Team India perhaps faced their worst defeat in Tests at home, as they lost the series vs South Africa 0-2. This is their second whitewash at home, against a SENA nation in a span of a year. That just goes on to show, how poor the team has been. The leadership, and the players, have been equally bad. And this calls for radical changes, immediately.
Nonetheless, InsideSport takes a look at the report card for Team India.
Team India report card vs South Africa (2.5/10)
Shubman Gill (0.5/10): The skipper was injured in the first Test, in the first innings itself. Post that, India suffered a traumatic defeat in Kolkata, and then an embarrassing one in Guwahati. He couldn’t do much.
Rishabh Pant (1/10): 27, 2, 7 and 13 is what the stand-in skipper returned with. His field placements, and bowling changes were largely poor. And the way he threw his wicket away in Guwahati in first Test, is unacceptable.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (4/10): He was one of the two batters for India, who managed to score a fifty in the series. He showed intent to score quickly, but his weakness of fiddling with deliveries outside off, remains.
KL Rahul (2.5/10): It is baffling that KLR just can’t get runs in India. In 4 innings he scored 68 runs, and clearly wasn’t up to the mark in the series.
Washington Sundar (4/10): He did score some runs in the series, 124 in all, but bowling wasn’t effective. He only picked up one wicket, and was not in his best bowling form.
Ravindra Jadeja (7/10): He scored 105 runs and picked 10 wickets as well. He did not have enough support with other bowlers or teams. He couldn’t possibly have done any better.
Dhruv Jurel (1/10): Despite being drafted as a full-time batter, he scored 29 runs in four innings. His performance, despite good form, is unjustifiable. Capable of doing much better.
Axar Patel (4/10): 16 & 26 runs in the first Test and then two wickets. It was surprising that he was axed after the first Test.
Kuldeep Yadav (6/10): Eight wickets spread across four innings; numerically, he seems to have done the job, but then Simon Harmer was way better, and perhaps even Keshav Maharaj.
Mohammed Siraj (4.5/10): He went on to bag six wickets, but wasn’t as good as SA pacers. Struggled largely in Guwahati Test.
Jasprit Bumrah (6/10): Except for that fifer in the first Test, he wasn’t at his very best. It is a rare occurrence, but it did happen.
Nitish Kumar Reddy (0/10): He scored 10 runs in two innings, and returned with no wickets.
Sai Sudharsan (1/10): He hasn’t shown technique or temperament to be in the Indian Test team. 29 runs in all. He played 139 deliveries for his 14 in Guwahati 2nd innings, but the purpose was lost.
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