India v Sri Lanka, 2nd Test: India Player Ratings

The second Test of the ongoing India-Sri Lanka series brought back vivid memories of India’s visit to the island nation earlier this year. Virat Kohli’s boys cruised to a resounding victory, breaking quite a few records along the way. The exuberant Nagpur crowd was in for a treat as it witnessed back to back centuries from their favourite players and ruthless dismissals from their star bowlers, all in a span of 4 days.

The hosts were able to wrap up the match proceedings within the second session of the fourth day as Sri Lanka put in a below-par performance with the willow. In contrast, India were impeccable in all departments as they piled up 610 runs on the board in reply to Lanka’s paltry first innings score of 205.

The Dinesh Chandimal-led side was sent packing into the pavilion on the fourth day of the Test as India won the match by an innings and 239 runs. Here are the Indian player ratings for the second Test, which are accurately representative of how brilliant a performance the home side put up.

Murali Vijay- 8/10

Murali Vijay might have been on a hiatus from international cricket for quite some time, but that certainly didn’t seem to affect his performance. With his fluent comeback knock of 128 runs, Vijay seemed to pick up from just where he’d left off. As his skipper acknowledged in the presentation ceremony, the 33-year old showcased the “sound technique” of the game that he possesses and lay the foundation for his team’s mammoth innings.

KL Rahul- 2/10

Lokesh Rahul would be kicking himself for failing to make the most out of a docile Nagpur pitch- a track that barely had any demons in it. Although he scored a significant knock worth 79 runs in the second innings of the Kolkata Test match, Rahul could only manage 7 runs off 13 balls, before dragging one from Lahiru Gamage back onto his stumps.

Cheteshwar Pujara- 8/10

Proving his mettle as a dependable Test batsman once again was Cheteshwar Pujara. After KL Rahul’s unceremonious, early departure from the crease, it was the pair of Vijay-Pujara that constructed a partnership worth 209 runs and consolidated India’s innings. Pujara went on to score 143 runs out of his long-stay of 362 deliveries on the field. The innings marked his 13th century in Test cricket and included 14 boundaries.

Virat Kohli (C)- 9.5/10

Virat “Run Machine” Kohli has proved to be an unstoppable juggernaut time and again, and this match was no different. The Indian skipper reached a brand-new milestone as he registered his fifth double ton with his carefully constructed innings of 213 runs off 267 balls, at a remarkable strike rate of 79.78. With this innings, he levelled with Brian Lara’s highest record of 5 double tons as captain. In addition to his batting, Kohli marshalled his troops well and utilised his bowlers against the opposition quite well on what was a batting-friendly pitch.

Ajinkya Rahane- 2/10

Much like KL Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane missed out on runs and that too, on a pitch that had truckloads of it on offer. He was caught out by Lahiru Thirimanne off Dilruwan Perera’s bowling for an individual score of just 2 runs. This marked his third low score in the series, following the abysmal outings in the two innings of the Kolkata Test match (4 and o respectively).

Rohit Sharma- 8/10

In the past, the Indian management has spoken about the “good headache” of having the dilemma of too many in-form players in the squad. Rohit Sharma seemed intent on increasing that headache as he slammed the third Test ton of his career in the second Test match against Sri Lanka.

He stuck to the crease and rotated the strike judiciously to facilitate his captain’s double century. Eventually, he reached the 100-figure mark himself as he registered an unbeaten knock of 102 runs. He brought up the score in just 160 balls at a strike rate of 63.75.

Wriddhiman Saha (wk)-  4/10

Wriddhiman Saha did not have much to do with the bat as the men up the order had executed their jobs beautifully, relieving the pressure on Saha and the lower-order. His skills with the gloves behind the wickets were commendable as usual and he helped his team’s cause by dismissing Suranga Lakmal off Ishant Sharma’s bowling in the first innings.

Ravindra Jadeja- 6.5/10

Sir Jadeja did not have to walk out to the middle with a bat in his hand, but he did his part for the team with his spin magic. He scalped 5 wickets in the entire Test match, picking up wickets at crucial junctures and exercising his bowling prowess to the best of his abilities on a track that helped the spinners more than it did the pacers.

Ravichandran Ashwin- 8/10

The records just keep coming in for Ravichandran Ashwin. The Nagpur Test saw Ashwin become the fastest bowler to pick up 300 wickets. The record had previously been held by Dennis Lille, who had achieved the feat in 56 Test matches. The Indian spin-master reached the figure in just 54 Tests. On a track that favoured the spinners as the match progressed, Ashwin picked up 4 wickets in Lanka’s first innings at the cost of 67 runs in 28.1 overs.The second innings of the Lankan batting side witnessed him pick up another 4 as he reached the coveted milestone.

Umesh Yadav- 3/10

In spite of the Nagpur pitch being a batting paradise till Day 3 of the Test match and then working in favour of the spinners, Umesh Yadav put in his best efforts to help his side win the match. He bowled a consistent line and length throughout the game and was rewarded with the 2 important wickets of Thirimanne and Chandimal in the Lankan second innings.

Ishant Sharma- 7/10

As the other player who made his way to the Indian side after a significant period of time, Ishant Sharma looked in the right zone and got into a good rhythm from the get-go. He extracted all that was on offer for the pace bowler from the pitch and got 3 wickets in the first innings at an economy of 2.6, followed by 2 more scalps in the final innings of the Test at an economy of 3.6.