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Nov 11
2008
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Report card on Australia's and India's cricketers on the four-Test tour to India (Border-Gavaskar Trophy):-
Ishant Sharma ---9/10
(4 matches; 15 wkts @27.06; BBI: 4/77, 11 runs @4.25; HS: 9)
Commentator extraordinaire Mark Nicholas perhaps best summed up Sharma's contribution to his nation's strives forth when recently enthusing "India have a jewel in this boy".
Sharma finished the series joint top wicket-taker with Harbhajan, snapping up 15 Aussie scalps on three out of four surfaces far from conducive to fast bowling. Dismissing Ricky Ponting three times on the trot in Tests one and two, the pace ace fuelled the fire that roars true of the Aussie skipper being Sharma's proverbial bunny.
For his efforts he bagged the Man of the Series award, the fruits thereof being a swanky car which he and team-mates duly took for a victory lap minutes after winning in Nagpur.
Gautam Gambhir ---9/10
(3 matches; 463 runs @77.16; HS: 206)
Suffice as to say, the flashy left-hander's recent foray into Test cricket has seen him shed his 'ODI/Twenty20' tag, steal any semblance of hope Wasim Jaffer had of a recall, and nestle himself quite nicely in the opening berth.
After throwing away a couple of starts in the series opener, Gambhir promised much with a stoic 67 in the first innings before graduating exponentially to a century in India's second knock and a maiden double century in Delhi. The zeal, stamina and hunger the 27-year-old displayed during his eight-hour 206 said a lot for his determination to provide a worthy partner for Sehwag at the top of the order.
Perhaps the biggest pity is that he got the ICC-orchestrated raw end of the deal in that scuffle with Shane Watson, resulting in his lack of contribution to India's Nagpur elation.
Mahendra Dhoni---9/10
(4 matches; 307 runs @61.40; HS: 92; Ct: 8; St: 3)
From his match-winning input with the willow in Chandigarh to his handy half tons and crafty field placements in Nagpur, the model wicketkeeper-batsman had a near perfect series, bar his spill of Hayden on Monday which ultimately didn't prove costly. There is every reason this side of the sub-continent to read into the fact that the two Tests India won were the two that Dhoni was in leadership, the first as stand-in skipper and the second as captain-elect. Kumble's departure (and along with it his old school approach) now affords his free-spirited, dynamic successor the opportunity to settle in at the helm in its entirety, not just in one-dayers, and it's about time too.
Dual leadership was a mere fad, unsuccessfully toyed with by England and now, thankfully, at an end with India.
Virender Sehwag ---8/10
(4 matches; 351 runs @43.87; HS: 92; 5 wkts @43.40; BBI: 5/118)
He will kick himself for not turning a couple of 90s and a 60-odd into centuries, but regardless of his lack of three-figure conversion, Sehwag's usual swashbuckling approach at the top of the knock again provided the foundation and impetus for bigger things to come from the middle order. His 'part-time' spin is fast becoming an integral cog in India's attack, as his five-for in Delhi and his frustrating leg-side line in Nagpur will attest to.
Harbhajan Singh ---8/10
(3 matches; 15 wkts @28.86; BBI: 4/64, 125 runs @41.66; HS: 54)
Sharing the helm of the series' wicket-taking charts with Sharma, it was not so much the bulk of wickets that Bhajji claimed but the junctures at which he took them. Sniping batsmen out at crucial moments with his guile and craft, Singh was unlucky to miss out in the third Test due to injury but assumed the role of senior spinner with confident vigour as he and Mishra spun the Aussies to a series loss in Nagpur's decider, one of his four second-innings scalps being the satisfying comeuppance of yester-series foe, Matthew Hayden.
Amit Mishra ---8/10
(3 matches; 14 wkts @25.07; BBI: 5/71, 7 runs @3.50; HS: 7)
Brought into the side in the wake of Kumble's injury ahead of the second Test, the young leg-spinner enjoyed a dream debut as the element of the unknown got the better of Australia's order.
Mishra's flight through the air and lethal wrong'un by and large proved the undoing of his rivals in Mohali before Michael Clarke and company worked him out on a Delhi track that offered little to no assistance for any approach, spin or otherwise. Bouncing back in Nagpur, he reclaimed early calls for him to fill the long-term leg-spin role brought on by Kumble's retirement, clinching the key wicket of Mike Hussey with some vicious bounce as Australia's victory charge ground to a subsequent halt. For now, it seems Piyush Chawla's Test cricket hopes are on the backburner courtesy Mishra's near meteoric rise to fame.
VVS Laxman ---8/10
(4 matches; 381 runs @95.25; HS: 200*)
Continuing his superb run against Australia over the years, the stalwart batsman did so with unfretted self-assurance, highlighted by a double ton in Delhi. He provided the anchor in a potentially shaky middle order, guiding Gambhir to his 206 like a father would his son.
Rock solid on defence and particularly majestic on the drive, veteran Laxman has certainly made the number five spot in the order his own as India look to welcome in a new fold around him and Tendulkar.
Sachin Tendulkar---8/10
(4 matches; 396 runs @56.57; HS: 109; 0 wkts @n/a; BBI: 0/15)
Becoming Test cricket's greatest run-scorer during the series and once again transpiring as one of the pinnacles India plan their gameplan around, Tendulkar weighed in with two half-tons (and two 40-odds) and a thrilling century - his 40th in Tests.
Thus, building on his iconic status and putting to bed many pundits' thoughts of him calling it a day.
Jason Krejza ---7.5/10
(1 match; 12 wkts @29.83; BBI 8/215; 9 runs @ 4.
