They did many things right, but many things wrong in the semi-final too, and will go back and reflect on a World Cup campaign that could have ended very differently

Firdose Moonda16-Nov-20233:52

Walter: ‘Nothing even remotely close to a choke happened’

David Miller put his arms around Gerald Coetzee. Keshav Maharaj stood with his hands on his knees. Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen took their caps off and revealed expressions of disappointment. Quinton de Kock half-crumpled, half-crouched on the ground and then got up to meet Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen’s high-fives of commiserations, but also congratulations on the end of a decade-long ODI career. Temba Bavuma led the team off Eden Gardens, looking their Australian counterparts in the eye and shaking their hands. This was defeat, yes, but not, as Coetzee had said in the lead-up, dishonour.South Africa fought, as Rabada had said before the semi-final, “tooth and nail”. And muscle and nerve and sinew and spirit. They gave it everything. That they had to is because of what may be called their own failings – some of the decisions they made and the way they started with the bat and the ball and dropped catches. But that would do a disservice to their own planning and performance and the way Australia’s new-ball bowlers and opening batters started.Related

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Bavuma: 'Way we started with bat and ball was turning point'

Did Bavuma make the wrong call at the toss by opting to bat? In hindsight, we may say yes, but history was on his side. At this ground, 13 of the 20 teams that chose to bat first had won, including all three at this World Cup. This year, before today, South Africa had won ten out of 11 matches batting first. Bavuma based his decision on numbers and played to South Africa’s strongest suit, but maybe there is room to consider if he made a crucial error.For one, he failed to look skywards.This match was played on one the cloudiest days of the tournament, cooler than most others but with significant moisture in the air. At 1pm, the temperature was 27 degrees with 83% humidity, so maybe the option to bowl first should have been considered more carefully. But only maybe. Given South Africa’s shaky record chasing – not just at this tournament – and that Pat Cummins would also have batted, or so he said, it’s reasonable to think Bavuma made the right call and that perhaps it was just a good toss to lose for Cummins.But did Bavuma make the wrong decision to play in the first place?Well, no, because it wasn’t his decision. Although he repeatedly said he was not “100%” fit, he would have had to be passed match fit by the medical team in order to be named in the starting XI.

And there it ends. Not with a bang or a whimper but with a bloody good game of cricket where so many things went right. So many, but not enough

So, did someone else make the wrong decision to play him? Not if you ask coach Rob Walter, who said he backed his captain “100%” and “having his [Bavuma’s] leadership and his presence on the field is everything”. And, in the end, Bavuma’s hamstring played no role in his fourth-ball duck. He got a good ball that nipped away and he played at it. It was unfortunate, but that’s all.Not to forget, all four of the top four failed.But the batting line-up as a whole did not.Known for what they can do in the last ten overs, Klaasen and Miller came together in the 12th over – at 24 for 4 – and took South Africa through almost 20 overs of rebuilding. They refocused after an almost-40-minute rain delay and made a decision to play within themselves and only aim for the boundary if they were absolutely sure they would find it. Klaasen lost his bearings against Travis Head, but Miller played arguably the innings of his career so far. He was on 48 when Jansen was dismissed and put on double-figure stands with batters seven, eight and nine. Five years and five days since he last scored an ODI century, Miller raised his bat to his bravest and gave South Africa a chance.It was that kind of day for Quinton de Kock and South Africa•Getty ImagesThen it was up to an attack that has had the benefit of big totals for most of this competition but, remarkably, they relied on a non-traditional strength to do it: spin. On a surface that turned, Markram took a wicket with his first ball, Maharaj did the same, and hope whispered.And that is the point at which the first seeds of hurt were planted.Had Australia knocked off the total in 35 overs and won by five or six wickets, South Africa would have had the mental space to deal with it. Instead, with each chance, there was a wave of optimism.But…In total, four catches did not go to hand. The first was off Coetzee’s first delivery – a short ball. Head swatted it to substitute fielder Reeza Hendricks at the deep-point boundary but he could not hold on. The Coetzee over went for 15 runs. By that point, he had watched as Jansen – his contemporary in terms of age – was again gnawed at by nerves, lost his lines and leaked 27 runs in three overs. Rabada was off the field with a bruised heel – which is why Hendricks was on – and the game was slipping away. Coetzee was taken out of the attack and had the time to think.1:43

