The last seven days witnessed two interesting but contrasting matches. In the final Test of the India-England PayTM series in Chennai, England won the toss and posted 477 – two things that guarantee most teams a win on Indian pitches. England lost.
In the other Test, the first between Australia and Pakistan down under in Brisbane, Australia dominated for a greater part of the game only for Pakistan to almost threaten pulling off the miracle, like only Pakistan can do, before losing eventually. While the one at Chennai was heart-breaking for the England fans who saw their team capitulate in the last two sessions of the Test on a pitch that was absolutely flat, the latter broke the Pakistani hearts after their team went so close to a record-breaking chase without reaching it.
We take a look at the top 5 cricketers of the week. Moeen Ali and Mohammad Amir miss out from the list. Ali scored an impressive 146 in the first innings of the Chennai Test, while Mohammad Amir, besides picking up 5 wickets scored 48 in the second innings of the Brisbane Test, to help Pakistan threaten to reach an impossible target of 490.
#1 Ravindra Jadeja
Jadeja is finally turning out to be the cricketer MS Dhoni had hoped for a long time ago. In the final Test against England on a flat pitch, Jadeja, who has a reputation for picking wickets only on turning tracks, silenced his critics by taking a 7-for and morphing a draw into an unlikely Indian victory. Jadeja also took two catches, one of them a blinder.
This is in addition to his three wickets in the first innings and a swashbuckling 51 off just 55 balls to help India reach a record score of 759 runs in their only innings of the match. The 10-wicket haul made Jadeja the second leading wicket-taker in the series with 26 wickets, just 2 short of Ashwin’s 28.
Ashwin averaged 30.25 while Jadeja averaged just 25.84. At lunch on Day 5, England had managed to keep all their ten wickets intact making the draw look inevitable. However, after lunch, Jadeja broke England’s back with the wickets of Cook, Jennings and Root in the space of 10 overs before taking a spectacular catch to help Ishant Sharma pick up the prized scalp of Jonny Bairstow.
#2 Asad Shafiq
Australia set Pakistan an unrealistic target of 490 to chase in the final innings of the First Test in Brisbane and it seemed impossible considering Pakistan were 143 all out in their first innings. They seemed to be in a hurry to lose collapsing from 145 for 2 to 220 for 6. However, Asad Shafiq scored a sensational 137 adding 92 with Mohammad Amir, 66 with Wahab Riaz and 71 with Yasir Shah to make Australia very nervous.
Pakistan were just 41 runs when Shafiq got an absolute snorter from Mitchell Starc that ended his innings and Pakistan’s hopes of a miraculous victory. Shafiq also currently holds the record for most centuries by a batsman at No.6 or lower in the team’s second innings – 4.
#3 Karun Nair
Karun Nair showed India’s batting bench strength in the final Test. A man not sure of his place scored an unbeaten triple century, only the second Indian batsman to do so. Karun’s 303 off 381 balls is the fourth fastest triple of all time scored at a strike-rate of 79.52. Karun, only in his third innings added 161 with Lokesh Rahul, 81 with Ravichandran Ashwin and 138 with Jadeja to push India to 759 for 7, giving them a lead of 282.
The mountain of runs, scored quickly at 4 per over, ensured India had enough time and runs to bowl England out with 10 overs to spare, winning the match by an innings and 75 runs. Karun was playing in the Test only because of injuries to Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane, India’s first-choice batsmen.
#4 KL Rahul
That India managed to win by an innings and 75 runs in the final Test without their main contributors – Kohli, Pujara and Vijay – scoring much is down to the foundation laid by Rahul. Rahul scored 199, missing out on a double ton because of a rash shot. It was his fourth century overall and his first on home soil. Nevertheless, he added 152 for the opening wicket with Parthiv Patel.
He saw India lose three wickets quickly, including the big one of Kohli, before stabilising the innings along with Karun Nair. Rahul’s innings was characterised by positive intent as he motored along at a fine strike-rate of 63.98 ensuring England never really built much pressure.
#5 Steve Smith
The race for the best batsman in the world is heating up as Smith replied to Kohli’s pyrotechnics by smashing 130 against Pakistan, his third century of this year, to help Australia score 429 in their first innings. Smith top-scored once again in Australia’s second innings, with 74 as Australia piled on 202 in just 39 overs before declaring to set Pakistan a target of 490.
Smith added 172 for the fourth wicket with Peter Handscomb, mentoring the young Australian bat en route his first Test ton.
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