India saw the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 slipping out of their hands after a decade in the just-concluded tour of Australia as the hosts came from behind to defeat them 3-1 in a five-match series.
The Asian side started well with an emphatic 295-run win in Perth, but Australia came back strongly to win the second, fourth, and fifth matches in Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney. The third match in Brisbane was drawn due to rain.
The series was one fraught with controversies, especially for India, who failed to get their act together in the final four matches. There were serious issues with the form of some prime batters, including captain Rohit Sharma, who sat out for the final match. At the same time, the bowling looked too dependent on Jasprit Bumrah, who had a dream run with the ball with 32 scalps at an incredible average of 13.
Here, we take a look at the performance of each member of the Indian squad that was picked for the all-important BGT 2024-25 squandering, which meant the Asian team was out of the race for the World Test Championship 2025 final.
We rate the players who got games out of a scale of 10.
Rohit Sharma: 1 out of 10
The India captain had one of the worst series of his career, with just 31 runs in five innings at a pathetic average of 6.20. He was dismissed four times by his opposite number, Pat Cummins. While Sharma tried to put up a brave face during the final game, which he claimed to have given a miss, saying nobody could decide for him, there is no denying that he has clearly looked clueless in the red-ball format recently, both at home and abroad. The single point he gets is because of some catches he took in the slip.
Jasprit Bumrah: 9 out of 10
The Indian vice-captain, who captained the side in two matches, both in the absence and presence of Sharma, was the brightest performer for his team this BGT 2024-25. He made the Australian top order look brittle and forced the home team to bring in a teen hitter to unsettle him. But Bumrah, being Bumrah, was unstoppable. In nine innings in five matches, he picked 32 wickets, the most by an Indian bowler in Australia in a series, and failed to turn up in the final innings of the fifth match when India still had a chance to draw the series due to an injury. His ‘Player of the Series’ award was the visitor’s only saving grace.
Virat Kohli: 2 out of 10
For Virat Kohli, this series would remain as tainted as the 2014 one in England. The ace batter had made sure to deliver both as the captain and the batter in his past tours Down Under, but this time, the 36-year-old only edged and sledged. His identical dismissals every time he went out to bat spoke volumes about glaring errors in technique, and the frustration he showed after his final dismissal in Sydney summed up his plight. Kohli scored 190 runs in nine innings at an average of 23.75 and that included an unbeaten and record-breaking century in Perth.
Yashasvi Jaiswal: 7 out 10
The southpaw was the best India’s batting could produce this series, as he ended up as the top scorer for his side with 391 runs in 10 innings at an average of 43.44. The Indian fans remained interested as long as Jaiswal batted, and each time he got out, the hopes faded. However, one would have expected Jaiswal to score more runs after the 161 he slammed in Perth. He made a couple of 80s in Melbourne but got out, unfortunately, on both occasions. Jaiswal, however, showed that he is not afraid to take on bowlers Down Under and could be more dominant when he tours Australia again. Jaiswal also took some brilliant catches while dropping a few in Melbourne.
KL Rahul: 5 out of 10
KL Rahul faced all sorts of criticism before reaching Australia, and even during some practice games, but in the Test series, he showed his quality. He finished among the top five scorers with 276 runs in 10 innings at an average of 30.66. His double-hundred partnership with Jaiswal in Perth was one of the top moments in India’s otherwise dull performance with the bat. Both his half-centuries in the series were well-crafted but India would have loved to see his bat producing more runs as he got out on a few occasions after getting set. Rahul’s catching in the slips was commendable.
Rishabh Pant: 6 out of 10
The wicket-keeper-batter blew hot and cold in the series with the bat and was also blasted by former players like Sunil Gavaskar after getting out playing adventurous shots in Melbourne, but there is no debate that Rishabh Pant scores best with his natural belligerent style. Pant made 255 runs in five matches and nine innings at an average of 28.33. His best score was 61, which came in the final innings in Sydney and looked promising after all the hits his body took in the first innings. But Pant’s irresponsible approach in the Melbourne Test earned him brickbats. Behind the wickets, Pant took some great catches.