Moody: ‘Bavuma’s form a big hole in South Africa’s campaign’

When he returned, he served up a spell of fire, spiced liberally with short balls and very nearly brought South Africa back from the brink. In the end, he did not win the game but his two wickets added to his record as South Africa’s most successful bowler at a World Cup, which only adds to the bittersweet flavour of this campaign.In a tournament where South Africa broke the record for the highest World Cup total and their batting line-up scored more hundreds than any other team, they have still not managed to break through the semi-final barrier. A sparkling sporting year for the country, in which the women’s team reached the final of the T20 World Cup and the Springboks lifted a fourth rugby World Cup title, will finish one twinkle short of a sporting gold star but there should be some perspective.From Eden Park in 2015 to Eden Gardens in 2023, it has not been a stairway to heaven for South African cricket. In some of those years, quite the opposite. They have been through administrative meltdowns, near bankruptcy, a near-miss at automatic World Cup qualification and coaching and captaincy changes that defied any chance at stability. And still, they reached the ODI World Cup semi-finals.And there it ends. Not with a bang or a whimper but with a bloody good game of cricket where so many things went right. So many, but not enough.

“Nerves were there to see today, the way they batted” – James Anderson

Vithushan Ehantharajah04-Feb-2024As Rehan Ahmed played the most rogue final set since Bradford Cox banged out for an hour to hit back at a heckler, you were reminded that nothing is beyond this England team.A target of 399 may still well be, of course. A healthy 67 have been knocked off already, eight of them in the last three balls of day three as Rehan scuffed Axar Patel through midwicket, then beyond first slip. If Brendon McCullum’s chat 24 hours earlier was anything to go by, India are at least 201 light.”We got sat down by the coach last night and he said if India get 600 ahead we’re going to try and chase it down,” said James Anderson at stumps. “That is exactly what we’re going to do.”It is a wild kind of optimism. The kind that usually comes in the dead of night, right before you get a hankering for some Cheetos. But it was exactly what kept England going throughout their 74 overs in the field today.Related

