The enthralling four-match Test series between India and Australia concluded at the picturesque HPCA Stadium on Tuesday, with India lifting the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Indian spinner Ravindra Jadeja received the Man Of The Series award. He was, indeed, the showstopper. But others too excelled at times to intensify the action.
Advertisement
We present you a combined eleven from the series, detailing their skills and performance during the series.
Top-order
Opening pair of Matt Renshaw and KL Rahul would be the most formidable, with stellar hitters like Cheteshwar Pujara and Steve Smith to support down the order.
Renshaw, who turned 21 today, scored 232 runs from eight innings of the series, while Rahul slammed six fifty-plus knocks while batting in seven innings.
Aussie skipper Smith deserves to lead the combined side as well. If it were a captains’ series then Smith would have clinched the trophy well before its conclusion.
The 27-year-old finished the series as the top-scorer, scoring 499 runs at an impressive average of 71.28. Smith slammed three centuries with a highest knock of unbeaten 178 runs.
India’s No.3 batsman Pujara was second in the list of top-scorers as he made 405 runs from seven innings with a highest knock of 202 runs in Ranchi.
Middle-order
In the middle-order, Peter Handscomb, wicket keeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja would be a perfect deal.
Handscomb struck 198 runs in eight innings with a highest knock of 72 (not out) in Ranchi Test. Saha scored 174 runs in the series with a hundred and 14 dismissals (13 catches, 1 stump) from behind the stumps.
Jadeja will be the most valuable player in the combined eleven with his all-round skills. He claimed 25 wickets and scored 127 runs at lower middle-order.
Lower-order/bowling attack
The 28-year-old spinner would also lead the bowling unit, comprising pacers Umesh Yadav and Pat Cummins, besides off-spin duo of Nathan Lyon and Ravichandran Ashwin.
Ashwin concluded the Test series with 21 wickets, second most after Jadeja. With this, the 30-year-old took record 79 wickets in the 2016-17 season, most by any bowler in a season.
Lyon was the second most impressive spinner in India as he added 19 wickets from this series to his kitty of 64 wickets in India. He became the second-most wicket-taking overseas spinner in India after Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan with 105 wickets.
Paceman Umesh Yadav claimed 17 wickets in the series, surpassing his own record of 14 wickets, that he made in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2011-12.
Australia’s comeback man Pat Cummins will be a great support to Yadav as he claimed eight wickets from two matches at an economy of 3.14 runs per over.
Combined XI: Matt Renshaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Steve Smith (C), Peter Handscomb, Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Nathan Lyon, Umesh Yadav, Pat Cummins
(India – 6, Australia – 5)
