Delhi Test ratings - India

India’s seventh successive win at what is now Fortress Feroz Shah Kotla was the complete team performance, with each of the XI making telling contributions over the four days. The doosra look at each man and the role he played in an ultimately comfortable victory.

Wasim Jaffer: Batted beautifully in both innings, with some splendid drives through the covers. Has to learn to avoid squandering starts though. 7

Dinesh Karthik: Undone both times by Shoaib Akhtar, he experienced failure for the first time as an opener. Illustrated the value of fielding though, with his two dismissals of Misbah-ul-Haq critical in dictating the course of the match. 5

Rahul Dravid: Fluent in the first innings and dogged in the second. His failure to go on and make a big one was surprising though. 6

Sachin Tendulkar: Whether it was eagerness or anxiety that caused his downfall in the first innings is open to debate, but he drew on his wealth of experience to steer India home in the second. 6

Sourav Ganguly: The man with the golden arm. Imperious at times with the bat in the second innings. The Yuvraj Singh debate is dead for the moment. 8

VVS Laxman: The eternal fall guy once again illustrated his immense value to the side. Had time to spare on a pitch where other batsmen struggled. Some of his shots down the ground were from another planet. 8

Mahendra Singh Dhoni: His partnership with Laxman changed the complexion of the match. Unperturbed by most situations, he showed tremendous adaptability for someone whose Test career is less than two years old. 8

Harbhajan Singh: Very much the support spinner, he chipped in with two huge wickets in the second innings. May have a bigger role to play at the Eden Gardens, a venue that he loves for obvious reasons. 6

Zaheer Khan: On a pitch that was hardly lightning quick, he did what every strike bowler should – provide vital breakthroughs at the top of the order. Changing the angle and coming round the wicket often meant that the batsmen never felt settled. 8

Munaf Patel: Bowled with purpose and vigour in the first innings, but wayward and listless in the second. With Irfan Pathan continuing to impress, his place might come under scrutiny. 5

Star man - Anil Kumble: There wasn’t much more he could have done in his first match as captain. Contributed a vital 24 in the first innings and as indefatigable as ever with the ball. Rotated his bowlers often and cleverly to unsettle the batsmen, and had the team playing with the intensity and tenacity that has always typified his own game. 9

Comments

[Tarun Y]

Hi Dileep,

I agree with all of the above except the 5 for Munaf.

Barring one or two good overs in the first innings, where we were reminded of Munaf vs England in Mohali, he was totally anonymous in the second innings.

Would slot Irfan Pathan in his place for the next test. Pathan, I admit, is unlikely to run through the middle-order and take 5+ wickets in an innings, but will at least match Munaf in the wickets/economy columns or probably better it. Plus- he can chip in with scores at no.8.

[lod]

Nice blog, Dileep, have been reading your stuff on cricinfo, didn't realise you write for the Times as well..

Agree on almost all the ratings.. Dravid has been getting bowled or lbw rather often of late in test cricket - don't have the stats but it's a feeling.. It seemed like he realised that in the first innings and avoided playing across the line to anything on the stumps until the ball that did for him. It seems like a rare technical flaw in someone who prides himself (very rightly) on his technique - certainly something to work on..

[Dileep]

I do think you're being a little harsh. Ganguly played a loose shot but the ball did move back in quite a bit. As for VVS, the game has changed now. Right from Steve Waugh onwards, batsmen have trusted in the tail to do a job responsibly. And the Indian tail did that in England, and even at the Wanderers. You can't blame VVS for the sort of strokes Harbhajan and Zaheer played to get out. Or even Munaf for that matter.
Dhoni was crocked, and Karthik contributed a very good catch as well, in addition to be very lively on the field.
As for Sreesanth, ayurveda is better for broken or cracked bones? That's news to me. Whatever he does, he'd better be careful because if shoulder injuries are mismanaged, your career can go downhill before you know it.

[RAJEEV MOHAN]

Any news about Sreesanth? I am fearing the worst. Him being out of the Australia series just when he was hitting the 147-149kmph mark regularly. Ayurveda is a better option with these kind of injuries which for some reason is unfashionable with international cricketers. He would be well advised to head back to his hometown and get treated instead of going for surgery.
Enough medical advice Dileep :)

[Dsingh]

Agree with WJ, RD, SRT, AK, HS, MP

I would have given SG, VVSL, MSD, and DK one less for each

SG: for missing out on building the first innings. Another good innings from a top order should have wiped out Pak in first innings itself

VVSL: for loosing out on effective management of the tail in first innings

MSD: for reckless shot when he was well set. Gave back the advantage to Pak.

DK: for not contributing more than a fortuitous run-out

I was impressed with ZK, but his wickets tally make him an unlikely 8. But he must be rewarded a bonus point for the 4th day effort. So in the end he keeps his score

Do you think I am being harsh?