India went from the highs of winning a test series in Australia to suffering an embarrassing defeat in the first test in Chennai against England. India went into the game as the betting favorite but were outclassed in the batting, fielding and bowling departments.
England will be brimming with confidence as they enter the second test in Chennai which starts on Feb 13. If you are looking at betting on the second test, you can do so by clicking here.
We take a look at the Indian playing XI for the first test in Chennai and rank them from 0 to 10. Let us know if you agree with our rating.
Indian Batsmen
R Sharma (2/10): scored 6 and 12 and should be very disappointed with his performance. Sharma did not have a great series in Australia and knows that India expect a lot more from him at the top of the order given his seniority.
S Gill (6/10): scored 29 and 50 and once again showed that he has a good future ahead of him. Gill has performed so well in Australia that there is now a lot of expectations on his young shoulders. He showed his class in the second innings and looks good to make more runs in the second test.
C Pujara (6/10): scored 73 and 15 which is not good enough by his standards. Pujara is expected to be the rock of the Indian batting line-up and is required to block one end up. He played well in the first innings and had he batted well in the second innings, India would have been in a better position to save the test.
V Kohli (6/10): scored 11 and 72 and will not be a happy man. Kohli is the best batsman in the Indian side and when he scores big runs, India end up winning. His captaincy is also under the scanner after losing the first test. He looked good in the second innings but he ran out of partners.
A Rahane (0/10): scored 1 and 0 in the game and was the biggest disappointment amongst all the batsmen. The selectors need to put Rahane the batsman under the scanner as after his match winning century at the MCG, his performance with the bat hasn’t been great. Rahane is expected to hold the middle order together and he has failed with the bat multiple times. Another failure in Chennai, should push the selectors to replace him.
R Pant (6/10): scored 91 and 11 in the game and has continued to shine. Pant will be kicking himself for getting out in the 90s and not getting a big hundred which could have changed the result for India.
Indian Bowlers
W Sundar (7/10): did well with the bat in the first innings and remained unbeaten on 85. He sent down 27 overs in the match and did not pick up any wickets. Sundar needs to take wickets, if he is going to be a part of the playing XI
R Ashwin (8/10): Sent down a total of 72 overs in the match and picked up 9 wickets. He was the pick of the Indian bowlers. He also made 31 and 9 with the ball.
S Nadeem (5/10): bowled 44 overs in the first innings and took 2 wickets. Sent down another 15 overs in the second innings and picked up 2 wickets. Not a bad performance for a player who is only in his second test.
I Sharma (6/10): sent down 34 overs in the match and ended up taking 3 wickets. His brilliant spell in the first innings, gave India a glimmer of hope.
J Bumrah (6/10): bowled 42 overs in the first innings and took 4 wickets.
Check out the betting odds for the second test below.
