Following India’s defeat in the third Test against Australia in Indore, concerns are being raised about the effectiveness of the Indian top order after another below-par batting performance, just before World Test Championship.
India’s top-order batting woes
In the 17 innings at home since the start of 2021, where India has lost five or more wickets, their first five have contributed an average of 154 runs and have only crossed 200 a measly five times. The highest score was 266 versus New Zealand at Kanpur in the 2021 series opener, the only draw at home in the last three years.
India’s Test batters have scored 16 Test centuries in the same number of matches at home, which is a drop of more than 50 percent compared to the average of 2.2 before the World Test Championship (WTC) period started in August 2019.
Since the start of 2021, the Indian Test team’s batting average has decreased significantly from 42.8 to 38.2 and further post-pandemic to 30.7. This means that compared to the average score between 2014-2019, the team has been scoring, on average, 133 runs less while playing at home. Considering the sample period of three to five years, the alarming drop provides enough opportunity to evaluate the peaks and troughs and does not point to a need for change. India’s bowlers, who are well-rounded and highly skilled, are doing their part in the team’s success, and there is no indication that their top-order underperformance is holding them back from achieving greatness.
The Indian Test team has recently endeavoured to craft playing surfaces well-suited to their strengths while minimizing the importance of the toss. This focus has been driven by their loss to England in the first Test at Chennai in 2021. The team management believes a pitch that starts favouring the batters but wears away as the game progresses to the fourth and fifth days does not afford a fair chance for both sides. However, a level playing field is established if the ball turns from the very beginning.
India is no longer a batting paradise
India has long been known for its strong batting averages in Test cricket, ranking third only behind Pakistan and the UAE. Over the years, 13 Indian batters have averaged above 50 when playing at home, placing India second behind Australia in terms of individual batting averages. However, this statistic has changed drastically in the last three years, with only one batter, Rishabh Pant, having an average above 50.
Jarrod Kimber commented in one of his YouTube videos that this drastic decline could not be a piece of pure luck. It is not a coincidence that batting averages for almost the entire team have decreased since the commencement of the World Test Championship. A carefully constructed plan caused the fall in the averages.
