IND vs ENG: Sarfaraz Khan or Dhruv Jurel? Who was the Best and Worst India Debutant in England Series?

India emphatically completed the England Test series as the hosts beat the hapless visitors in the Final Test in Dharamshala on Saturday (March 9).

It was yet another surrender from the English boys, who didn't have any answer in front of India's spin duo Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav. Ashwin, playing his 100th Test, ended up getting a five-wicket haul in the match.

Kuldeep Yadav was awarded Player of the Match and the scintillating Yashasvi Jaiswal got the Player of the Series award. Apart from the dominating series win, another impact which has been a laudable thing is the exuberance of youth in this series.

Amid the absence of many regulars (Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami), India handed five debuts in this series. It was Rajat Patidar who got his maiden Test cap in Vizag, and then Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel followed in the 3rd Test in Rajkot. It didn't stop there as Akash Deep Singh and Devdutt Padikkal also played their first Test match in Ranchi (4th Test) and Dharamshala (5th Test) respectively.

Amid the oozing brilliance of the likes of Jaiswal, Bumrah and others, most of these debutants also played a fantastic part in the series win. In this article, we shall rate all of India's five debutants in the England series -

Devdutt Padikkal

Devdutt Padikkal got his opportunity in Dharamshala, in the final match of the series. The southpaw oozed class with his sweet stroke-making, and scored a fluent 65 off 103 balls in the only time that he got an opportunity to bat. Apart from that, he contributed in the field as well by picking up 2 catches in the first innings.

He would have loved to convert his fifty to a century, but hopefully the 23-year-old will be able to showcase his class in the coming assignments.

Rating: 7.5/10

Sarfaraz Khan

The elusive India debut came for Sarfaraz Khan in Rajkot. His teary-eyed father and family was there and the batter shone in both innings. He amassed 62 off 66 balls and 68 off 72 balls in both innings. Sarfaraz could only manage 14 across two innings in Ranchi, but scored a brilliant fifty again in Dharamshala. The 26-year-old ended up scoring 200 runs in the series with three half-centuries in five innings.

Sarfaraz will be content but may feel disappointed for not converting any of those fifties to centuries.

Rating: 8/10

Dhruv Jurel

Dhruv Jurel batted once in his debut Test and scored 46 runs. His brilliance was in show in the Ranchi Test, when Jurel saved India twice. First, he scored 90 runs in the first innings and carried the team out of a deep hole. And then when the chips were down again, Jurel managed to score an unbeaten 39 runs to steer India home to a victory. He scored 190 runs in the series and also was the Player of the Match in Ranchi.

Although his debut was a bit underrated, the immense knock in Ranchi in both innings speaks volumes of the Agra-born player.

Rating: 9/10

Akash Deep

Akash Deep made his debut in Ranchi, replacing Jasprit Bumrah. The Bengal pacer started in fantastic fashion by picking up 3 wickets in the first innings. He didn't get a bowling opportunity in the 2nd innings and then was dropped from the final Test.

Akash Deep's fiery spell in Ranchi set the tone for India and the pacer looks like someone who can thrive in the longest format of the game. But he has to be more lethal in his second and third spells to cement his place in the team.

Rating: 7.5/10

Rajat Patidar

Rajat Patidar made his debut in Vizag and started with a 32-run knock in the first innings. But since then, his next five innings could only yield a total of 31 runs and the batter was dropped in the Dharamshala Test. He has scored only 63 runs in six innings, with a poor average of 10.5.

Patidar won't be happy with himself and needs to perform regularly to get his place back in the squad. Luckily for him, India will play a lot of Test matches in the coming two years and he will have to show his mettle there.

Rating: 3/10