Winners and Losers ft. Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane
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Australian tailenders gave India a nightmare for an hour or two, but India overcame the jittery start to secure a thrilling victory on the final day at Adelaide. While Ravichandran Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane were impressive for India today, Rohit Sharma and Mitchell Starc turned out to be big flops.
Winners
Ravichandran Ashwin
In Southampton, Moeen Ali scathed through the Indian batting line-up just by using the rough that had been created on the surface, but Ravichandran Ashwin missed the mark completely and ended up taking only one wicket. While the injury to his hip was a reason to play for his performance in that match, he buried that demon in Adelaide. Australia, a country where he has a nightmarish record in Test cricket, saw a different Ashwin turning up for the occasion as he was able to grip the Kookaburra more than it usually does on these hard surfaces. He didn't let his line or length alter too much rather ensured that the stodginess of the surface was exploited. Not only he deployed a consistent approach
Ajinkya Rahane
The last two years of Ajinkya Rahane is nothing but a sheer disappointment. Sure he had a 48 on a tough Johannesburg Test, a gritty 81 at Nottingham, and a 51 in Southampton, but that was all he could do this year. A player of brilliant technique and high temperament, Rahane was perfectly suited for the SENA countries, but things didn’t go as planned. The Australia series was going to be a make-or-break situation for him and he did reply to his critics wonderfully. After a careless dismissal in the first innings, Rahane produced a veritable gem on the fourth morning. With Lyon firing on all cylinders, Rahane mixed caution with aggression, putting the bad balls away and equally scoring runs comfortably. He made excellent use of the feet to get to the pitch and went back on the feet when the bowler bowled short balls. It was an innings of intent, and more that would give him some confidence as the series progresses further.
Shaun Marsh
Just for a fact, if you don’t know, Shaun Marsh is the worst of all Australian players when it comes to fourth innings batting with a cap of minimum 10 innings. Ahead of this match, he averaged 17.90 in the fourth innings of any Test match. So when he glided past his first 50 in Tests since the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney in January, it must have given him a lot of peace. In recent innings, his overeagerness to feel bat on ball has brought him a dire run of scores, but that yearn for success helped him get the things right in the second innings. Ashwin, who had dismissed him five times by conceding only seven runs before the second innings, was also at the receiving end of Marsh, who made his Shield form count to confirm a place for Perth Test, a venue that is home to him for generations.
Losers
KL Rahul
India’s practice match against CA XI lacked a competitive edge, but those who didn't score runs stand out as much as those who do and KL Rahul did that in equal measure. A terrible first innings dismissal was followed by a jubilant 62 in the second, and that gave India reason to believe despite Prithvi Shaw’s injury. However, Rahul was lackadaisical, to say the least. Sure enough, he scored a 40 in the second gig, but he threw away his wicket once again, which doesn’t augur well for his career. It is not that he is not capable to strike gold, but something is missing. He was someone who scored a superb hundred against England at The Oval but then scored 0 and 4 against the Windies. After the historic victory, the top order would need to have tight techniques to survive the challenge posed by Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Pat Cummins, Rahul has to come out of the phase to give India some sort of stability.
Rohit Sharma
After three early dismissals in the first innings, including that of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma offered a very good response by taking a positive approach to his innings while Cheteshwar Pujara did switch on the damage control mode. However, the difference was Rahul was never in control of the innings even if he played a perfect hook off Cummins to showcase his mastery against the short balls. After that, Paine called in Lyon to replace Cummins and it didn't take Rohit long to try and take on the spinner as well. However, he wasn’t able to manage things well and was dismissed in a tame manner. To pacify the questions regarding his Test match temperament, he was terrible in the second innings as well before getting injured. He left the field and the BCCI medical team is accessing his situation, which may benefit Hanuma Vihari in Perth.
Mitchell Starc
Ahead of the series, eyes were on the return of Mitchell Starc and how he was going to restrict India in the Test series. He is certainly capable of that and being the fastest bowler in the world - according to Cricviz - he was expected to lead the Aussie attack. However, apart from the first few overs on the first day, Starc never really turned up for the occasion, staying largely silent due to his wayward length and line. Indians were happy to fend him off and even used the pace to get some scores on the board. On the other hand, his pace colleague Josh Hazlewood was accurate and made Indians suffer to no end. In the second innings as well, Starc failed to make any sort of impact, and his run-up suggested that he was carrying a niggle. Although Nathan Lyon dismissed that in the press conference, Australia
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