India ratings : Pappu and Munna reunion

Once upon a time there were two kids, pappu and munna, who never got marks in their classes, they got zero, once again again and again and again. And one day they decided that they would hit back on the face of this world by creating their own marks their own rating and their own scores. And they came up with this list, Pappu has already done it in the earlier post and here is Munna doing it. We did it Pappu, we did it Pappu.

Virender Sehwag - 3 - Can't blame him for getting out on spinners even on crucial occasions that's how it is. Either its his day(and thus India's day) or its the bowlers' day. A lot of starts but not even a single half century, and a ordinary match as a catpain in Napier test gets him a 3, more because of the great expectations he set.

Gautam Gambhir - 10 - Post ODI tournament, we had this discussion that Gauti is due his knock. Other than the sudden rush of blood in the first inning at Napier he has been the epical centre of Indian batting line up. His centuries in back to back test matches ensured that we have a solid start. Napier knock will stay as a Indian classic on foreign soil. The 'serious' guy continues to make an impact on Indian test matches' results. Meanwhile, he also reached a milestone of the top Indian scorer in his first 25 tests.

Rahul Dravid - 8 - Rahul Dravid the way we love him, the wall. We don't need no 'edge'ucation and he made his batting look like fluent floyd numbers. He has returned back to his gritty form and reminds that there is a lot of good test match cricket left in him. He will also remember this series for his catching records as we moved past Mark Waugh to become the test cricketer with most test catches. Wall is stronger now.

Sachin Tendulkar - 8.5 - Two 60s one 49 and one massive 160 in his 5 innings and making it all look so easy, he continues to rule the batting world. I would confess that I am always a little pro-tendulkar in all my statements (but tell me a reason why I should not be, or anyone should not be for that matter!). The innings were well placed, he failed only once in an inning where we were already on the top of the match. Two wickets in the last inning of third test match left us all happier than before.

VVS Laxman - 8 - While writing this and looking at the scorecards for three matches, I can so clearly see that India's series was eminent in all circumstances. VVS captured the other half of the southern hemisphere as well at Napier. Specially the second innings with 25 fours made the kiwi audience laugh and cry at the same time. Elegant as ever, people may call him lazy but who cares to run when you can hit them all along the ground with sheer perfection.

Yuvraj Singh - 5 - One good knock at Napier, but otherwise he looked ordinary. Yuvraj is a massive world figure when it comes to the shorter forms of game, but at tests he is still fighting for his place. With Pujara and Badrinath and others around it may get difficult for him in future. All of us love to see him once he gets going (but once he gets going!)

MS Dhoni - 8 - MS makes the other team feel aM aSS, apart from his captaincy he impressed by his keeping and the way he batted with tail whenever required. He has an invisible presence which was exposed in the second test where we let kiwis score 600 plus. And when he was back it looked that things well back in place. I sometime wonder if it is all a matter of stars, or its all planned. But as long as India wins, its three cheers!

Harbhajan - 9 - These were not the spinning Mumbai tracks or some other Indian dry pitch. He impressed by his controlled aggression throughout the series. The funniest Indian cricketer and still one of the most effective bowlers of his time. The turbonator acts as the sankat-mochak batsman for India.

Zaheer - 9 - Spearhead. Its difficult to bring adjectives when a team is doing good as a 'team'. And for those who write for Indian cricket, this is a dilemma we faced never before in such intensity. Zaheer's early strikes always led the floor for the rest of the bowlers and like bhajji he has become a very effective lower order batsman. This is revival of Zak.

Ishant - 6 - There were great expectations from him as well, he fared decently well but we have seen better of him and specially when situations were conducive for pace bowling. He is still one for the future.

Munaf Patel - 5 - India's third seamer worry is still eminent, in spite of decent performance from him in bits and pieces. Munaf has the tendancy to surprise by switching good and bad performances to and fro in no time at all. He has certainly worked on his fielding which can help him cement his place at least in the shorter versions of the game.

Gary Kirsten - 9 - I think he must be now busy in writing a book that he must write - 'The dos and donts of an Indian foreign coach'. Doing what he has to at his best. The players are happy, the captain is happy, the press is happy and the Indians are happier. Nobody knows a lot about what he is doing but its working and as I said earlier as long as it works its hurray!!!