Only two India batters registered fifties in the series.
The IND vs SA Test series concluded with an historic series win for South Africa in India. The home side suffered a humiliating 0-2 defeat in the two-match at the hands of the reigning Test champions. Shedding light on India player ratings after this disastrous home series under head coach Gautam Gambhir will be interesting.
The Shubman Gill-led India lost the opening Test in Kolkata by 30 runs. After the captain was ruled out with an injury, the second Test Guwahati turned out to be much worse for India. The South African head coach Shukri Conrad even went on to say that they wanted India to ‘grovel’. Safe to say they achieved their goal as they hammered the hosts by 408 runs to complete the clean sweep.
Let’s take a look at the India player ratings for the IND vs SA Test series.
Yashasvi Jaiswal could not live up to the expectations as India were thoroughly outplayed at home. The opening batter scored only 83 runs in four innings with the best score of 58 in the first innings of the Guwahati Test. Jaiswal was one of the only two India players to register a half-century in the series.
KL Rahul started the IND vs SA Test series with a 39-run knock in Kolkata but could not deliver the returns he was expected to. He ended up with only 68 runs to his name from four innings.
Sai Sudharsan was left out of the Eden Gardens Test in favour of another all-rounder. But Shubman Gill injury gave him a chance in the second game. Sudharsan could not make the most of it, managing only 15 and 14 in two innings.
Despite the inconsistency in his role, Washington Sundar showed some good signs in the series. He batted at number three in Kolkata and was moved to number eight in the Guwahati Test. He ended the series as the top India batter with 124 runs, including a 48-run knock.
Captain Shubman Gill unfortunately could not play a role in the India vs South Africa Test series. He batted in only one innings, where he was dismissed for just four runs. Gill missed the rest of the series due to a serious nerve related injury. It would be unfair to rank him in India player ratings for this series.
Rishabh Pant was perhaps the biggest disappointment for the hosts in this series. In the first Test, he scored 27 and 2 in two innings. He made his captaincy debut in the Guwahati Test but failed to make a mark with the bat, scoring only 7 and 13.
Dhruv Jurel made it impossible for the team management to leave him out of the India playing XI. But the series was a disaster for him as he could collect only 29 runs from four innings with a high score of 14.
Ravindra Jadeja tops the India player ratings despite not being anywhere near his best. He was India’s top wicket-taker with 10 scalps at an average of 21.90. With the bat, he was the second highest run-scorer for India with 104 runs, including a fifty.
Nitish Kumar Reddy played the second India vs South Africa Test but could not make any impact. He made 10 runs in the first innings and was dismissed for a duck in the second. The pace all-rounder bowled 10 overs but went wicketless and conceded 49 runs.
Axar Patel played only one match in the series in Kolkata. He managed to pick up only two wickets and scored 42 runs in two innings. He did not look threatening with the ball and was dropped for the second IND vs SA Test in Guwahati.
Kuldeep Yadav snared eight wickets in the IND vs SA Test series at an average of 28.62. He was largely ineffective as South African batters kept piling on runs. He took a four-for in the first innings in Guwahati but conceded 115 runs.
India’s premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah kicked off the series with a five-wicket haul but was unable to make much impact in the following three innings. He took eight wickets in the series at 18.50 runs apiece. This was perhaps the first series where Bumrah was outperformed by an opponent pacer.
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The last member in the India player ratings is Mohammed Siraj. Much like his teammates, he could not make any significant contribution in the series. He took six wickets in four innings at an average of 29.
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