An injury-marred Australia loses Border Gavaskar Trophy to India without putting up a tough fight: Player Ratings for the visitors
Australia had the chance to nab the Border Gavaskar Trophy after losing twice at their home ground, as India was playing without the presence of their star batter Rishabh Pant. However, the visitors fell flat against India’s spin unit and ended up losing by 1-2.
The first Test saw India winning by an inning and 132 runs while in the second Test, Australia lost by six wickets. Playing under Steve Smith, the team made a comeback by winning the third Test match by nine wickets. However, they could not continue the momentum, and the fourth game ended in a draw.
Let us check out the report card of the Australian players:
Top Order
David Warner (1/10): It was a forgettable outing for David Warner as he ended up scoring only one and 10 runs across two innings in the first Test against India. The batter failed to improve in the second Test as well as he played a poor knock of 15 runs in the first innings.
It was the last Test inning for the 36-year-old against India as he was ruled out of the second Test and the remainder of the series due to a concussion.
Travis Head (6.5/10): An injury to David Warner in the second game paved the way for the entry of Travis Head at the top of the order. Head had its ups and downs throughout the Test series but overall he managed to contribute decently to Australia’s scoreboard in the last three Test matches.
In six innings, the top-order collected 235 runs at an average of 47.00. He recorded 90 runs as his highest score in the third innings of the fourth Test match.
Usman Khawaja (9/10): Usman Khawaja emerged as the biggest positive for the Australian team in the four-match Test series against India. He topped the run-scoring charts with a massive 333 runs to his name in seven innings at an average of 47.57.
Khawaja’s best performance came in the final Test as he smacked 180 runs after facing 422 balls to help his team put up 480 runs on the board in the first innings.
Marnus Labuschagne (5/10): At the beginning of the Test series, a lot was expected from Marnus Labuschagne, but the batter failed to live up to his reputation. He was the second-highest run-getter for Australia with 244 runs in eight innings, but none of his knocks made a major impact or helped his team in reaching a victory.
Middle Order
Steve Smith (5/10): Steve Smith failed to make an impact as a batter, but he needs to be lauded for his excellent leadership skills. Pat Cummins had to travel back due to personal reasons following the conclusion of the second Test and thus playing under Smith, Australia won the third Test while the last match ended in a draw.
However, as a batter, he could only contribute 145 runs at an average of 29.00. The veteran failed in recording any fifty or hundred during the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023.
Matt Renshaw (1/10): Matt Renshaw was disappointing in the first Test match as he was dismissed at scores of zero and two runs. Though the batter was dropped from the second match, he made an entry into the side for the second batting innings following a concussion to David Warner.
Renshaw could not capitalize on the golden chance as he lost his wicket to Ravi Ashwin after scoring only two runs.
Peter Handscomb (3/10): Peter Handscomb featured in all four Test matches for Australia, but he could hardly make his presence felt. There was no good knock from the batter apart from the 72 runs he scored in the first innings of the second Test.
Overall, Peter garnered only 145 runs at a poor average of 29.00.
Alex Carey (2/10): Another Australian batter who could not contribute much to the team has to be the wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey. He featured in all four games for the Kangaroos but failed to touch even 40 runs in any of the games.
All-rounders
Cameron Green (6/10): Cameron Green was one of the standout performers for the Australian team. Recovering from an injury, he played the last two Test matches and made headlines owing to his batting exploits.
The all-rounder delivered a lukewarm performance in the third Test but played a vital role in the last game by smacking a much-needed century. His batting exploits in the first innings helped Australia in scoring 480 runs and ending the match in a draw.
Bowlers
Todd Murphy (8/10): The 22-year-old seamer Todd Murphy was the revelation for the Australian team. He finished the series as the second-highest wicket-taker for the visitors with 14 scalps to his name in four games at an average of 25.12 and an economy rate of 2.57.
Pat Cummins (1.5/10): Pat Cummins experienced a poor run as under his leadership, Australia lost the first two Test matches while he also did not make any difference with the ball. Cummins played two Test matches against India and picked three wickets at an economy rate of 3.55.
Nathan Lyon (9/10): The veteran spinner Nathan Lyon made the most out of India’s spin-friendly batting pitches. He was the top wicket-taker for the visiting team with a whopping 22 wickets at an average of 22.36.
He also earned the man of the match award in the third Test match with Australia cruising to a win by nine wickets.
Scott Boland (1/10): Scott Boland got a place in Australia’s playing XI in the first Test match but a poor performance resulted in him sitting on the bench for the remainder of the series. In the game, Boland could not pick any wicket giving away 34 runs in his 17 overs.
Matthew Kuhnemann (6/10): The seamers did not have much role to play in the Test series because of the spin-friendly conditions. Despite the challenges, Matthew Kuhnemann did a decent job by picking nine wickets in three games at an average of 31.11 and an economy rate of 3.57.
Mitchell Starc (2/10): Mitchell Starc had to sit out in the first two games because of injury concerns. However, his presence in the remaining two games did not make much of a difference for Australia, as the pacer scalped only two wickets at a relatively high economy rate of 3.88.