Nitish Kumar Reddy: 7 out of 10
Nitish Kumar Reddy was certainly one of the finds for India in BGT 2024-25. Playing in his debut Test series, the 21-year-old batter-all-rounder accumulated 298 runs in five matches at an average of 37.25 with a gritty hundred at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. He ended up as the fourth-highest scorer in the series. In bowling, however, he was less effective and picked only five at an average of 38.
Mohammed Siraj: 3 out of 10
Mohammed Siraj was criticized at times but he managed to play all the matches and finished with 20 scalps, the second-best Indian bowler after Bumrah. Siraj, however, went for some runs and averaged more than 31. His 0-122 in 23 overs in the first innings in Melbourne particularly came under the scanner. Siraj was expected to play a bigger role in the absence of Bumrah as the next senior-most bowler, but he failed to rise to the occasion.
Shubman Gill: 1 out of 10
Shubman Gill is often dubbed as the next big thing in Indian cricket, but he did no justice to his reputation. The team banked on him after he made an impressive debut in Australia during the 2020-21 series, but he continued to fail in the all-important No.3 position. In five innings in three matches, the right-handed batter could make only 93 runs at an average of 18.60, with the highest score of 31. He got out cheaply after getting some starts, putting his team in more trouble. Gill needs to do some serious introspection into his red-ball batting skills.
Ravindra Jadeja: 1 out of 10
The veteran batter-all-rounder was another poor performer in the series. The left-arm spinner was virtually non-existent, with four wickets in three matches, and with the bat, he scored 135 runs in five innings at an average of 27 with the highest score of 77. For an experienced all-rounder like Jadeja, who has more than 3,300 runs and 323 wickets in the long format, the performance in BGT 2024-25 was below average.
Ravichandran Ashwin: 1 out of 10
Ravichandran Ashwin took retirement from international cricket after the third Test in Brisbane, which he did not play. While the decision gave birth to speculations, the veteran off-spinner could not do much in the only Test that he played, which was the day-night game in Adelaide. He got a solitary wicket (Mitchell Marsh) even which was controversial. It was a disappointing end for somebody with more than 530 Test wickets, but that’s how cricket is. Cruel.
Washington Sundar: 1 out of 10
Washington Sundar played three matches in the series but couldn’t do much apart from scoring a fighting fifty in Melbourne to bring India back into the game. He made 114 runs in six innings at an average of 22.80 and picked only three wickets at an average of 38.66.
Prasidh Krishna: 4 out of 10
Prasidh Krishna played the final match of the series in Sydney and produced quite a surprising show with six wickets at an average of 17.83. Playing in just his third Test replacing an injured Akash Deep, the right-arm bowler chipped in in the absence of Bumrah to restrict Australia in the first innings (3 for 42) and backed it up with an impressive show in the second to pick three quick wickets again.
Akash Deep: 1 out of 10
Akash Deep replaced Harshit Rana in the third Test in Brisbane, and more than his bowling, it was his 31 with the bat that helped India more by saving the follow-on. He played the fourth match in Melbourne but could not impress, taking only two wickets and scoring seven runs. The right-arm fast bowler took five wickets in two matches at an average of 54. He missed the fifth match due to injury.
Harshit Rana: 1 out of 10
Harshit Rana made an impressive debut in Perth with four wickets, including three in the first innings, but his lacklustre show in the second Test, in which he fell for a pair and went wicketless, meant he did not get another game in the series. Rana bowled at an average of 50.75.
Dhruv Jurel: 0 out of 10
Dhruv Jurel played the first match in Perth, which India won, but his contribution was not much. Having played as a specialist batter, he scored 12 runs in the Test, his first in Australia, averaging only six.
Devdutt Padikkal: 0 out of 10
Devdutt Padikkal also played the game in Perth and made 25 runs, all of which came in the second innings. He averaged 12.50. bhimanyu Easwaran, Sarfaraz Khan, and Tanush Kotian did not play any match.