Last Updated on 6 years by Charbel Coorey
Australia vs India 2nd Test Player Ratings
“If he messes it up, it’s 2-0.”
– Virat Kohli, Perth 2018.
“If we mess up? It was 1-1 the moment you put your team list out.”
– CricBlog’s imaginary response to Virat Kohli as I become a couch potato.
Jokes aside, it was another excellent Test match in what is fast becoming a fine series. It was a tough pitch, but both sides were willing to dig in and have a red-hot go. Australia had to bounce back after Adelaide, and that they did, registering a strong 146-run win to deliver Tim Paine’s first Test win as captain. One area Australia had a clear advantage was the lower order batting, and it was a key factor in the match. Boxing Day can’t come quick enough, with a full house expected with the series all square.
Before then, though, it’s Player Ratings time. As always, it is a light hearted review of the Test gone by, and given the rollercoaster of emotions, a laugh or two is always welcome. I’ll try my best.
Each player will be rated out of 10. Enjoy!
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Australia
Marcus Harris: India played from in front from day two in Adelaide. Australia then did from day one in Perth, thanks largely to Harris, playing in just his second Test. Delivered a great little one-liner to one-liner merchant Rishabh Pant on the fourth evening. Fast becoming a fan favourite. 8
Aaron Finch: Bodybuilders are getting jealous at the workout Finch’s front pad is getting. Two fighting knocks – a 50 on the first day and a crucial second innings opening stand with Harris when the Indian bowlers were on fire. Cleared of serious damage to his finger. 7
Usman Khawaja: Is there any bigger wake up call than getting out to Umesh Yadav? Khawaja responded well in the second innings with a crucial 72 in tough conditions. Confidence booster. He is off and running in the series. 7
Shaun Marsh: Death. Taxes. Shaun Marsh doing just enough to keep his place in the side. Out to two horizontal bat shots. Solid first innings effort. 5
Peter Handscomb: Plenty of technical work done in the winter. I’m waiting to see it. Took the controversial catch that saw the back of Virat Kohli in the first innings, and a great catch to dismiss Pant on day five. 3
Travis Head: “Murali Vijay thought he could be the only one to pull off an action replay in this series”, said Head. “I did pretty well to match him.” Two nearly identical dismissals to third man. Good fighting 50 in the first innings. 7
Tim Paine: Solid performance with bat from the Australian skipper. Crucial partnership with Usman Khawaja on the fourth morning. He stood up to Virat Kohli, and you could see the intensity of the Aussies lift. A good performance behind the stumps, too. 7
Patrick Cummins: All effort. The big wickets are around the corner for Cummins, who continues to do a fine job for the team. Dismissed Kohli again, albeit controversially. Copped a second innings grubber that had India really nervous. 6
Mitchell Starc: Can Shane Warne sledge Starc every game? The results of the sledges have been superb, with Starc putting a much improved performance in Perth. He will travel to Melbourne a little nervous, as the tweet below suggests… 8
Nathan Lyon: A spinner picked up man of the match in a Perth Test. A Test where India didn’t pick a specialist one. ‘Gaz’ was absolutely brilliant, picking up eight wickets, once again proving he is the world’s premier off spinner. Don’t @ me. His batting was also crucial in flattening India’s morale. 9
Josh Hazlewood: Bowled some absolute gems in this Test. The deliveries to KL Rahul and Hanuma Vihari (first innings) were particularly special. Like Starc, Hazlewood is hoping no changes are made to the India opening combination… 8
India
Ravi Shastri: Did Australia a big favour with his team selections. A 10 from me. 10
KL Rahul: Australia holds its breath. Will KL Rahul get another chance? Jokes aside, surely not. He needs to get domestic runs under his belt, as @imsgshinde put it here. In the meantime, I will leave you with a tweet for the ages from @Oye_Jahazi below. 0
Murali Vijay: “I know he’s your captain, but surely you can’t like him as a bloke”, said Paine to Vijay. Tried a booming Kohli-like cover drive to prove his love for his captain, only to get bowled. Four innings this series. Four dismissals playing a drive. 1
Cheteshwar Pujara: Leg side strangle and second innings snorter. The cricket gods weren’t smiling on Pujara in this Test, but remains a huge wicket for Australia. Batting 100+ balls on that Perth pitch is still a good effort. 4
Virat Kohli: I consider Kohli a knowledgeable man. He knows of all the recent buzzwords such as “Elite Honesty” and “smile together”, and wanted to push a few buttons and test Australia’s resolve. It didn’t end up working. He was made to eat his words. India were behind, much as a result of their team selection. Credit also to Australia. And, credit to Kohli for entertaining us with a truly brilliant first innings century. It was an unpopular opinion in some areas, but I said a year ago he’s the world’s premier batsman. His runs in tough conditions throughout 2018 has shown why. 8.5
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Ajinkya Rahane: IPL auditions from Rahane at times throughout the Test. Felt an attacking approach was needed on this pitch. Shame for India that he couldn’t carry on from his starts. 6
Hanuma Vihari: Lots for India to be encouraged about. Why don’t India prioritise this guy in Tests over Rohit Sharma? One of the many questions I would have for Ravi Shastri if there ever is a #AskRavi session on Twitter or something. 6
Rishabh Pant: You know you have a long tail when you need to get in IPL mode when just six down. Highlight a huge 123m six. 5
Umesh Yadav: This is Umesh Yadav’s third tour of Australia. In this time, the only thing that has improved is deciding to ditch his man bun after he wore one. Picking him over Bhvuneshwar was joy to my eyes, as it was detrimental to India’s chances. It proved to be the case. 2
Mohammed Shami: Shami was the Pat Cummins of India. Bowling well without getting the big wickets throughout 2018. A first innings 0/80 would have been a disappointment to Shami, but that changed in the second innings, where he was bowling absolute fire. A strong six wicket haul. 7.5
Ishant Sharma: Like Shami and Bumrah, Ishant bowled some incredible deliveries. His improvement over the last couple of years is evident by how well he is getting the ball moving, both in the air and off the pitch. 8
Jasprit Bumrah: One of life’s great mysteries right now is how Jasprit Bumrah took just one wicket in the first innings. He took four for the game, which could have been a hell of a lot more. Former Australian batsman Ed Cowan said on Australian radio that Jasprit Bumrah, in 5-6 years time, could be considered the best fast bowler India have ever produced. It’s early days, but this guy has what it takes. 8
This Test had it all. Challenging pitch. Unbelievable bowling. Great batting efforts.
The controversial Virat Kohli dismissal in the first innings was absolutely crucial in the context of the game at that point. However, what ultimately hurt India the most was their team selection. They need to get that right in Melbourne.
Nonetheless, credit to Australia. They have leveled the series, setting the scene beautifully for a cracking Boxing Day Test.
Thanks for reading!
P.S. I recently partnered with the awesome team at OnlineCricStore.com.
Hope you enjoy my cricket tips on the OnlineCricStore Blog!
Australia vs India 2nd Test Player Ratings
