India in Sri Lanka report card: Ashwin edges Mishra for first spot; Kohli leads the batsmen

In his first full series as the Test captain, Virat Kohli ended a 22-year wait in Sri Lanka for a series win. In what was a well-contested series between two young teams still trying to make a name for themselves in the Test arena, India dominated for the most part.

How did the players fare? India used as many as 16 different players in this series with only Bhuvaneshwar Kumar from the original squad not getting even a single game. Here’s Firstpost’s report card and there are no prizes for guessing who’s at the very top.

Ravichandran Ashwin (3 matches, 94 runs, Bat Avg 15.66, 21 wickets, Bowl Avg 18.09, SR 32.8)

Score: 9/10

Undoubtedly, India’s player of the series. The off-spinner from Chennai, who has been enjoying resurgence in his career since the turn of the year, was yet again Virat Kohli’s go-to bowler of this series. He was given the new ball on a turning P Sara track in the second Test and promptly removed the opener in the first over. Ashwin also set the record for the most number of wickets by an Indian bowler in a Test series between India and Sri Lanka.

Another aspect that stood out was in the final session of the decider when Virat Kohli went to Ashwin after just one over Umesh Yadav with the second new ball – on a track that offered lot more to the seamers.

But the achievement he will – he should – cherish the most is the way he had Kumar Sangakkara in a tangle throughout his farewell series. He dismissed the Sri Lankan legend four times in four innings – aided by some excellent close-catching.

The only reason Ashwin doesn’t get a perfect 10 is the struggles he faced with the bat for five innings – before top scoring for the team in the last innings of the series. Which we have since learned was because of tennis elbow struggles. Kohli needs more from Ashwin’s bat to make the five-bowler tactic work. But if he continues bowling the way he did – there should be no complaints.

Amit Mishra (3 matches, 157 runs, Bat Avg 26.16, 15 wickets, Bowl Avg 15.00, SR 31.6)

Score: 8.5/10

The veteran in the side who had last played for India in Tests in 2011 produced a stellar performance – with ball and bat. After being under-utilised on a turning Galle pitch due to Ashwin’s rhythm that match, Mishra came back strongly in the series to finish as the second leading wicket taker – at a better average and strike rate compared to Ashwin’s. Add to that a couple of crucial innings down the order in the decider, Mishra made an emphatic return to Test cricket. He will now find himself ahead of Harbhajan Singh when the selectors meet to decide the team for South Africa.

Ishant Sharma (3 matches, 13 wickets, Bowl Avg 23.23, SR 41.5)

Score: 8/10

The landing of the seam, the position of his wrists, the banging of his head – they have never been better. Ishant Sharma is arguably having the best spell of his career since that fiery spell against Ricky Ponting in Perth. His antics on the field – which has drawn quite the criticism to go with a one-match ban – should not take away from what was an impressive bowling performance through-out the series.

If only he could learn to limit the no-balls – he bowled 23 in this series. “Maybe I am too strong now!” he joked during the third Test. “I need to work on that. I am not bowling noballs in the nets. Maybe because of pressure.”

In a game of small margins, the mis-step that cost him Angelo Mathews’ wicket early on day five in the decider could have proved crucial. It didn’t ultimately, but Ishant would do well to cut it out.

Virat Kohli (3 matches, 233 runs, Avg 38.83)

Score: 8/10

In a series dominated by the ball, Kohli was India’s most consistent batsman. His numbers in Tests since he has taken over captaincy speak for themselves and there is no doubt he is the pillar around which Indian batting needs to be built.

It is worrying, however, that the kryptonite to India’s super-batsman – the swinging ball outside the off stump – continues to bring him down. Sachin Tendulkar famously shut out the off-side in Sydney on his way to a career-best 241 not out – maybe Kohli needs an innings like that.

(Ed: Kohli struggled like most Indian batsmen did, but his enterprising captaincy and ability to bring the team back after a dispiriting Galle loss, puts him highest on this list.)

At least the sweep shot experiment was over with the first Test.

Wriddhiman Saha (2 matches, 131 runs, Avg 43.66)

Score: 7.5/10

Saha topped the average-charts for India this series – not with flamboyant centuries but well-crafted, crucial fifties in the two Tests he has played. Like Firstpost had written earlier, Saha has taken the first steps to towards filling the big shoes of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Ajinkya Rahane (3 matches 178 runs, Avg 29.66)

Score: 7/10

The consummate team-man, Rahane was once again moved around in the batting order to accommodate Rohit Sharma – like he was in the ODIs. While there is a definite argument in favour of having India’s most-technically correct batsmen at three and four, India would do well to decide what they expect from Rahane and nail down a spot for him in the line-up. Easier said than done, especially with Cheteshwar Pujara’s stupendous century in the third Test.

