'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
As 2015 draws to an end, it is time for us to look back at all that has transpired in an eventful year for cricket. One of the notable occurrences of the year has been India’s resurgence in the longest format of the game.
Under the new captain, Virat Kohli, Team India have managed to win five of the nine Test matches that they have played and have lost just one. It has been quite a performance from an Indian team which had been struggling in Tests for quite a while.
India’s year started with two drawn Tests against Australia and Bangladesh respectively, the former being part of a 2-0 series loss. However, they followed it up with back-to-back series wins in Sri Lanka and at home against South Africa.
While some Indian players performed quite exceptionally in Tests this year, there were a few who did not deliver as per expectations. Here are the 2015 player ratings for Indian players in Tests:
Virat Kohli – 6/10
Virat Kohli may have started 2015 with a bang by scoring 147 against Australia in the Sydney Test; however, the rest of his year with the bat was ordinary at best. His other notable contributions with the bat included a century and a 78 in the first two Tests of the Sri Lanka series and 88 in the Delhi Test against the Proteas.
However, he did have quite a successful year as Indian skipper with a win percentage of 55.55% and two series victories, one of them being away from home.
Ravichandran Ashwin – 9.5/10
Ashwin was quite easily India’s top cricketer this year and the driving force behind their success in Test cricket. With 62 wickets in as few as 9 Tests, he has been 2015’s most successful bowler in world cricket.
To add to this, he bagged the Player of the Series award in both of Team India’s series wins. Another staggering stat for Ravi Ashwin this year has been the fact that he has picked up seven five-wicket hauls and is now placed fourth in the list of Indian bowlers with most five-fors in Tests.
Ajinkya Rahane – 7/10
Although Ajinkya Rahane may not have been at his best for most of 2015, his twin centuries in the India-South Africa series, where no other batsman could score even one, helped re-establish his credentials.
The two other knocks of significance this year were his 126 in the 2nd Test against Sri Lanka and 98 in the one-off Test against Bangladesh. All of Rahane’s centuries came in a winning cause for India.
Shikhar Dhawan – 5/10
Dhawan’s average of 53.88 in Tests does not present a true picture of his performance this year. Apart from consecutive centuries in his first two Test innings of 2015, he has hardly done anything of note during the rest of the year.
Due to injury worries, Shikhar Dhawan was forced out of the Sri Lanka tour after the first Test. However, he made an inauspicious return to the team and ended up getting a pair in the 1st Test of the South Africa series. The rest of the matches in the series saw him score just 150 runs in 5 innings.
Murali Vijay – 7/10
Murali Vijay has easily been one of India’s most reliable batsmen in the recent past and he proved it once again with his exploits in 2015. Despite having scored just a solitary century and three fifties, he had a decent year with 522 runs at an average of 47 plus.
The primary aspect of his batting has been his tendency to deliver when needed most by the team. Vijay displayed this trait with his 82 in India’s 2nd innings of the second Test in Sri Lanka and also in the 1st Test against South Africa at Mohali with scores of 75 and 47 in the two innings respectively.
Ravindra Jadeja – 8/10
All four Tests that Ravindra Jadeja played this year were in the home series against South Africa and he perhaps made the biggest impact in the series after Ravichandran Ashwin.
Jadeja picked up 23 wickets in the series at an average of 10.82 and a miserly economy rate of 1.76. He also made some important contributions in the lower order with the bat scoring 109 runs in 5 innings.
Amit Mishra – 7.5/10
Amit Mishra seems to be thriving under India’s new Test skipper Virat Kohli and has been an excellent support bowler for the likes of Ashwin and Jadeja. Although he has not bowled as many overs as the other two lead spinners, he has certainly made his limited opportunities count by picking up 22 wickets in 5 games.
The highlight of Mishra’s year was his 7 for 74 in India’s victory over Sri Lanka at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo.
Cheteshwar Pujara – 6/10
Cheteshwar Pujara made a strong return to the Indian Test team in the 3rd match of the Sri Lanka series scoring an unbeaten 145 in India’s first innings score of 312. The only other innings of significance that Pujara has played this year was his 77 in the 1st Test against South Africa at Mohali.
These two knocks apart, he got a few starts but was unable to convert them into something substantial.
Rohit Sharma – 3/10
In Test cricket, Rohit Sharma has still been unable to repay the faith shown in him by the selectors and the team management. 2015 was yet another disastrous year for the Mumbai batsman in the longest format of the game as he could score only 326 runs in 13 innings at an average of just a trickle above 25.
A couple of half-centuries in the series against Sri Lanka was the best that Rohit could muster in this year.
Ishant Sharma – 6/10
2015 may not have been an outstanding year for Ishant Sharma, but it has surely marked his revival as a Test bowler. His match-haul of 8 for 86 in the 3rd Test against Sri Lanka at SSC Colombo was perhaps the best he has bowled in recent times.
Ishant did not get too many chances to show his prowess in a spin-dominated home series against South Africa but he kept things tight at his end.
Umesh Yadav – 4/10
Apart from his late burst in the 4th Test of the South Africa series which set India on course for a victory, Umesh Yadav did not have too much to offer in the chances that he got.
11 wickets in 6 matches at an average of 45.90 is not exactly what you expect from a frontline seamer. His next best performance after his 3 for 9 against South Africa was a 2 for 65 in the 3rd Test in Sri Lanka.
KL Rahul – 4.5/10
KL Rahul’s Test career so far has been a tale of centuries and low scores. He started the year 2015 with a century in only his second Test at Sydney and got another one in the 2nd Test of the Sri Lanka series.
However, in the 6 other Test innings he played this year, he scored 5 single-digit scores and a 16. Rahul would have been looking forward to make amends in the South Africa series, but his opportunity did not come.
Wriddhiman Saha – 5/10
India’s new wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha certainly has had big shoes to fill in the Indian team, those of MS Dhoni. Although he may not have done any wonders with the bat in 2015, he did play a couple of useful knocks down the order. The bright spot for Saha has been the top notch wicketkeeping standards that he has displayed so far.
Varun Aaron – 2.5/10
Although he has not played too many games this year, Varun Aaron has certainly not made his limited chances count for too much as well. The pace has been there for everyone to see, but that has been pretty much it in terms of performance. Aaron picked just 5 wickets from 4 matches in 2015.
Stuart Binny – 3/10
Stuart Binny played just 3 matches this year, out of which one against South Africa at his home ground was washed out. In the other 2 Tests, he scored 76 runs and claimed 3 wickets.
Harbhajan Singh – 2.5/10
2015 could well have been the last year in which we saw Harbhajan Singh sporting the whites for India. He was recalled to the Test side for a one-off Test against Bangladesh and picked up 3 wickets there.
However, the legendary offie could not make the opportunity count as he ended up with a solitary wicket in the Galle Test and lost his place in the team as a result.
*Mohammad Shami, Suresh Raina, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Naman Ojha have not been rated as they played just one Test each in 2015.