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India arrived with a lead of 171, with all their second-innings wickets in hand. When Ravichandran Ashwin worked a single to the fielder at deep midwicket in the 71st over of the day, India moved to 388 in front. One more than the highest successful chase in this country, achieved by a host team with a fair few hall-of-famers against Kevin Pietersen’s England.Yet, by the time India’s innings ended on 255 and the target was confirmed, the emotion from England was not relief, or joy that their toil was over. Simply satisfaction.It was as they walked off, with 14 overs to bat before close, that Rehan turned to Ben Stokes and asked if he could bat at No. 3. He would probably have been asked to do it anyway, but the enthusiasm was as welcome as ever. After an opening stand had been broken on 50 with the wicket of Ben Duckett, out strode all 19 years of the Original Nighthawk.It would be wrong to look ahead in anticipation of what’s to come and neglect the graft that brought us to this point. Especially as defeat may dull what the bowlers achieved, in both innings.Today, England managed to prise out all 10 Indian wickets for just 227 runs, despite their most experienced spin option, Joe Root, sending down just two overs. He spent the majority of the innings off the field after damaging his right little finger in the eighth over of the day.By then, Anderson had got the show on the road, using the early morning humidity to stitch together a spell of 2 for 6 from four overs. Rohit Sharma’s off stump was taken for a ride, then a wobble seam delivery decked across Yashasvi Jaiswal to leave India 30 for 2.Then came a succession of reprieves for Shubman Gill, all of varying degrees. He was given out lbw to Tom Hartley, which he overturned with a sliver of an inside edge, before earning the benefit of the doubt of umpire’s call on projected impact with the stumps when hit in front by Anderson. Those let-offs – both with just four to his name – were followed by a healthy edge off Hartley, which flew between wicketkeeper Ben Foakes and Root at a wide first slip.As Gill went on to a third Test century, it was not unreasonable to wonder if England would wilt. And even though they were buoyed by Stokes’ sensational catch to remove Shreyas Iyer after a botched heave down the ground Tom Hartley, closely followed by a low inside edge from Rajat Patidar off Rehan, neatly taken low by Foakes, the game was steadily moving out of England’s reach.Gill and Axar’s stand for the fifth wicket lifted the lead beyond 350 and into the realms of “surely not England, not even you.” And yet somehow, they dug deep again.James Anderson goes up in appeal•Getty ImagesIt was specifically the inexperienced spin trio that instigated the necessary cascade of the six remaining wickets, for just 44 runs. Shoaib Bashir set it off, forcing Gill to pop up a catch off inside-edge and pad up to Foakes. India began second-guessing themselves as England’s penchant for the chase came forward from the back of their minds. It allowed Hartley and Rehan back into the match. Not since Children of the Corn have youngsters preyed on such fear in experienced heads.Only three of this India side played in 2022 when England munched a target of 378 inside 76.4 overs to win a one-off Test at Edgbaston. Evidently, the rest know the score. “England are never out of the game,” said Gill, one of the three, who rightly pointed out these conditions are very different. But the stands that followed his departure stood still, notably 26 off 71 between Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah, two batters far more at ease playing their shots, giving an indication that even India were thinking the unthinkable.”I think the nerves were there to see today, the way they batted,” Anderson observed. “I think they didn’t know how many was enough. They were quite cautious, even when they had a big lead.”None of this happens by accident of course. England’s 8 out of 10 successful fourth-innings victories have created waves, and the familiar thread through most of them has been their scrapping in these third innings. To see the new crop carrying on this short-lived legacy was a testament to their all-in approach and the encouragement bestowed upon them.Seconds before Rehan had shunted Ollie Pope from first-drop, he had pocketed Ashwin – the young leggie’s third – in his 42nd over, having never bowled more than 39 in 13 previous first-class matches. Hartley is now only the third English men’s spinner since the First World War to take four or more wickets in an innings in each of their first two Tests. Bashir’s match figures of 4 for 196 from 53 overs – the second most he’s bowled – represents an impressive body of work from a 20-year-old off-spinner just three days into the gig.Despite needing the highest score in the match to win this second Test, and bearing in mind no visiting team has ever reached 300 in a fourth innings here, there remains a bemusing optimism. With 332 still on the table, regardless of how this plays out, it is one that has been earned.

They were frustrated for long periods, but as has been the case all season, the 42-time champions found a way through

Hemant Brar14-Mar-2024After the 114th over of Vidarbha’s innings, Mumbai allrounder Musheer Khan swapped the bails on each end. Desperate times call for desperate measures.Exactly 23 years ago, on March 14, 2001, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid had written the first chapter of the greatest comeback in Test history. In the second Test against Australia at Eden Gardens, they batted the whole fourth day and turned the match, and the series, around.Now Akshay Wadkar, the Vidarbha captain, and Harsh Dubey, the spin-bowling allrounder, were threatening to pull off a similar heist. Chasing an unprecedented 538 in the Ranji Trophy final, they had steered Vidarbha to 304 for 5.Aditya Sarwate, another spin-bowling allrounder, was yet to bat but he had a dodgy back. So Mumbai knew that one wicket would effectively end the match.Related

