England vs India 2018: Top 5 individual batting performances in the series
The Test series between England and India has ended with the scoreline reading 4-1 in the former's favor. This scoreline, however, does not do justice to the fact that it was a very closely contested series. There had been many instances in the series where if India could have capitalized on key moments, they would have been on the winning side.
A key highlight of this series has been batting failures from both sides (especially the top order). None of the batsmen seemed to be able to tackle the swinging ball and hence we witnessed far too many batting collapses in the series. This is evident from the fact that there was only one instance where a team scored more than 400 in an innings, in a 5 match series.
There seemed to be only one batsman who looked like consistently getting a big score. Look at the leading run scorers in the series and you will see a massive gap between number 1 and number 2. Alastair Cook and KL Rahul, who had a dismal series coming into the last match, got into the top 5 simply by their performance in one match.
Hence it is important to highlight the best batting performances in a series dominated by the bowlers. Some may not necessarily be big scores but may have changed the course of a match.
Honorable mentions:
- Chris Woakes- 137(177), Lord's
- Jos Butler- 106(176), Trent Bridge
- Virat Kohli's both innings at Trent Bridge
- Ravindra Jadeja- 86*(156), The Oval
- Alastair Cook- 147(286), The Oval
- Joe Root- 125(190), The Oval
- Rishabh Pant- 114(146), The Oval
#5: KL Rahul - 149 (224), The Oval
This might very well have been the knock that saved Rahul's career. He reminded everyone why he was in the team in the first place. He played some exquisite shots that many would not have thought can be played in a Test match.
Whenever a team is chasing a mammoth target like 463 with only 1 day remaining, you expect them to play for a draw. But when Rahul and Pant were batting it seemed like they were going for the win. It took a peach of a delivery from Adil Rashid to dismiss Rahul. Since this knock came in a dead rubber where the pressure was not as much, it prevents this innings from ranking any higher.