Border-Gavaskar Test series player ratings: India

The fourth Test might have ended in an anti-climax when Day 5 was abandoned without a ball being bowled, but there’s no doubt India thoroughly deserved their 2-1 series win over Australia this summer.

Were it not for Sydney’s rubbish weather and a howler at the selection table before the Perth Test, Virat Kohli’s men almost certainly would have landed a clean sweep.

With the on-field action now all wrapped up, it’s time to run the rule over every player to take the field for the visitors this series.

Virat Kohli (c): 7/10
282 runs @ 40.28, highest score: 123
All the attention was on Kohli heading into this series, but while he finished with a century and a fifty, it was a lean return with the bat by the Indian skipper’s Everest-like standards. Still, Australian fans are all too aware that an average of 40 is nothing to take for granted.

From a captaincy standpoint, Kohli led his side well, and leaves Australia as the only Indian cricketer to skipper his side to a series win here.

(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Mayank Agarwal: 8
195 runs @ 65, highest score: 77
India’s only real weakness this series was their opening partnership, but Agarwal played a considerable part in repairing that vulnerability with two solid outings after joining the tour at the halfway point.

The right-hander looked at ease on debut in Melbourne and was on his way to a maiden Test century in Sydney before throwing it away with a rash shot against Nathan Lyon. With young star Prithvi Shaw to come back into the side once his ankle heals, India’s opening combination suddenly looks solid once again.

Ravi Ashwin: 6
Six wickets @ 24.83, best bowling: 3/57
Injury limited his contribution to just the first Test, but Ashwin was still played a crucial part in that Adelaide Oval victory. The off-spinner took six wickets in that match with a very tidy economy rate of 1.7, and chipped in with a handy 25 with the bat in the first innings as well.

However, having battled injury issues during India’s tour of England in 2018, Ashwin clearly has some fitness issues which he needs to get on top of.

Jasprit Bumrah: 9
21 wickets @ 17, best bowling: 6/33
Never mind the bizarre action, Jasprit Bumrah is now a genuine Test star. He finishes this series alongside Nathan Lyon as the equal-leading wicket-taker with 21 scalps, but at an average of nearly half Lyon’s.

Australia had little answer to Bumrah’s combination of pace (or lack thereof, in Shaun Marsh’s case) and swing, and he also continually troubled Marcus Harris with what is a dangerous bouncer.

So long as his shoulder can cope with the strain of that action in Test cricket, Bumrah is going to finish his career with an awful lot of red-ball wickets.

(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Ravindra Jadeja: 7
Seven wickets @ 28.57, best bowling: 3/82; 90 runs @ 30, highest score: 81
With Ashwin out injured, Jadeja did a fine job filling in for his first two Tests in Australia. The left-armer took five crucial wickets in the Boxing Day Test, all the while getting through his overs at a whirlwind rate, before blazing a quickfire 81 with the bat in Sydney and playing a supporting role to Kuldeep Yadav with the ball.

Had he played in Perth, there’s every chance India would have finished the series unbeaten.

Rishabh Pant: 8
350 runs @ 58.33, highest scores: 159*; 20 catches
He made headlines for his endless nattering behind the stumps, but Pant was superb with bat in hand. His unbeaten 159 in the fourth Test took any chance Australia had of drawing level in the series away from them, and happened to be the highest score by an Indian keeper away from home.

Pant’s glovework, modelled more on MS Dhoni’s unorthodox stylings rather than textbook techniques, remains far from perfect but 20 catches in four Tests is still a fine return.

India clearly have a keeper in the 21-year-old, but they’ll have a world-class star if he can iron out the few drops which currently litter his game.

Cheteshwar Pujara: 10
521 runs @ 74.42, highest score: 193
A deserving man of the series, Australia had no way to get through Pujara’s wall-like technique. In a series when the home side were searching desperately for someone in the top order to consistently show some gumption, Pujara’s dour and impenetrable stays at the crease were all the more impressive.

A deserved double century might have gone begging in Sydney, but three hundreds, one fifty, a high score of 193 and an incredible 1258 balls faced tell the story of a dominant series. And to think, Pujara was dropped by India on their tour of England. There’s no chance of that happening anytime soon.

(AP Photo/James Elsby)

Ajinkya Rahane: 6
217 runs @ 31, highest score: 70
Not the most prolific series for Rahane, but with Pujara, Kohli and Agarwal all performing well above him, the Indian vice-captain’s failures didn’t hurt the side.

He still made two half-centuries across the four Tests, one of which was crucial to India’s first-Test victory.

KL Rahul: 2
57 runs @ 11.4, highest score: 44
Rahul’s maiden Test century at the SCG four years ago seems an awful long time ago now. The opening batsman had a horror series, dropped after the first two Tests, only to be recalled due solely to Rohit Sharma flying home for the birth of his child.

His failure in the fourth Test, in which he did well to reach nine, was made all the worse when the rest of India’s batsmen filled their boots on a placid SCG deck.

Mohammed Shami: 8
16 wickets @ 26.18, best bowling: 6/149
Remember when India’s fast bowling stocks lacked depth? That’s far from the case now, when Virat Kohli can call on the reliable Shami to bowl first change.

The right-armer’s 16 wickets – at an impressive strike-rate of just over 50 – were bettered only by Bumrah and Lyon, and his ticker was invaluable as the series wore on.

(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Ishant Sharma: 7
11 wickets @ 23.81, best bowling: 4/41
After three poor tours of Australia, Ishant finally leaves these shores with a series average to be proud of.

He was a steady contributor for India throughout the Tests, proving dangerous with the new ball – just ask Aaron Finch – and economical with the old one.

Sharma might have missed the final Test as the 103 overs he bowled in three matches took their toll, but this visit to Australia capped off what was a resurgent 2018 nicely for the veteran seamer.

Rohit Sharma: 6
106 runs @ 35.33, highest score: 63*
A series which was neither a failure or a success for Rohit. The right-hander boasts tremendous talent, but still hasn’t cemented his place in India’s Test side and desperately needs to add to his three centuries from 27 matches.

He was dropped after two failures with the bat in Adelaide but made a vital 63 on his return in Melbourne, before leaving the tour ahead of the fourth Test.

(Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)

Hanuma Vihari: 4
111 runs @ 22.2, highest score: 42
Another player whose series was a difficult one to judge, Vihari didn’t stamp himself as a Test player, but didn’t disgrace himself either.

He had to deal with the unenviable lot of being brought in at number six, then moved to the top of the order and shifted straight back down in the three Tests he played.

Vihari looked entirely comfortable in Sydney before a somewhat controversial decision saw him dismissed for 42, and one assumes he’ll be given more of a run in India’s middle order this year.

Murali Vijay: 2
49 runs @ 12.25, highest score: 20
Much like his opening partner Rahul, Vijay had a stinker of a series, not going past 20 in four innings.

After being dropped mid-tour, and with Prithvi Shaw still to come back into India’s top order, the 34-year-old’s 61-match Test career could be at its end.

Kuldeep Yadav: 7
Five wickets @ 19.8, best bowling: 5/99
Kuldeep impressed mightily in his one Test – and innings – of the tour, running through Australia with a five-wicket haul at the SCG. Like his spin partner Jadeja, you’d think India would have won in Perth had he been selected.

Umesh Yadav: 3
Two wickets at 69.5, best bowling: 2/139
It’s clear India made a mistake in bringing in Umesh for the Perth Test, where the spin of Kuldeep or Jadeja would have been far more valuable. The mistake was quickly realised, and the tourists were a far more dangerous attack once they’d discarded their fourth paceman.