Plummeting averages, number 3 instability: India under Gambhir faces 'deja vu' of Chappell, Fletcher eras with serious batting woes

Guwahati (Assam) [India], November 26 (ANI): After one of the most shambolic displays of batting in India's Test cricket history, the two-time World Test Championship (WTC) finalists succumbed to a series loss to reigning WTC champions South Africa with a 408-run defeat at Guwahati on Wednesday, marking one of the lowest points in Indian Test cricket history with two series whitewashes at home in back-to-back years.

The defeat has plenty of reasons one can pinpoint fingers on, be it the extreme pitches chosen by the home team, the failure of the coaching staff to instil a proper Test-driven mindset and technique within players, the collective batting failure and excessive reliance on Indian pace spearheads Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj for miracles. However, it would not be wrong to point out collective batting failure under Gambhir's tenure as head coach and loads of chopping, changing and an overall feeling of instability within the batting as the primary point.

-Declining batting averages after the departure of Shastri-Kohli era pillars

Since Gambhir's first assignment as India's head coach in Tests starting with India's home series against Bangladesh in September 2024, the collective top-seven batting average of India under him is 36.10 overall so far in these 19 Tests, the fifth best in the world, irrespective of all conditions. This is the worst among all India coaches in the 21st century, after Duncan Fletcher's 36.66 from 2011-15 (6th highest in the world) and 37.41 under Rahul Dravid's tenure (fifth-highest in the world) with Rohit Sharma as captain from 2021-24, which concluded with a happy note with a 4-1 series win at home against England last year.

During the era of Shastri-Kohli from 2017-21, India's top seven averaged 38.73, ranking among the top three in the world.

In Gary Kirsten's coaching era, starting from the 2008 home Tests against South Africa till the January tour to South Africa in 2010-11, India's overall batting average of top-seven batters hit its peak with 48.67, second-best amongst all Test-playing nations at that time. This was when Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, the 'Fab Four' of Indian batting, were playing some of their most mesmerising Test cricket, especially Tendulkar and Sehwag getting a second wind to their careers in this era.

Even during Greg Chappell's controversial tenure as head coach from 2005-07, which included fallout with Sourav Ganguly, India's top-seven overall average was third-best in the world at 38.92. When the 21st century of Test cricket started with John Wright, under whom India had historic victories against Australia at home and away, arch-rivals Pakistan away from home, Team India had the second-best average in the world with regard to their top seven, a great figure of 42.53.

At home, India is not spectacular either, with a top-seven average of 33.39, the sixth-best amongst all Test teams. This is the second-worst average India has registered at home this century, amongst the top-seven batters, since the era of Chappell, when it hit an all-time low of 30.37.

During Rohit-Dravid's previous tenure, India's top-seven home average was way better at 41.37, the fifth-best in the world. In the era of Kirsten once again, India's star-studded batting top-seven flourished the most at home, with an average of 52.68, the best India had ever in this century (2nd best amongst all Test-playing nations during his tenure). In the Shastri-Kohli era as well, Team India's top seven enjoyed a lovely run at home with an average of 51.82 (3rd best in the world in Shastri's tenure). With Virat Kohli in his prime providing a comfortable middle-order cushion to openers alongside Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, Indian batting was flourishing, with openers like Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and others putting up some performances that are still cherished.

-Lack of resolution to India's number-three revolving door

Pujara was one tough guy, taking all the body blows, blocking all the deliveries and choosing to do the boring stuff so that his teammates could entertain. After India moved on from him following the ICC World Test Championship final loss to Australia in 2023, India has not been able to find a quality number three batter, with only Shubman Gill providing some glimpses of maturity and promise at home.

Since Pujara's last outing in whites, India has tried out seven batters at this extremely crucial spot since September 2024, with Gambhir's tenure starting. Gill, Kohli, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair and Washington Sundar have auditioned for the role.

