Batting big: The key to Test success in India

For teams visiting India, the initial aim naturally is to post a respectable first innings total if they win the toss. But England, who were practically rolled over on their last tour here, landed in Chennai prepared to “take India’s win out of the equation”.

Batting big, if possible once, has been the key to India’s sustained success at home that has seen them win 19 out of 25 Tests in the last five years. Out of those 19 wins, India batted first in 11 matches, scoring 450 and above on eight occasions. It goes without saying the bowlers’ job gets much easier once they have around 500 runs to defend. So, for teams visiting India, the initial aim naturally is to post a respectable first innings total if they win the toss. But England, who were practically rolled over on their last tour here, landed in Chennai prepared to “take India’s win out of the equation”.

India's Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant running between the wicket during the day 3 of the First test match between India and England at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday. (BCCI/ANI Photo)

That explained the caution displayed by Dom Sibley (87 off 286 balls) and England captain Joe Root (218 off 377 balls) before Ben Stokes ran away with the game with 82 off just 118 balls. England batted for more than two days, piled up 578—the second highest total for any visiting team in the last decade in India—and set themselves up for the win.

England have always scored better in the subcontinent than most other visitors; they are the only team to have three 500-plus scores in India in the last decade. But they don’t start off aiming too high. “The idea was to get to 400,” Root elaborated after their win. “Having spent some time out there, I knew the wicket had changed drastically and knew it was going to change again. We wanted to take India’s win out of the equation. As a bowling group we didn’t want to worry about the run rate.”

Having conceded a massive advantage, India were expected to bat big and take the first Test towards a draw. History backs India even when it comes to getting second use of the pitch. Since 2016, they batted once in five out of the eight wins where India had to bowl first, scoring 347/9d, 493/6d, 610/6d, 631 and 759/7d. The only three wins where India had to bat in the fourth innings, they didn’t have to chase more than 106. The numbers overwhelmingly uphold the established practice of most Tests in India being decided in the teams’ first innings. Unless it’s a featherbed, which is rarely the case in India, shot-making becomes a tedious exercise in the last two innings, an inescapable reality even for the home side.

Among all the teams to tour India in the recent past, England have the most well-rounded bowling arsenal. That makes it even more important (and the last Test is a good example) for India to put as big a score up as possible first time around.

The only batsman to not capitulate easily in the second innings of the first Test, Virat Kohli, knows this is where India have to take a fresh stance.

“The Test probably shifted in their favour when we batted in the first innings. Because we were looking to bat long and we were not able to do that,” Kohli said after the match. “As a batting unit, it becomes important to come as close to their total as possible. The crucial phases where a match can turn, those are the phases we need to capture as a batting unit. There was not enough application shown by us.”

“Application” here roughly translates to match awareness, which in turn influences shot selection and the intent to build an innings. Consider this: Sibley and Root faced 663 deliveries in England’s first innings; the entire Indian batting eleven played just 576 deliveries in their first innings. That gave England adequate time to add more runs to their lead and still bowl India out with overs to spare on the last day.

This England side is looking to shape up like the one that won the 2012-13 series here. Back then, Alistair Cook faced a mammoth 1285 deliveries (Cheteshwar Pujara faced 937 balls, India’s best) on way to scoring 562 runs and orchestrating the wins in Mumbai and Kolkata with gritty hundreds. Root is best suited to do an encore.

“We managed to get those big first innings runs that we often talk about. I want to be delivering those big performances that will help us win this series and we have the talent to do that,” Root said on Friday. India too wouldn't think any different. They have Pujara, they have Kohli. It’s tricky, given the advantage riding on winning the toss. But it’s nothing India have not done before.