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Musheer’s trick seemed to have worked when he rapped Dubey on the pads and the umpire raised his finger. But even before Mumbai could start celebrating, Dubey asked for the DRS. The UltraEdge showed a clear inside edge, and Vidarbha continued with their Mission Impossible.Apart from keeping an eye on the scoreboard, Wadkar was also observing his counterpart to gauge his team’s progress.”They [Mumbai] were having discussions since yesterday, when Karun [Nair] and I were batting,” Wadkar later said. “They were making the bowling changes, the field changes. But I was observing their captain, [Ajinkya] Rahane. What are his expressions? Is he talking harshly to his bowlers? That would have been an indication that we were getting close.”Rahane had looked calm all this while. Not just that, he was also pacifying his players, especially offspinner Tanush Kotian, whenever the ball hit the pads and they insisted on reviewing it.The first signs of unease showed up when Rahane was seen talking to Kotian, Dhawal Kulkarni and Prithvi Shaw, with Shams Mulani also there as a bystander. An over later, the 12th man ran in with a message from the dressing room, followed by Rahane giving instructions to Musheer who was about to bowl next.Just before lunch, Rahane turned to Tushar Deshpande for “the short-ball therapy”. Bowling around the stumps, Deshpande angled one across Wadkar, who went for the pull but could hit it only for one. He let out an expletive in frustration.Dubey, however, did not enjoy the bouncer barrage. He fended the first one, which lobbed just in front of him. Deshpande had no chance of getting there.Akshay Wadkar celebrates his hundred as Harsh Dubey applauds•PTI It prompted Rahane to put a short leg in place. Deshpande went short again but missed his line. It was so down the leg side that even if Dubey had not ducked, he would have been safe.” [they are scared],” a spectator shouted from the stands just before Deshpande let go of another bouncer. This one was on target but Dubey had no trouble ducking under it. On the last ball of the over, Deshpande had Dubey hopping but could not dislodge him.Vidarbha went to lunch at 333 for 5. The target was still 205 runs away but they seemed to have taken big steps towards it by adding 85 for no loss in the session.Wadkar was leading from the front. Before the final, he had scored seven half-centuries in the season. He brought up his eighth on Wednesday evening, levelling with Kerala’s Sachin Baby for most 50-plus scores this Ranji Trophy.But there was a glaring void in Wadkar’s record. He had failed to convert any of those fifties into a hundred. Something he looked determined to correct this time.Batting in his own way – using feet against both spinners and fast bowlers – he had moved to 92 at lunch. While Nair, who had set up the chase with a dogged 74, struggled against spin, Wadkar’s handling of it was exemplary. He made sure he intercepted the ball outside the line of off stump as often as possible to take lbw out of the equation.In the third over after lunch, he pushed Kotian through extra cover to bring up his ninth first-class hundred. His first had also come in a Ranji Trophy final, against Delhi in 2017-18, and had helped Vidarbha win their first title.But there was no repeat this time. With the target 185 runs away, Kotian trapped him lbw for 102. Wadkar’s front foot was once again outside the line of off stump, but Kotian was now bowling stump to stump from around the wicket. Wadkar found himself playing across the line and missed the ball.The group that had been waiting in the stands since morning finally had an opportunity to get into the action.The celebrations did not stop after that. In the next over, Deshpande had Dubey caught at backward short leg. The attempted bouncer got up only to the rib height but Dubey failed to keep it down.Vidarbha fought till the very end. A ball after being hit on the helmet, Yash Thakur pulled Deshpande over deep square leg for a six.Dhawal Kulkarni took the final wicket to seal Mumbai’s victory•PTI With nine wickets down, Rahane gave the ball to Kulkarni. Kulkarni was playing his last first-class match, but if Mohit Avasthi, Mumbai’s leading wicket-taker before the final, had not got injured, he would not have got a farewell game.Kulkarni was not expecting to bowl as Deshpande had picked up two wickets in two overs. But this was his moment. On the opening day, the Mumbai players had given him a guard of honour. Throughout the match, fans were carrying his posters. Some were even wearing a T-shirt with his photo on it.With his third ball, Kulkarni hit Umesh Yadav’s leg stump and stretched his arms wide to soak it all in.This was Kulkarni’s sixth Ranji Trophy final, and he finished on the winning side in five of them. The first of those had come in his debut season, in 2008-09, when a 20-year-old Kulkarni had similarly taken the final wicket to seal the title.The latest title was Mumbai’s 42nd in the Ranji Trophy but their first since 2015-16. They are not used to such a drought. They had a chance in 2022 but lost to Madhya Pradesh in the final. Last season, they failed to qualify for the knockouts because of one run. All that made this victory special, sweeter.Rahane had one last move to make as captain. The trend in Indian cricket these days is that the newest member of the squad lifts the trophy. But Rahane gestured to Kulkarni, his team-mate from the Under-14 days and room-mate for many years, to come forward to take the trophy from him.The season could not have ended on a better note – neither for Dhawal nor for Mumbai.