Out of these, Gill and Rahul have been openers, with Rahul once again filling Rohit Sharma's shoes at the top after retirement, after some trials inthe middle-order following mixed results as an opener and Gill making number four spot as his own after opening for the majority of his initial career. Virat spent time as India's go-to, sealed number four for the vast majority of his career, taking the baton from Sachin and doing a spectacular job. At the same time, Washington played down the order as a bowling all-rounder.

But despite all their technical acumen, versatility and committment to doing something different for the team, these batters collectively have not been able to outdo even the worst half of Pujara's Test career. In 28 matches, these batters have produced a combined 1,564 runs at an average of 31.91, with just three centuries and six fifties, with all the three-figure scores made by Gill in home conditions.

To put things in perspective, Pujara's second half of his 103-match-long career saw him score 2,799 runs in 49 Tests at an average of 34.13, with five centuries and 19 fifties in 86 innings. Pretty disappointing that despite vast amount of talent available, grinding it out in domestic cricket, a cricket-crazy nation like India has failed to produce a trustworthy, all-weather number three Test batter over the past two years.

Other than Gill (13) and Sudharsan (11), no other batter part of this bat-out for #3 has managed to get a stay of at least five innings, with Karun Nair getting four chances during the tour of England this year, during which he amassed 111 runs at an average of 27.8. In fact, Sundar, playing at three at Kolkata, was put way down the order in Guwahati, pointing out to sheer instability, lack of role clarity and confusion in batting.

-Empty noise around domestic cricket?

During several pre- and post-match pressers, head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar have consistently spoken about valuing the domestic cricket grind and ensuring some of India's top stars get game time while playing for their states/zones. While some of India's biggest stars have featured in domestic cricket, indeed, the domestic ground of several stalwarts has not been rewarded.

Bengal stalwart Abhimanyu Easwaran, who has scored 8,136 runs in 109 first-class matches with 27 tons at an average of 47.85, is yet to get a Test cap. While his recent inconsistent run could be a valid reason, his experience of playing in Indian conditions, against some of India's best, has not been valued and has not been given a chance even to fail.

Nair, who made his return to the Indian side after seven years following a monstrous domestic cricket season last year, was also discarded after a disappointing tour of England, having made just 205 runs in eight innings with a fifty. Undoubtedly, the England tour was underwhelming after what was an unstoppable torrent of domestic cricket runs, one wonders how things could have been had he been given a chance to play at home against the West Indies or South Africa in much more familiar Indian conditions. Before the series, Karun had played statement knocks of 174* against Goa and 233 against Kerala, but was nonetheless ignored.

Mumbai stalwart Sarfaraz Khan, who last played a Test for India in November during a whitewash loss against New Zealand, has not been picked in the playing XI despite being a member of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia last year. While the recent output from the Mumbai hitter has not been as spectacular, his experience of 60 domestic games in Indian conditions, technique against spin and average of 63.15 has been overlooked. Despite his heroic 150 in the Bengaluru Test against the Kiwis last year in a match which saw India bundle out for 46 in the first innings, the right-hander has been let down by selectors.

The 31-year-old TN veteran Baba Indrajith is another one of those ignored talents, having an average of 52.63 in 88 FC matches with 17 tons and 6,000 runs, is another one waiting in line. Even an X shout-out from legendary Ravichandran Ashwin, one of India's great cricketing minds, has not helped him either.

Two more younger talents, Yash Rathod (25 years of age, 2,449 runs in 27 FC games with an average of 61.22 with nine centuries and 11 fifties) from Vidarbha and Ravichandran Smaran from Karnataka (22 years of age, 1,179 runs in 13 FC games at an average of 78.60 with four centuries) are waiting in the wings. But will they get consideration?

These are very few examples out of many scoring some heavy runs in domestic cricket, but yet, the six-hitting, glamour, trending reels produced in the world of Indian Premier League (IPL) has been preferred for team selection, in case of Sudharsan and Nitish Kumar Reddy, who despite their promise, have failed to produce consistent performances despite being fast-tracked for their potential at a young age. Given these circumstances, the glorification of domestic performances remains mere lip service. (ANI)

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