146/6, 148/6, 139/7, 33/3, 177/7, 144/6 and more.
The above-mentioned list indicates how India have repeatedly found themselves in a precarious position at home over the last 44 months, starting from the England Test series in February 2021. The interesting part is that India went on to win all those Test matches, mainly thanks to their middle and lower-order, comprising R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. It is also true that Rishabh Pant spearheaded many of those comeback efforts. On occasions, Shreyas Iyer, Kuldeep Yadav and Dhruv Jurel have also propped up the batting unit.
It also tells that India’s top order or the first four batters in the line-up have tended to falter at crucial moments. The over-dependence on the lower-order can be gauged by the fact that since 2022, those batting at 7,8 and 9 have notched up over 1600 runs at an average of around 29 at home. In terms of averages, no other team comes close. Unfortunately for India, one of their key strengths – runs added by Pant and the lower-order – couldn’t shore up the batting unit against New Zealand. And the resultant outcome was India slipped to an embarrassing Test series defeat in their own backyard.
The scores through the series further exemplify how New Zealand kept India’s trump card in check. In the first innings in the Bengaluru Test, India were 33 for 5 and they were bundled out for 46. In the second essay, India lost their last five wickets for a mere 29 runs. In the subsequent Pune Test, the lower order did relatively better, adding 61 and 80 runs for the last four wickets. However, it wasn’t substantial enough to tilt the result in India’s favour.
Somewhere the credit has to also go to New Zealand for bowling and fielding with a similar level of intensity against the lower-order. Some of Tom Latham’s in-and-out fields in Pune, where the straight boundaries are quite long, also played a part in the lower-order’s downfall in the second Test.
The crux of the matter is the mainstays of the batting line-up – Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul and co. – have struggled to put on consistent performances. For a moment, let’s take into consideration Kohli: The experienced batter has an enviable average of nearly 57 at home, but since the beginning of 2021, it dips to 32.20. In that phase, Rohit has played certan game-breaking knocks, but over the couple of rubbers, he too has looked a pale shadow of his former self, averaging 10.5 and 15.5, versus Bangladesh and New Zealand respectively.
It is all well and good to say that India have a formidable lower order. However, that should be the additional strength of a side. Instead, by default, it had turned into one the salient features of India’s unbeaten run at home. Eventually, when New Zealand found the right key to break open the intimidating lower-order, India hurtled to their first-ever Test series defeat at home in the last 12 years.