Site icon News As It Comes , India & World

Tail-end batsmen put a price on their wickets but India’s tail does not wag in SENA countries

“I think sometimes we pay too much importance to saying we need to bowl out teams far quicker, and I am not saying we shouldn’t. But batsmen don’t get out anymore. Lower-order batters do put a price on their wickets,” R Ashwin had told reporters after India leaked 123 runs after taking the 1st 7 New Zealand wickets during the 1st Test in Wellington on Sunday.

While Ashwin might be spared for defending his team for letting New Zealand’s tail get away with a hefty 183-run lead in the 1st innings, his assertion that lower-order “batsmen don’t get out anymore” needs to be examined for its truthfulness.

Is it true that lower-order batsmen across the world don’t get out easily anymore? Also, how does India’s own tail – which managed just 62 runs across both the innings in Wellington – compare with the rest of the world in testing conditions? Or is Ashwin’s statement just an excuse for India’s inability in cleaning up opposition tails?

With the help of some number-crunching, we try to find out the answers to these questions in order to gauge the veracity of Ashwin’s statement. For the purposes of this piece, we will be looking at stats for matches played in SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia) in the last 5 years.

Indian tail-enders vs Rest of the World

In the last 5 years in Tests played in SENA countries, India Nos. 8-11 have faced 1961 balls combined across 14 Tests. In comparison, tailenders from Pakistan (2640 balls in 16 Tests), England (2305 in 17 Tests) and Australia (2156 in 16 Tests) have performed better than their Indian counterparts in the same time period.

Indian batsmen also lie in the bottom half of the highest-scoring tailenders when one considers their batting-average in the last 5 years. Their average of 12.41 is only better than Sri Lanka (9.15) and Bangladesh (7.88) and lags far behind Pakistan (15.23) and even West Indies (14.38) when considering the major Test-playing countries.

Performance of tail in SENA countries since January 1, 2015

Team Matches Innings Runs Average Balls Faced
South Africa 10 62 956 21.24 1572
New Zealand 10 65 800 16.66 1248
England 17 111 1334 15.88 2305
Australia 16 101 1183 15.77 2156
Pakistan 16 119 1463 15.23 2640
West Indies 9 62 676 14.38 1473
India 14 96 894 12.41 1961
Sri Lanka 15 106 760 9.15 1714

If these numbers reveal one thing, it is that Indian tailenders are amongst the worst performers when it comes to facing more and more balls in Test innings. When you combine this with the figures of tailenders from other countries, it emerges why India have been at the receiving end of a number of rearguards while not being able to return the favour in testing conditions away from home.

Obviously there is the catch that tailenders will get to play lesser deliveries if the top order performs well. But when we compare the batting outputs of SENA tail in the next segment, a clearer picture should emerge.

SENA tailenders vs Touring teams from Asia

When Kyle Jamieson and Trent Boult played cameos with the support of Colin de Grandhomme at the other end on Sunday in Wellington, the fight shown by the New Zealand lower-order did not come as a surprise.

New Zealand were not in a spot of bother but they had lost BJ Watling and TIm Southee early on Day 3 and it looked like India would not concede a lead of over 100 runs. 123 were added for the last 3 wickets and New Zealand stretched their lead to what proved to be a match-winning tally of 183.

In fact, it has become a familiar sight to see opposition tail wagging and adding misery to India on overseas tours. If it was Sam Curran in England in 2018, it was Jamieson and Boult in Wellington.

Despite possessing a much-talked-about pace attack, India have struggled time and again to finish things off after a good show against opposition top-order in SENA countries.

In fact, India are among the worst when it comes to cleaning opposition tails. Since 2018, on average, India have been using 101 balls to pick the last 4 wickets in a Test innings which is the highest among all Test-playing nations. England (92) and Sri Lanka (90) are the next worst on this list but no other team takes 100 or more balls to do so.

If anything, what R Ashwin said about batsmen not getting out is true for India’s opposition in SENA countries.

Since Virat Kohli took over as the full-time Test captain in 2015, India have let the opposition tail (batsmen batting from No. 8 to No. 11) 2385 balls in 14 matches in the SENA countries. Against India, the tail of SENA nations average 18.59 in the said period.

Whereas, Pakistan have managed to restrict the tail of SENA countries to an average of 16.42 in 16 matches. Batsmen who bat at the tail (of Australia, South Africa, England and New Zealand) have faced only 1571 balls in 16 matches.

Sri Lanka have performed even better against the opposition tail in SENA countries. In 15 matches, Sri Lanka have allowed the opposition tail to stay for only 1402 balls. The opposition tail in SENA countries averages only 14 against the islanders since 2015.

Table: SENA country tails vs Asian countries since 2015

Team Matches Innings Runs Average Balls Faced Average Balls Faced
vs India 14 89 1246 18.59 2385 170.35
vs Pakistan 16 71 887 16.42 1571 98.18
vs Sri Lanka 15 68 721 14.00 1402 93.4
vs Bangladesh 6 10 241 40.16 308 51

What has happened when India have lost in SENA countries? Since 2015, the Asian giants have lost 8 out of 14 matches that they have played in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia.

In the matches, India have lost, the opposition tail has wagged!
The tail of the opposition has scored 739 runs in 8 matches at an average of 19.44. They have faced an average of little over 140 balls per match — a total of 1362 balls.

Table: SENA countries tails vs Asian teams in matches won by them since 2015

Teams Matches Innings Runs Average Balls Faced Average Balls Faced
vs India 8 51 739 19.44 1362 170.52
vs Pakistan 13 47 621 17.25 958 73.69
vs Sri Lanka 11 42 514 17.13 893 81.18
vs Bangladesh 6 10 241 40.16 308 51.33

While top-order batsmen from SENA nations have performed better against Sri Lanka and Pakistan since 2015(47.97 vs Pakistan, 47.83 vs Sri Lanka, 31.46 vs India), India’s inability to wipe out tails is a major cause of concern for the Asian giants who are aspiring to be one of the better travelling sides in the globe.

India lets the opposition tail wag but its own hasn’t, more often than not!

Get real-time alerts and all the news on your phone with the all-new India Today app. Download from

[ad_2]

Source link

Exit mobile version