Also, KKR might delay Russell’s arrival as much as possible to see if SRH trust Vijayakanth Viyaskanth to bowl at him deep into the innings

Sidharth Monga20-May-2024Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have had the two quickest-scoring seasons of all time in the IPL. They are unlikely to give up the spots playing the Qualifier 1 in a neutral match in Ahmedabad. Motera has not been among the quickest-scoring grounds this IPL, but it is also a function of the home team choosing to play on specific surfaces. When they have gone for a flat pitch, 200 has been chased down twice, and a 231 posted batting first. In the playoffs, under a BCCI curator, expect a similar high-scoring match. These are some of the tactics which KKR and SRH could employ.Win the toss and bat
Two of the six matches in Ahmedabad have been won by teams batting first. Shubman Gill, the home team captain in Ahmedabad, has been pretty confident that the dew doesn’t play an undue role there. Both the successful defences in Ahmedabad have come in night matches.All these factors are enough to make you toss-agnostic, but one look at SRH’s record this IPL will tell you they will want to bat first. They have won just three matches when chasing: first against Chennai Super Kings when they comfortably chased down 166, one a shellacking under 10 overs when they hunted down 166 against Lucknow Super Giants, and then chasing 215 against Punjab Kings in their last league match. They have been much more comfortable batting first and scoring massively. Their run rate batting first is 1.07 higher than when batting second. KKR are more evenly paced: 10.71 batting first, and 10.30 when chasing.Related

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While KKR have a perfect record in three chases this IPL, six wins out of nine when defending is no mean feat too. In all likelihood, given their comfort doing either, KKR will like to deny SRH what they want to do.Bowl Bhuvneshwar through powerplay
Sunil Narine has been the most valuable player of the IPL so far, and not just for his batting. Among those who have scored 400 or more runs, only two batters have been quicker than Narine. Although they haven’t quite had a face-off this IPL, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has managed to keep Narine quiet in the powerplay: 31 balls, 34 runs and one dismissal.In the absence of Phil Salt, SRH can go a long way if they can neutralise Narine or at least keep him quiet in the powerplay. Bhuvneshwar will also hope to get through to Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer in the first spell: against Shreyas, he has three wickets in 49 balls for a strike rate of 89, while Venkatesh’s strike rate against him is 88 even though he has never got out to Bhuvneshwar.Vaibhav Arora has become an important part of KKR’s plans•BCCIAs a nice little bonus, Bhuvneshwar’s record against Rahmanullah Gurbaz, the likely replacement for Salt, reads: four balls, zero runs and two wickets. This happened as recently as the two matches against KKR last year.Tackling Head, Abhishek not so straightforward
If it wasn’t for Abhishek Sharma dismantling spinners, it would have been easy to say KKR should open with one of their two in-form spinners: Narine and Varun Chakravarthy. However, Abhishek has been brutal against spin, which means the spinner has to be excellent with his control if he is used against Travis Head.Will Jacks had success against Head by staying away from arc, which also holds for spinners against Abhishek. It helps that both of KKR’s spinners can bowl offbreaks. It is worth giving one end to spin, but the bowler has to be spot on against these two batters.With pace, teams have looked to contain Head and Abhishek by either placing their boundary riders at point and cover, or by placing a deep square cover and a deep midwicket, and attacking the stumps or the armpits. Vaibhav Arora’s natural length does attack the top of stumps with some movement away from left-hand batters, which makes him an important part of KKR’s plans. It is easier to shut off Abhishek with seam: bowl top of off. Head might need more defensive lines outside off.Earlier this season, Heinrich Klaasen took SRH within one hit of winning at Eden Gardens•BCCIRussell for Klaasen
Andre Russell has not bowled in the powerplay this IPL. Heinrich Klaasen, the foundation of the SRH middle order, has been explosive against spin and left-arm pace. So it follows that Russell will be saved for Klaasen. That was perhaps a mistake KKR made in the first match against SRH: Russell and Narine combined bowled just three overs at Klaasen, who went on to score 63 off 29 at Eden Gardens, and take SRH within one hit of winning.Throw Viyaskanth at Russell
Not just Russell the bowler but also Russell the batter has also been key to KKR’s success this season. His strike rate of 185 has given KKR the finishing kick they need. Russell has been in excellent form against all bowling types except legspin: 28 balls, 41 runs and one dismissal. There will be some cat and mouse game here: KKR might delay Russell’s arrival as much as possible to see if SRH can trust Sri Lanka’s youngster Vijayakanth Viyaskanth to bowl at Russell deep into the innings.

