The Decline of Indian Test Batting since 2012

[deepdynamo]

We have undoubtly our golden test batting generation from 2000 to 2010.  Lets look at test averages and no. of tests. 
Its incredible all of them played in the same era. Yuvraj numbers were disappointing but he never got fair run because of stalwarts around him.

Sehwag,104 tests@49.37 
Gambhir,58 tests@41.95 
Dravid,164 tests@52.31
Sachin,200 tests@53.78
Laxman,134 tests@45.97
Ganguly,113 tests@42,17
Yuvraj, 40 tests@33.92
Dhoni, 90 tests@38.09

Now compare it to the batting unit from 2012 onwards. ( min test 30)

Vijay, 61 tests@38.28  ( flop)
KL Rahul, 44 test@35.03( flop)
Dhawan, 40 tests@40.61 ( okayish)
Rahane, 82 tests@38.52 ( flop)
Pujara, 97 tests@44.77 (okayish but declined significantly )
Kohli, 103 tests@49.35 ( declining fast but still ATG category)
Rohit, 45 tests@46.13 (salvaged his test career but on last leg)
Pant, 32 tests@43.38 ( positive)

Below two players got fair run but now discarded.

Vihari, 16 tests@33.56 ( flop)
Mayank, 21 tests@41.33 ( home track bully)

Below four players are currently being tried out or marked out as future long term test batsman.

Gill, 12 tests@33.76
Iyer, 6 tests@ 50.80
Shaw, 5 tests@ 42.38
Washington,  4 tests@66.25

--------

So, what could be the reason that we could find only one player in Kohli with test avg of almost 50 in last 10 years.

 IPL? Difficult pitches? Workload?


 

Edited December 16, 2022 by deepdynamo
Adding Washington Sundar

[Chakdephatte]

Last decade saw low averages globally. Apart from Fab Four and AB, no one could average above 50. Noughties were all about flat pitches.

Edited December 16, 2022 by Chakdephatte

[deepdynamo]

6 minutes ago, Chakdephatte said:

Last decade saw low averages globally. Apart from Fab Four and AB, no one could average above 50. Noughties were all about flat pitches.

So, its a global phenomena. Maybe side effect of T20 cricket?

[King6]

Bowling friendly pitches..

If we compare bowling avg 

Kumble @29.65

Bhajji @32.46

 

Ashwin @24.13

Jadeja @24.71

[deepdynamo]

Australia current top 5. 

Warner, 98 tests@46.04
Khawja, 53 tests@47.05
Smith, 89 tests@60.98
Labu, 30 tests@60.82
Head, 30 tests@44.48

 

[Number]

2016 England series was last when we played on flat pitches at home. 

I don't care if we dont have batsmen topping charts if we can win tests in SENA countries and have our home guarded well. 

[Majestic]

Too much T20 cricket is the reason.

 

Look at openers for 2000s :-

 

Smith

Hayden

Sehwag

Cook

 

 

Now for 2010s :-

 

Cook

Warner

 

 

And Warner is weakest of the five.

 

[deepdynamo]

Newzealand current top 6.

Latham, 68 tests@40.55
Conway, 10 tests@51.00
Williamson, 88 tests@52.68
Mitchell, 12 tests@62.73
Nicholas, 48 tests@38.85
Blundell, 20 tests@41.10

[deepdynamo]

5 minutes ago, Number said:

2016 England series was last when we played on flat pitches at home. 

I don't care if we dont have batsmen topping charts if we can win tests in SENA countries and have our home guarded well. 

We lost out in England, South Africa and Newzealand because we didn't score those crucial big runs and keep bringing in opposition back to game when we could have just shut them out of the game.

 

[express bowling]

1)   Because there is no accountability for most of the top batsmen.

 

In the 1990s or 2000s, a Rahane

, averaging 32 or 33 for his last 50 tests,  would not have survived for this long. 

 

Even Pujara and Kohli have not performed for the last 3 years but they still survived till Pujara gets to play against Bangladesh with only 2 or 3 fit bowlers. 

 

Superstars like Kohli survive in every era due to the backing they have from sponsors, but earlier, Rahane and Pujara would have been dropped much earlier.

 

Rahul has played 40 odd tests averaging 34 or 35.  When he was young and performing, he was dropped for Dhawan in 2017. Now, 5 years later when he is the Senior, he gets chances despite having such a low average. 

 

2)   Too many home track or flat track bullies are chosen

 

Dhawan, Mayank, Shreyas and even Rohit fit the bill.

 

This did not happen earlier, when most batters could score outside Asia as well as in Asia. There were some like Sehwag who did well in Australia and WI but failed elsewhere and Tangy who did well in England etc. 

 

3)  Inability to gauge the ceiling of batters and choosing journeymen

 

Like Vihari or Mayank. 

[putrevus]

The biggest problem is amount of SENA tests played India in last 5 years.  They used to play once every four years now they are playing almost every two years.Then they have been playing on very bowler friendly wickets..When did any team score 400 plus against India in last five years and how many times did that happen..

 

Comparing averages of pre 2010 and last five years is stupid. Amount of home tests are not even, previously if they had tough away series, they would come home and boost their averages and confidence.

Edited December 16, 2022 by putrevus

[R!TTER]

The *, did everyone forget the biggest factor - DRS 

[tweaker]

India has persisted in.Rahane,Rahul,Pujara for a long period and replacement ie Vihari were similar players like them.

 

Gill is made to open as replacement for Rohit and Rahul,when they are unavailable.

For the Bangladesh series ,Sarfaraz,Patidar,Jaiswal should have been in.the squad

 

[R!TTER]

1 hour ago, express bowling said:

In the 1990s or 2000s, a Rahane

, averaging 32 or 33 for his last 50 tests,  would not have survived for this long. 

He would easily avg in the low-mid 40's back then. A lot of his frailties, especially in Eng, would be hidden.

 

I would say the same about Pujara, he could avg above 50 if he played in that era.

[wanted_desi]

They keep selecting these players who are past it. 

 

Rohit

KL

Kohli

Pujara

Rahane

 

They all should be dropped, but we are persisting with them.

[sandeep]

Prithvi Shaw was dropped after one cheap dismissal in a pink ball test.  Call it what you want, but the guy was dealt with unfairly.  I do not know what the issue is with his 'work ethic' or 'behavior' that supposedly the team does not like.  But he is a gun opener who can address a lot of weaknesses across formats for India, but is on the outside looking in.

 

[cricketfan28]

nobody is blaming ipl , that is the problem, everyone wants to be ipl sooper star.

[The Realist]

When you operate as a Retirement Home/Village run-scoring and averages are hardly of paramount importance.

 

Washed-up has-beens selfishly guarding their spots in the team while the voyeur of a coach looks on.

 

[dilliboy]

Tougher pitches coupler with DRS giving more decisions in bowler's favour. Don't think the quality of batsmen has gone down at all

[Trichromatic]

14 hours ago, Majestic said:

Too much T20 cricket is the reason.

 

Look at openers for 2000s :-

 

Smith

Hayden

Sehwag

Cook

 

 

Now for 2010s :-

 

Cook

Warner

 

 

And Warner is weakest of the five.

 

 

Flat tracks