Gautam Gambhir – 4: Started well on the first morning before somewhat unluckily playing on to Bresnan. Outdone by the superlative Anderson second time around.
Virender Sehwag – 0: A King Pair means the great one fails to trouble the scorers here too. Lackadaisical performance in the field epitomised India’s malaise. It was a huge gamble to pick him and it failed badly, but at 2-0 down did India have any other choice?
Rahul Dravid – 5: No hundred this time, but it took the ball of the match from Bresnan to get through The Wall in the first innings. Failure to refer his second innings dismissal confirmed the state of India’s shellshock.
Sachin Tendulkar – 5: Tentative in the first innings when he was tormented by a tremendous over from Anderson. On the receiving end of the unluckiest dismissal in cricket when in full flow second time around just as that elusive 100th hundred looked a distinct possibility.
VVS Laxman – 4: Terrible shot to be dismissed when well set on day one before enduring a torrid time at the hands of Anderson when India batted a second time.
Suresh Raina – 2: He clearly has talent but his Test career will be brief unless he learns to play the short ball. Looked mentally shot after being dismissed by Swann in the 2nd innings.
MS Dhoni – 6: Sloppy with the gloves again and some of his captaincy decisions were frankly baffling, but at least found some belated form with the bat in the shape of two defiant fifties.
Amit Mishra – 5: Bowled tidily enough and got plenty of turn, but lacked the guile, nous and variation necessary to trouble the England batsmen. Where was the googly? An improvement on the Harbhajan Singh of Lord’s and Trent Bridge though.
Praveen Kumar – 7: Bowled his heart out and kept throwing himself around in the field. Put the top order batsmen to shame with two entertaining innings. The only one who can hold his head up high after this performance. If only India had eleven Kumar’s…
Ishant Sharma – 3: Like Raina, Ishant clearly has talent – his pre-lunch spell at Lord’s on day four provided ample evidence of that. However, here it looked like he was simply going through the motions and bowling on a different surface to England’s impressive pace trio.
Sreesanth – 2: If the eccentric Sreesanth is a Test quality bowler than I am the King of England. Lacks pace, control and brains even if his effort cannot be faulted.
Where next?
2nd Test: Trent Bridge - India marks out of 10
2nd Test: Trent Bridge - England marks out of 10
1st Test: Lord's - England marks out of 10
1st Test: Lord's - India marks out of 10
The rehabilitation of Stuart Broad
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