A look at batting averages in each country over the years, and batters who have done much better, or worse, at home than others in that period

Anantha Narayanan06-Jul-2024Recently there was a somewhat long thread in the Talking Cricket group, an email group I run for die-hard cricket enthusiasts. The topic was Kane Williamson’s quantum jump in batting average from 51 to 55 in the last four years. His high home average also came into the discussion and was portrayed as the main reason for his rather high career average. I felt that this was rather unfair, on two counts. One was that he had a very healthy 45-plus away average. The other was that New Zealand was/is not exactly a batting paradise although the recent pitches have moved away from the earlier bowling-centric ones. It was clear that Williamson’s 66-plus home average needed to be looked at contextually. So I set about learning everything about batting in each country and the result is this fascinating article. I am sure you will derive many interesting insights from it.I wanted to cover everything there is to know about batting in each country – by all the batters, including the visiting ones. A similar article on bowling is on the anvil. In view of the extent and depth of coverage, two distinct articles are needed. The areas I have covered are outlined below.How batting in each country has varied across periods.
How individual batters have fared with respect to other batters while playing on their home grounds. It is important to customise this to each batter’s exact career span.
How batters have fared at home in comparison with their away figures.
How batters have fared at home in comparison with their career figures. Let us first look at how tough or easy batting in the specific countries was, by period. I will be covering only the top eight countries: Australia England, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies.Let me first define the criteria for this analysis. So as not to dilute the numbers, I will consider only the top seven batters in an XI. If there has been a nightwatcher batting in the positions 1-7, I will include him as a batter only if he scores 30 runs or more. Then he has done what a proper batter would have done. If he is out on a low score, I will instead include the No. 8 batter, who would have normally batted at No. 7.On an average, the data set includes around 24 innings per match (out of a maximum of 28) and around 22 wickets per match (due to not-outs). Also, 35 of the 38 UAE Tests are treated as home Tests for Pakistan players – other than the last three Tests, which involved Afghanistan playing against Ireland and Zimbabwe. If Afghanistan and Ireland play a Test in India, the batters of both teams will be included for the country-wise numbers.Let us first look at how teams have scored while playing in England and Australia. Do not forget that these refer only to the Nos. 1-7 batters.Anantha NarayananIn the first period, with its uncovered pitches and in its batting infancy, the batting average in Australia was only just over 32 despite the presence of Don Bradman during the last decade of that period. In the next block, the average in Australia improved significantly to around 38, with many of the pitches being quite benign. The ’70s saw the average drop somewhat, possibly due to the uncertainty caused by the Kerry Packer influence. In the period leading to the millennium, it improved slightly. Then the average took off to around 41 in the first decade of the millennium, with Australia becoming quite a strong team. Finally in the last period the average dropped to around 38.Anantha NarayananThe graph for averages in England looks somewhat like Australia’s, but a couple of runs lower. The second period was at only just above 34, despite the emergence of top-quality batters like Peter May, Ken Barrington, Denis Compton, etc. The first decade of the millennium did not see the high of Australia. The average also dropped quite strongly to around 34 in the last period. The overall averages reflect these variations.Anantha NarayananThat South Africa has always been a difficult country to bat is brought out by the numbers. The first period saw an average of around 30, which then stay in the mid-30s with a high value of only around 36. The 1970s period was virtually a no-show. The overall average reaches only around 33. Also, there is not much variation across the periods.Anantha NarayananThe averages in West Indies saw a high value of more than 42 in the post-war era, no doubt due