Facts that figure as the Dhoni era in Tests rambles on

Since winning the World Cup in 2011, India has played 13 Tests overseas – winning one, drawing three, and losing nine – a winning percentage of 7.69%, a drawing percentage of 23.07%, and a losing percentage of 69.23%; in these 13 Tests, Rahul Dravid, who played in 11 of them, scored by far the most runs – 906 at an average of 47.68; Ishant Sharma took by far the most wickets – 42 – having played in all four overseas series – the West Indies, England, Australia, and South Africa. [caption id=“attachment_1320639” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture of India’s captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. AP[/caption] Only two batsmen played in all four series, or were in all four teams – Virat Kohli and M.S.Dhoni – Kohli has the second highest run total – 648 – at an average of 38.12; Dhoni has 506 runs, at an average of 24.10. Here are the batsmen, in order of runs scored – (only batsmen who have played in at least two series are included) – 1) Dravid – 906 at 47.68 2) Virat Kohli – 648 at 38.12 3) VVS Laxman – 622 at 31.1 4) Sachin Tendulkar – 560 at 35 5) Mahendra Singh Dhoni – 506 at 24.10 6) Gautam Gambhir – 283 at 20.21 7) Suresh Raina – 259 at 23.55 8) Virender Sehwag – 239 at 19.92 9) Vijay – 220 at 22 And the bowlers – (only bowlers who have played in at least two series are included) – 1) Ishant Sharma – 42 wickets 2) Praveen Kumar – 27 3) Zaheer Khan – 24 4) Umesh Yadav – 14 5) Harbhajan Singh – 13 6) Ravichandran Ashwin – 9 In the history of Indian Test cricket, no Indian captain has such a poor record overseas across four consecutive Test series – and one was against a weak Windies team, and the most recent was only two Tests – and he carries an average of 24.10 as a major batsman – facts that figure. And now we head off to New Zealand, with Dhoni as captain with no questions asked – And of the top nine batsmen over the past four overseas series, only three travel to New Zealand – Kohli, Dhoni, and Vijay – two of whom have averages of under 25 for those series. Of the top six bowlers, four go to New Zealand – Ishant, Zaheer, Yadav and Ashwin – one unpredictable, one ageing, one a hopeful whom the captain does not seem to like, and one a bowler who just went wicketless in the most recent series. Two batsmen from the South African series – Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma –are in the team to New Zealand, but flopped in South Africa after leaving India with tremendous reputations. Dhawan, with 69 runs at 17.25; and Sharma with 45 runs at 11.25 – granted it was only a two-Test series, which was ridiculous in the extreme, and of our own doing, but neither looked settled in any of their four innings. The bright side – Pujara, Rahane, Jadeja, and Shami. Pujara in South Africa – 280 runs at 70; Rahane – 209 runs at 69.67; Jadeja, with six wickets the best bowling figures in all four overseas tours since winning the World Cup in 2011; and Shami – six wickets in two Tests, and always looking dangerous, except when requested to bowl short at the end of the First Test – and he was the bowler Dhoni avoided after tea in that epic match, when the captain persisted with an exhausted Zaheer and a dull Ishant. Little forgotten gems scattered along the way – Sreesanth, eight wickets in England; Praveen Kumar, with 27 wickets in the West Indies and England; Mishra, not on Dhoni’s list of favourites, with seven wickets in the Windies; Yadav, with 14 wickets Down Under, and also not on Dhoni’s list… Facts that figure – as the Dhoni-raj in Tests rambles on – and on.