Poser for Dhoni's boys: Why do we fail with the tail?

In this Australian line-up, who does India fear? Think about it… who? Not David Warner, not Shaun Marsh, not Ricky Ponting, not Michael Clarke, not even Michael Hussey. But bring up the tailenders and you’ll notice that the Indian bowlers are suddenly quaking in their boots. We’ve seen it happen so many times in the recent past that we aren’t even surprised anymore. On Boxing Day, it happened all over again. India took three wickets for nine runs to reduce Australia to 214 for 6 and take charge of the match. But then they relaxed – the field spread out, the singles started coming easily and Australia suddenly gained their second wind. At close of play, the Baggy Greens had worked their way to 277 without any further loss. With Peter Siddle looking very comfortable on 34 and Brad Haddin, no mug with the bat, at 21, the tail has wagged. [caption id=“attachment_165889” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“With Peter Siddle looking very comfortable on 34 and Brad Haddin (above), no mug with the bat, at 21, the Aussie tail has wagged again. Getty Images”]  [/caption] Should one have expected so much from the Aussie tail? If you trust the numbers, one should. Just look at how the batsmen between the 7-11 positions have performed against India since 2007: Aus: 25 inns, avg partnership of 33.81, 744 runs, two 100-plus partnerships Eng: 35 inns, avg partnership of 30.06, 932 runs, two 100-plus partnerships SA: 34 inns, avg partnership of 25.29, 860 runs, one 100-plus partnership SL: 24 inns, avg partnership of 30.77, 677 runs, two 100-plus partnerships Pak: 13 inns, avg partnership of 33.81, 358 runs, one 100-plus partnership NZ: 18 inns, avg partnership of 35.00, 295 runs, two 100-plus partnerships We’ve not considered West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in our review but the numbers clearly show that once the lower order gets in, India struggle. The average partnership of the lower order among India’s top rivals is 31.45. But why do we struggle? For starters, Dhoni allows the batsmen to take easy singles. Haddin has 11 singles, 2 twos and 2 threes in his knock which is worth 21 runs. Siddle, who has hit a few more fours, managed to get 12 singles and 3 twos. It basically means the pressure never builds up. The in-out field is something that works well in the sub-continent but in Australia, on larger grounds, you have to make the batsmen try something different. Not enough of that happening here. Then, we have the case of the bowlers losing patience. Instead of continuing to bowl normally, the bowlers suddenly start trying everything – coming round the wicket, bowling bouncers that go way over the batsman’s head, wides, byes… it all starts flowing. Why not just stick to doing the things that got you the first six wickets in the first place? No, that just won’t do. And perhaps the final piece in the puzzle is that nothing about the Indian attack scares anyone. They aren’t looking to knock your head off like Jeff Thomson or Michael Holding or Curtly Ambrose or Brett Lee or Wasim Akram or Imran Khan. The odd bouncer, bowled with intent, would help but it needs to be directed well. That’s how you put some fear into the minds of the tailender. Set a trap – they did that for David Warner early in the innings by putting a fielder on square leg and then bowling short. Why not do the same for the tailender as well? The problem for India is that they were in a position to restrict Australia to around 270 or maybe less. Had they done that, they would have clearly had the honours for the day; instead, Dhoni’s boys will now have a sleepless night. One good spell in the morning might clear the mist but till then India will live in fear of the tail.