KL Rahul (3 matches, 126 runs, Avg 21)

Score: 6.5/10

Boom or bust – that seems to KL Rahul’s formula in Tests. While crucially he got a full-series under his belt courtesy India’s injury troubles at the top, the youngster will look on this series as a mixed bag. Yes, there was a brilliant century in the second Test that earned him the man-of-the-match award, but he had little else to show. Getting bowled twice shouldering arms to an in-swinger in the same match is not a great sign, so is his tendency to fall for the hook shot. His slip-catching left a lot to be desired too – with a few sitters dropped and twice parrying the balls, to be taken off second attempts.

Rahul is clearly a bright prospect for the long-term, but he might not have done enough to make his case for dethroning either Murali Vijay or Shikhar Dhawan in the immediate future.

Rohit Sharma (3 matches, 202 runs, Avg 33.66)

Score: 6.5/10

Yes, he played a very important knock in the last innings of the series. Yes, he made a crucial 70-odd in the second Test. Yes, he outscored Kohli for five out of six innings in the series. But Rohit Sharma continues to frustrate and divide opinion like no other Indian player in the current squad. His flair, his ability to play a gorgeous cover-drive, his effortless elegance of dancing down the track to spinners – everyone knows about that.

But getting out on the stroke of lunch when he is settling down to a good rhythm twice in a Test match – that’s Rohit Sharma in a nutshell.

Stuart Binny (2 matches, 76 runs, Bat Avg 19, 3 wickets, Bowl Avg 39, SR 80.0)

Score: 6.5/10

He did a job. Took crucial wickets in the first innings of the second Test – stand-out being Mathews’, played an excellent cameo in the second innings of the third when India were setting a target. He threw his wicket away twice in the second Test instead of sticking around with the more settled batsmen. With Bhuvaneshwar Kumar - a much, much better bowler – breathing down his neck, Binny’s biggest challenge, arguably, is to make his talent with the bat count in the middle-order.

Umesh Yadav (2 matches, 5 wickets, Bowl Avg 42.80, SR 64.8)

Score: 6/10

One of the worries Virat Kohli would have before the home Test series in South Africa begins is the lack of a replacement for Ishant Sharma (who is banned for the first Test) to spearhead the bowling attack. While Ishant managed to have success even on the turning tracks, Umesh struggled to consistently hit the right line and length. He troubled Angelo Mathews with a series of outswingers that beat his bat in the second Test but invariably strayed on to the bats soon after.

MS Dhoni has already spoken about it and so has the bowling coach B Arun – but the sooner India’s quicker bowlers marry pace with consistent lines and lengths, the better it is for them and the team.

The one-Test batsmen: Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara

Despite the dodgy form of the top-order, it took an injury to Murali Vijay - who played a match-turning knock in the second innings of the second Test - for Pujara to finally get a look in. When the dust has settled down on this series, both these batsmen will have a lot to smile about. To top off a match-winning hundred for Pujara, he also made it in to the top 20 of the ICC Test rankings - he will now hope he can find his way to Kohli’s top XI on a permanent basis as well.

A word of praise for Shikhar Dhawan for his fighting century in a losing cause in Galle with a hairline fracture in his arm. If common sense prevails, these three should be India’s top three batsmen for Tests in the foreseeable future.

The one-Test bowlers: Harbhajan Singh and Varun Aaron

Without getting into rating these two players based on one Test, it is fair to say that they will want to forget this series in a hurry from a personal point-of-view. Harbhajan’s comeback to Tests, perhaps, has hit a dead-end after his disappointing showing in the first Test at Galle. On a pitch where Ashwin proved unplayable, the gulf between India’s two off-spinners was exposed big-time. Harbhajan has been accused in the past for trying too hard on spin-friendly wickets and despite Kohli’s backing at the end of the match saying the Turbanator was bowling well in Galle, he was dropped in favour of Stuart Binny in the second. The fact that the Sri Lankan line-up was southpaw-heavy did not factor in his favour either.

With Varun Aaron, on the other hand, it was a case of same old, same old. Lot of pace, lot of inconsistencies. But unlike Harbhajan, he should still be in Kohli’s plans when the South Africans come visiting.