STORY OF INDIAN CRICKET TEAM IN TEST SERIES
Hello Friends, today in this blog i’ll be sharing the exciting, interesting, surprising & shocking stories of emphatic test series win of team india. For the first time in pandemic phase – cricket returns to india. England came for a long tour of four tests, five T20I & three one day internationals.
TEST SERIES – BUZZING AROUND
England start their tour with test format & with “World Test Championship” at stake, social media was buzzing around with test series. There were many reasons, which added spice to this story line. This test series was very special for indian players, as history was in the making & some players were all set to make a debut. Especially, Ishant Sharma & Ravi Chandran Ashwin was on the verge of creating history. But the headlines of the series was – Pink ball, pitch,newly formed biggest stadium of the world & ex-cricketer's war of comments on social media.
STORY OF INDIAN PLAYERS
Here we will see, what has been the story of each indian cricketer who played in these four fixtures. This may give us goose bumps & may leave with a concern, or a shell shock. Let's get started...
STORY OF “ROHIT SHARMA” - "Superb, Blazing, Smashing"
RUNS – 345 || INNINGS– 07 || AVERAGE – 57.50 || HS – 161 ||
Truly, a game changer & an impact player. Second leading runs scorer of the series, scored 345 runs at a staggering average of 57.5 in the series & played few series defining knocks. Especially, his daddy hundred(161) in second test of the series was the turning point & from there team india never looked back.
STORY OF “SHUBMAN GILL” - "Average Series As Opener"
RUNS – 119 || INNINGS– 07 || AVERAGE – 19.83 || HS – 50 ||
A new young lad on the international circuit, shown a lot of promise for the future. Gill had some decent starts but couldn’t convert them into real big ones. Although, there were few unfortunate decisions went against him, but it’s a part & parcel of the game. He scored, just 119 runs in seven innings at an average of 19.83 only. These are still early days for him, but as an opener at international level, it’s very average performance.
STORY OF – “CHETESHWAR PUJARA” - "Would Like To Forget This Series"
RUNS – 133 || INNINGS– 06 || AVERAGE – 22.17 || HS – 73 ||
This is one of the rarest of the series, where Pujara’s bat remain silent & he just couldn’t find his touch with the bat. Consistency is something was lacking & getting out to same bowler four times in a similar fashion, is definitely a matter of concern. He would like to forget this series quickly & focus on World Test Championship Finale.
STORY OF – “VIRAT KOHLI” - "Skipper Rocks – Batsman Shocks"
RUNS – 172 || INNINGS– 06 || AVERAGE – 28.67 || HS – 72 ||
Virat, an indian skipper had an awesome series, he marshal his resources beautifully & drive the team to historic victory & qualified for “World Test Championship Finale”. But Virat a batsman, had a disappointing series. In six innings, Kohli managed only to score half century, only twice. Otherwise, it was a single digit scores to his name, including a duck. This is not him.
STORY OF – “AJINKYA RAHANE” - "A Disappointing Series"
RUNS – 112 || INNINGS– 06 || AVERAGE – 18.67 || HS – 67 ||
The main-stay of indian middle order in tests - is Rahane. If we talk about his catching –it’s outstanding in slips. He took some stunners there. But as a batsman, this series is by far a disappointing series for him. Rahane had some decent starts in the series but, just when the partnership was building, he gifted his wicket at a crucial time. His statistics tells all the story – disappointing stuff.
STORY OF – “RISHABH PANT” - "The Rishabh Pant Show"
RUNS – 270 || INNINGS– 06 || AVERAGE – 54.00 || HS – 101 ||
He is a star player & truly a match winner. One of the top three scorers of the series. It was his super crucial contributions, lower down the order with the bat that, helped team india to get through with the toughest situations. He single-handedly took the team out of the trouble & won the matches for india in this test series. Earlier, we saw in Brisbane & now in this series. He dominated the opposition like anything, first with his gritty knocks & then with all attack approach.
STORY OF – “RAVI CHANDRAN ASHWIN” - "Elite 400 & Master Stroke With Bat"
RUNS – 189 || INNINGS– 06 || AVERAGE – 31.50 || HS – 106 || WKTS – 32 ||
This spin maestro, created a history by reaching a milestone of 400 test wickets in just 77 test matches. Now he is the second quickest to reach there, in the history of the test cricket - behind the legendary “Muttiah Muralidharan”. More importantly, his defining century knock on his home ground, at Chennai in second test proved to be the master stroke of the series. He was awarded as “Player of The Series” for picking 32 wickets in the series. "Heartiest Congratulations" !!!
STORY OF – “WASHINGTON SUNDAR” - "Star Player For Team India"
RUNS – 181 || INNINGS– 04 || AVERAGE – 90.50 || HS – 96* ||
Yet another all-rounder, rescued team india in every single match. He is a player of the future. Sundar is among the top six runs scorers of the series. Solid technique, focus, application, great temperament, playing for the situation & a complete team man, that defines Sundar. He played some big knocks & formed crucial partnerships with Pant & Ashwin. His scores of 85* in Chennai & 96* in Ahmedabad shows the class & range of this player. He thoroughly deserved a century, especially in last test match, where he was stranded on the other end & ran short of partners. Take a Bow – man, you have a lion heart !!!
STORY OF “AXAR PATEL” - "A Dream Debut & Mystery Man For England"
RUNS – 181 || INNINGS– 04 || AVERAGE – 90.50 || HS – 43 || WKTS – 27 ||
Cricket is a funny game & opportunities comes in the most dramatic manner. Axar Patel, a known entity in shorter versions of the game. He made his debut in second match of the series, in absence of Ravindra Jadeja. Nobody had any clue, about what was about to unfold. Axar was about to create history. He played in three tests & picked 27 wickets, which includes four – “Five Wicket Hauls”. Now, he is the first player in the history of the test cricket to have this achievement. He was a mystery for English batsmen throughout the series & they just couldn’t find a way to read him. Every single time, the local boy of Ahmedabad ran through the opposition. A dream debut for "Bapu".
STORY OF – “ISHANT SHARMA” - "100 Tests - 300 Wickets"
OVERS – 59.0 || INNINGS– 06 || WKTS – 06 ||
The unsung hero of indian test cricket, finally got rewards for his all hard work. Yes, we’re talking about Ishant Sharma. He had two big achievements to his name in this series & they are too big for any speedster. He played his 100th test of his career & reached the milestone of 300 test wickets.
This is not a joke, especially for a speedster, where they are highly prone to injuries. Ishant is one of the most under-rated & most hard working cricketer on international circuit. It’s so good to see him, achieving this milestone & now would he will play in his maiden “World Cup Final – The World Test Championship Finale”. Kudos – Ishant Sharma !!!
STORY OF – “MOHAMMED SIRAJ" - "Won The Hearts"
OVERS – 26.0 || INNINGS– 04 || WKTS – 03 ||
One more speedster on the blocks. Running hard, giving 100% on the field & a team man. These are still early days for him, but he is channelizing himself really well. All The Best for the future.
To summarize, this series was a wake-up call for indian top & middle order, Rohit been an exception. But, on the flip side such situation exposed the lower middle order of team india & fortunately, we get to know that team's lower order is much more than capable to take the team out of any trouble. It's encouraging, but we should not rely on them always. Scoring runs, is a job of batsmen & there's no place for complacency.
Team India - truly a champion team, all set to roar in finals of "World Test Championship" at Southampton in June'2021.
Written By:- Saksham
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