Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan marked their emergence as a new breed of utility players by claiming the honours in the averages charts of the just-concluded three-match Test series against Sri Lanka.
Yuvraj, a replacement for former captain Sourav Ganguly and with whom he is pitted for a slot in the middle order for the tour of Pakistan, averaged an impressive 50.66 from two matches while aggregating 152 runs.
Ganguly, determined to make a comeback to the team, averaged 28 and collected 84 runs from the three innings that he got to play in the series which India won 2-0.
Pathan did his growing reputation as an all-rounder a world of good by collecting 202 runs from three matches and five innings. With a batting average of 40.40, he put to shame some of the specialist batsmen like Virender Sehwag (average 18.66).
The Baroda left-arm paceman was also not behind in bowling charts, emerging as the most successful paceman with seven wickets and a bowling average of 26.
But overall, it was Anil Kumble who was the pick of the Indian bowlers with 20 wickets at an average of 18.70.
For Sri Lanka, there was some consolation as Mahela Jayawardene topped the batting averages list on both sides with a tally of 255 runs at 51.
Spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan's figures show he did not prove to be as big a threat for India although he did manage to take 16 wickets from three Tests, the first of which was a rain-marred affair.
India - Batting and Fielding| Name | Mat | I | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | SR | 100 | 50 | Ct | St |
| Harbhajan | 3 | 4 | 3 | 59 | 40* | 59.00 | 69.41 | - | - | 3 | - |
| Yuvraj | 2 | 4 | 1 | 152 | 77* | 50.66 | 58.91 | - | 2 | - | - |
| I Pathan | 3 | 5 | 0 | 202 | 93 | 40.40 | 58.21 | - | 2 | - | - |
| VVS Laxman | 3 | 5 | 0 | 194 | 104 | 38.80 | 43.30 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
| S Tendulkar | 3 | 5 | 0 | 189 | 109 | 37.80 | 42.47 | 1 | - | - | - |
| MS Dhoni | 3 | 5 | 1 | 149 | 51* | 37.25 | 74.87 | - | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| R Dravid | 2 | 3 | 0 | 109 | 53 | 36.33 | 45.99 | - | 1 | 1 | - |
| A Agarkar | 3 | 4 | 1 | 92 | 48 | 30.66 | 56.44 | - | - | 1 | - |
| S Ganguly | 2 | 3 | 0 | 84 | 40 | 28.00 | 31.34 | - | - | 1 | - |
| A Kumble | 3 | 4 | 1 | 67 | 29* | 22.33 | 39.64 | - | - | 2 | - |
| V Sehwag | 2 | 3 | 0 | 56 | 36 | 18.66 | 87.50 | - | - | 3 | - |
| G Gambhir | 3 | 5 | 0 | 54 | 30 | 10.80 | 45.37 | - | - | 4 | - |
| M Kaif | 1 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 9 | 6.50 | 37.14 | - | - | 5 | - |
India - Bowling
| Name | Mat | O | M | R | W | Ave | Best | 5 | 10 | SR | Econ |
| A Kumble | 3 | 138.3 | 28 | 374 | 20 | 18.70 | 6-72 | 2 | 1 | 41.5 | 2.70 |
| Harbhajan | 3 | 103.1 | 17 | 312 | 14 | 22.28 | 7-62 | 1 | 1 | 44.2 | 3.02 |
| I Pathan | 3 | 62 | 12 | 182 | 7 | 26.00 | 3-34 | - | - | 53.1 | 2.93 |
| A Agarkar | 3 | 59 | 16 | 150 | 3 | 50.00 | 2-45 | - | - | 118.0 | 2.54 |
| S Ganguly | 2 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | 8.00 |
| V Sehwag | 2 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | 6.00 |
| S Tendulkar | 3 | 6 | 0 | 19 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | 3.16 |
Sri Lanka - Batting and Fielding
| Name | Mat | I | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | SR | 100 | 50 | Ct | St |
| M Jayawardene | 3 | 5 | 0 | 255 | 71 | 51.00 | 56.16 | - | 4 | 1 | - |
| M Atapattu | 3 | 5 | 0 | 218 | 88 | 43.60 | 45.79 | - | 2 | 2 | - |
| T Dilshan | 3 | 5 | 1 | 170 | 65 | 42.50 | 54.48 | - | 2 | 1 | - |
| K Sangakkara | 3 | 5 | 0 | 124 | 41 | 24.80 | 42.03 | - | - | 7 | - |
| W Tharanga | 1 | 2 | 0 | 49 | 47 | 24.50 | 37.40 | - | - | 1 | - |
| J Mubarak | 3 | 4 | 1 | 63 | 29* | 21.00 | 41.72 | - | - | 4 | - |
| C Bandara | 3 | 4 | 1 | 40 | 28* | 13.33 | 52.63 | - | - | 1 | - |
| D Gunawardene | 2 | 3 | 0 | 38 | 25 | 12.66 | 38.38 | - | - | 1 | - |
| T Samaraweera | 3 | 5 | 1 | 42 | 35* | 10.50 | 30.43 | - | - | 1 | - |
| C Vaas | 2 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 17 | 9.50 | 42.22 | - | - | 1 | - |
| M Muralitharan | 3 | 4 | 0 | 17 | 9 | 4.25 | 62.96 | - | - | 1 | - |
| F Maharoof | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 3.00 | 17.14 | - | - | 1 | - |
| D Fernando | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2* | 2.00 | 9.52 | - | - | - | - |
| L Malinga | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0* | 0.00 | 0.00 | - | - | - | - |
Sri Lanka - Bowling
| Name | Mat | O | M | R | W | Ave | Best | 5 | 10 | SR | Econ |
| C Vaas | 2 | 64 | 23 | 162 | 7 | 23.14 | 4-20 | - | - | 54.8 | 2.53 |
| M Maharoof | 1 | 33 | 11 | 77 | 3 | 25.66 | 2-52 | - | - | 66.0 | 2.33 |
| M Muralitharan | 3 | 158.4 | 28 | 496 | 16 | 31.00 | 7-100 | 1 | - | 59.5 | 3.12 |
| C Bandara | 3 | 92 | 14 | 296 | 9 | 32.88 | 3-84 | - | - | 61.3 | 3.21 |
| S Malinga | 1 | 44 | 6 | 176 | 4 | 44.00 | 3-113 | - | - | 66.0 | 4.00 |
| T Dilshan | 3 | 20 | 2 | 66 | 1 | 66.00 | 1-36 | - | - | 120.0 | 3.30 |
| D Fernando | 2 | 56 | 14 | 176 | 2 | 88.00 | 1-58 | - | - | 168.0 | 3.14 |
| J Mubarak | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | 2.00 |
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