India vs Australia: Virat Kohli and Co's MCG win underlines the support bowlers need from batsmen in paradigm shift

“I think our bowlers will do a pretty good job, (but) it will boil down to how our batsmen fare.” While everyone was salivating over a vibrant Indian pace bowling attack (Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma), probably the best in the history of Indian cricket, visiting South African shores, Ravi Shastri had quietly sounded a note of caution at the start of the year ahead of the tour. Deep down, the Indian coach had the confidence that this bowling attack could take 20 wickets but to achieve a result, especially overseas (read SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia)), the supporting cast needed to fire. The supporting cast here are the batsmen. India’s win at the Melbourne Cricket Ground this week was reflective of the importance of Shastri’s words. For the first time this year, the Indian batting unit amassed a 400-plus total away from home and that proved to be a major difference. It provided the bowlers the all-important cushion. Melbourne was just the third overseas Test where India had declared in both the innings.

Before the Melbourne Test, the Indian bowlers had taken 20 wickets in eight out of the 10 Tests away from home this year but India had won just three and lost five of those Tests. In the lost matches, the batsmen averaged just 20.18 and if you take out Kohli’s runs (who has been sort of batting on a completely different planet), the average drops to 15.37. In the three matches that India won, the batting average had risen to 27.19, a significant shift given the low scoring patterns. After the Melbourne win the average has gone up to 28.63. The consistent batting failures have hurt India badly in the SENA countries. In 2018, the batsmen had second-lowest average (23.08) better only than Pakistan 20.88 in those countries. Before the Melbourne Test, India had the lowest average - 22.25. [caption id=“attachment_5817391” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara (right) have led from the front with the bat in hand in the series Down Under. AFP[/caption] Right from the time Kohli took up the captaincy, his mantra revolved around taking 20 wickets. Time and again, he had emphasised on the need to employ a five-bowler strategy to get the opposition out twice and win Test matches. The old adage that ‘It’s the bowlers who win you Test matches’ had become his motto. Slowly, after the series loss in England, where they consistently employed a five-bowler strategy (which included Hardik Pandya), the narrative changed. And with the batsmen failing consistently, he embraced a six-batsman strategy (beginning from the last match of the series at the Old Trafford). He has now realised that his four bowlers have the capability of taking 20 wickets which also gives him a buffer to play six batsmen. The constant clamour, though, has remained - the batsmen need to step up and take responsibility. The Adelaide Test showed glimpses of what India can achieve if the batting unit clicked consistently. The batsmen displayed patience as they played 194.5 overs in the Test. While Kohli was ‘super proud’ of four bowlers taking 20 wickets, he again highlighted the importance of the batting unit stepping up. “Super proud (of India’s bowling attack). To have four bowlers take 20 wickets to win the Test is an outstanding feat, something we haven’t done in the past in Australia,” Kohli said after the Adelaide Test. “That’s why we are very proud of our bowlers. They are at their peak, all of them together and it’s something that we as batsman look at as an opportunity to put in good performances. We will be, in every Test match, gunning for a result. It’s up to our batsmen to step up in this particular series and Pujara and Rahane particularly showed that.” A week later, it was Groundhog Day all over again as the Indian batsmen, except Kohli, faltered in Perth. It was the return of the ‘batsmen need to step up’ punch line, again, in the press conferences. This time crying out for support for the bowlers. “It is very important for batsmen to stand up, because as everyone can see, our bowling has been performing really well. Otherwise, the bowlers won’t be able to do anything with the totals that we have been compiling,” Kohli said on the eve of the Melbourne Test. “If we are batting second, we will try to take the lead or get as close to the opposition total as possible. If you equal a big score, then it becomes a second-innings’ match and if you take a good first-innings lead, then you can capitalise on that. “The batsmen must step up collectively. I won’t say individually whether someone needs to do that or not, but as a batting unit, we have to definitely put up a better performance.” In Melbourne, the Indian batsmen finally seemed to have heard the captain’s call. On a tricky pitch, they amassed their highest score of the year away from home in 2018. Led by Cheteshwar Pujara’s patience and Kohli’s perseverance, they showed the kind of application that was missing consistently. They played the most number of overs in an innings last year - 169.4, scored 443/7 and put the scoreboard pressure on Australia which was the difference. Even though they imploded in the second innings, the first innings total and the lead had given them enough breathing space. The new openers - Mayank Agarwal and Hanuma Vihari - had done all the hard work of seeing off the first hour which Murali Vijay and KL Rahul also did…but in the dressing room. Pujara, Kohli and the rest then built on from the platform set. There were four 50-plus partnerships including the giant 170-run between Kohli and Pujara. Before the Melbourne Test, India had four 50-plus stands in an innings in 2018 away from home in just one Test (vs England at Trent Bridge). In the first innings of Melbourne Test, the batsmen batted more minutes and faced more balls than any other innings in 2018 - 1494 and 1019 respectively. In fact, this was the most number of balls faced in an innings away from home since they faced 1036 balls against West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica in 2016 and also most minutes batted in an innings since that same Test two years ago where they applied themselves for 1484 minutes). This series has also highlighted the importance of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane’s contributions and the significance of support to Kohli. In the four matches that India have won away in 2018, Pujara averages the best among batsmen to have played four innings or more. He averages 54.62 with two hundreds and three fifties - in fact he is the only Indian batsman to score over fifty in all four wins. Rahane averages 35.62 (3rd highest) with two fifties. In the matches that India have lost, Pujara’s average drops to 24.45 and Rahane’s to 22.80 while Kohli stays at 51.71 which says a lot about his consistency. The Indian bowlers had been longing for support all through last year and they finally got some in Adelaide and then in Melbourne. It is a big paradigm shift from the past where the Indian batsmen desperately craved for support from bowlers in order to win overseas. The second innings collapse in Melbourne was another wake-up call in a sense. The batsmen need to make sure that the first innings in Melbourne wasn’t just an exception. The overdependence on Kohli has to go and the batting unit needs to collectively fire. For years, India have been yearning for a lethal bowling unit. They now have one, which is capable of conjuring special performances. Just imagine the havoc this team can create if the batting unit adds consistency to its game and forms strong pillars to support the bowling edifice? This is the question Kohli will be relentlessly asking. Should India clinch a Test series in Australia, India’s captain will revel in the achievement but demand his side, and especially his batsmen, strive for even more.