
Shaun Marsh: 3/10
151 runs at 19
This series was classic Shaun Marsh – two fantastic knocks surrounded by six failures. He was admirably resilient at Ranchi, helping Australia secure a draw, but overall was a major disappointment. He won’t keep his place for Australia’s next series, with Usman Khawaja to come straight back into the line-up.
David Warner: 2.5/10
193 runs at 24
Warner might have scored more runs at a better average than Marsh, but the West Australian at least played two very good innings in the series, whereas Warner did not compile even one. His only half-century was the scratchiest of knocks in which he rode his luck. Warner is a bunny on slow wickets.
Mitch Marsh: 1/10
48 runs at 12, no wickets
Marsh entered the series with a solid record from his previous five Tests in Asia, but had no impact whatsoever before getting injured. He should now slip behind Maxwell, Hilton Cartwright, Moises Henriques and James Faulkner in the Test all-rounder pecking order.
[latest_videos_strip category=”cricket” name=”Cricket”]
Ravi Jadeja: 9.5/10
25 wickets at 19, plus 127 runs at 25
KL Rahul: 9/10
393 runs at 65
Cheteshwar Pujara: 9/10
405 runs at 58
Umesh Yadav: 8/10
17 wickets at 23
Kuldeep Yadav: 8/10
Four wickets at 23
Wriddhiman Saha: 7/10
174 runs at 35, plus 14 dismissals
Ravi Ashwin: 6.5/10
21 wickets at 27, plus 53 runs at 9
Ajinkya Rahane: 5.5/10
198 runs at 33
Bhuvneshwar Kumar: 5/10
Two wickets at 34
Murali Vijay: 3/10
113 runs at 23
Ishant Sharma: 2/10
Three wickets at 70
Jayant Yadav: 2/10
Two wickets at 50
Karun Nair: 1/10
54 runs at 13
Virat Kohli: 1/10
46 runs at 9
Abhinav Mukund: 1/10
16 runs at 8