to the presence of modern greats like the three Ws, Garry Sobers and Rohan Kanhai. It stayed above 40 in the next period. Then there was a huge drop to around 33 in the 1980s, no doubt caused by the proliferation of world-class pace bowlers. The recent period has seen a low of around 31, most probably caused by the decline of West Indies as a Test-playing nation.Anantha NarayananNew Zealand, in the 1950s, was a batters’ graveyard. The top batters averaged only around 28, the lowest of all countries. This figure kept improving over the next few periods. It reached a middling value of around 36 in the first decade of the millennium but picked up a lot recently. Their all-time average is around 35.Anantha NarayananThe averages in India have been steady, with a value of around 37 in the 50 years after WW2. In the first decade of the millennium, the value was very high at around 43. For this, one does not need to look beyond that famed batting line-up. However, there was a steep drop of over seven runs in the last decade. It could easily be attributed to the effectiveness of the Indian spinners, led by the two Ravis – Ashwin and Jadeja. It is not easy to score even 300 in India nowadays.Anantha NarayananPakistan’s post-war period was comparable to that of New Zealand, no doubt due to the matting wickets and the fearsome swing bowlers, led by Fazal Mahmood. The average went up by nearly ten runs in the 1970s, dropped to around 34 in the next period, largely due to the pace-bowling attack led by Imran Khan. In the last 20 years, the average has stayed north of 40 – an amazing metric indeed. The recent period average of 42.6 is the highest of all values featured.Anantha NarayananFinally, the average in Sri Lanka, which is the epitome of consistency. Look how flat the graph is. The three periods see values between 37 and 38, culminating in an average of 37.3. They have always had top quality spinners, led by Muthiah Muralidaran, and this is brought out in the numbers.Most of the averages, across all Tests for the countries, are around the 37 mark. England and New Zealand are a little lower at around 35, and South Africa is a lot lower at 33.1. Just for information, the corresponding figures for Zimbabwe is 36.5 (65 Tests), Bangladesh 37.3 (78 Tests), and Ireland 24.9 (one Test).Finally, a chart on how the batting averages have moved across all the countries across periods.Anantha NarayananThe shape of the graph follows the familiar pattern. Starting with a low average of nearly 32 during the initial 70 years, steadily increasing during each period, and culminating at an all-time high of nearly 39 in the first millennium years. Then a clear drop during the most recent dozen years. An overall average of 36.1 is an indication of only middling team scores.Now we move on to the most important table in this article. The one in which I compare the batter’s career home average with the batting average of the Nos. 1-7 batters who played in the country in the exact span of Tests between the batter’s first and last Tests, irrespective of where the batter played these two Tests. What is important is the span of Tests. Needless to say, the batter himself is excluded when calculating the average for others. Here also I have applied the same nightwatcher tweak that I have already explained.On an average, around 22 innings per match (28 minus the batter’s two innings minus not-outs) and around 19 wickets per match are considered to determine the other batters’ averages. The criterion for selection is that the batter should have scored 2000-plus home runs. One-hundred-and-fifty-four batters qualify.Readers might justifiably ask me why I have got all the batters, the home and visiting ones, in one basket, when calculating the average for others. Wouldn’t it have been better to separate the home and visiting batters? Let me answer it this way. There have been times when the home team has been weaker – New Zealand in the 1950s, India in the 1980s, etc. There have been times when the home team has been stronger – Australia around 2010, India recently, etc.Putting all the batters together allows me to take care of all such situations. Also, I do not want to make statements like “XYZ was better in comparison to his fellow batters, but was weak when compared to the visiting batters”. It does not convey much. The bottom line is: How does his home batting average compare with all the batters who batted in that country from his first Test to his last Test? And that question has been answered effectively.