India completed a resounding 3-0 win over New Zealand on Monday to reclaim the number one spot in Tests.
Although there were periods in which the Blackcaps looked competitive, India showed enough class to bounce back, and later displayed ruthlessness to close off matches by commanding margins.
For the New Zealanders, the main promise came from Tom Latham, who scored a fifty in every single Test courtesy his enterprising technique against Ravichandran Ashwin’s guile. Mitchell Santner and Luke Ronchi also got off to positive starts, but unfortunately for their team, couldn’t convert those starts into substantial knocks.
Given the final result of the series, it’s clear as to why all five top players were Indian:
5) VIRAT KOHLI
Virat Kohli scored 309 runs at an average of 51.50 in the series, with 211 of those coming in a single innings at Indore. But beyond that excellent innings, which all but sealed New Zealand’s fate in the match, Kohli as a captain came through for India.
The Indian skipper marshalled his bowling attack with perfection, never letting any threatening partnership become big ones.
Kohli’s other substantial performance with the bat came in the second Test, when India collapsed to 42/4. Kohli, in tandem with Rohit Sharma, responded with aggression and helped India out of a precarious situation – the only time when India looked to be under any form of pressure during the series.
4) RAVINDRA JADEJA
Although Ravindra Jadeja deserves to be on this list purely on the basis of his bowling, he also came good with the bat.
Jadeja’s bowling numbers were excellent, with 14 wickets at 24.07 per scalp, only second to Ashwin’s impressive numbers. He also bowled very well in partnership with the latter, restricting the New Zealand batsmen for runs, at an economy of 2.34.
With the bat, Jadeja provided some late impetus to India in the first Test, where the middle-order collapsed in both innings.
3) AJINKYA RAHANE
Another series, and it was another opportunity for Ajinkya Rahane to show why he might be India’s best Test batsman right now.
After a relatively ordinary (by his lofty standards) performance in the first Test, the middle-order batsman steadied India’s ship in the second Test when the openers and Kohli fell in quick succession with not even 50 runs on the board.
In the last Test, he came together with Kohli to build a 365-run partnership to bat New Zealand out of the match. Rahane ended the series with 347 runs in six innings at an average of 69.40.
2) CHESTESHWAR PUJARA
In most three-match Test series, Cheteshwar Pujara’s numbers would have seen him win the Player of the Series award. He scored 373 runs at an average of 74.60, collecting three fifties and a century along the way.
Easily the most consistent batsman against New Zealand, Pujara notched up the following string of scores: 62, 78, 87, 4, 41, 101*.
Unlike Kohli and Rahane, Pujara’s aggregate wasn’t skewed positively because of a single behemoth effort. Instead, the Saurashtra batsman showed himself to be a man for all pitches, be it seeing off the new ball after an early wicket, or scoring a quick hundred to force a speedy declaration.
At number three, Pujara played his role to perfection. Along with Ashwin, he certainly deserves a 10/10 rating for this series.
1) RAVICHANDRAN ASHWIN
Ravichandran Ashwin was deservedly named Man of the Series for his outstanding performances against the Blackcaps.
To underline how dominant he was with the ball, here’s some of his remarkable numbers from the series:
Ashwin was formidable in the opening two matches, bagging 14 wickets in four innings. However, he kept his best for the last match, where he demolished New Zealand, taking 13 wickets for 140 runs.
Ashwin has shown, time and again, why he’s the most valuable player in India’s repertoire, especially at home. With a long home season left, Virat Kohli and co. must be feeling confident about Ashwin’s form.
