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India's batters face their toughest Test
The tough conditions have seen India’s top seven average just 31.5 in South Africa – their lowest in all the Test-playing nations
Across eight tours spanning three decades, a Test series win in South Africa has continued to elude India. Just four victories in 23 Tests are indicative of an underwhelming run even as they have managed to conquer Australia in their backyard on their previous two outings.
India’s best chance of breaching the ‘final frontier’ was considered to be in 2021/22, for they were up against a South African side seemingly at its weakest since readmission in 1991. They appeared to be on course after winning the first Test at Centurion by 113 runs, only for Dean Elgar's team to dig deep and notch up consecutive seven-wicket victories in the next two Tests at Johannesburg and Cape Town. If you glance through the scorecards in the series, it is evident that the performances of the Indian batters fell away after the first innings of the first Test.
While they were able to accumulate 327 first up on the back of KL Rahul’s 123, their totals in the next five innings read 174, 202, 266, 223 and 198. The conditions for batting were tough as South Africa’s scores of 197, 191, 229, 243/3, 210 and 212/3 also demonstrate. When the hosts had to step up to preserve their bastion though, they did by chasing down 200-plus targets in successive Tests. That Rishabh Pant was left stranded on 100 in their total of 198 in the third innings of the final Test encapsulated the absence of a collective batting effort from India right through the series.
India’s batting travails in Tests in South Africa are nothing new. Even on their first tour in 1992/93, they did not get past 300 in any of the four Tests. And for all the accolades that their batters have garnered since the turn of the 21st century, India are yet to surpass 500 in an innings in South Africa. As per CricViz, India’s top seven averages 31.5 in South Africa – their lowest in all the Test-playing nations.
The careers of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid are instructive. While Tendulkar averaged 53.2 in Australia and 54.31 in England, the corresponding figure was 46.44 in South Africa. In Dravid’s case, he was exemplary in England with an average of 68.8. He had his problems in Australia but still averaged a respectable 41.64. In South Africa though, all he mustered was 624 runs in 11 Tests at 29.71.
Among Indian batters, Virat Kohli is the only one to average over 50 in Tests there (minimum of five matches) – he has 719 runs in seven Tests at 51.35 including two tons.
“Most of the time, you are never in as a batter,” said Pravin Amre, the first Indian batter to score a Test century in South Africa. “You have to get used to the pace and bounce of the surfaces.”
According to former India opener WV Raman, the conditions and the quality of the South African unit present a lethal concoction of challenges. “South Africa’s pitches have been more seamer-friendly. The thing about South Africa is that you will have pace, bounce and seam as well, which you generally won't get to see at most of the centres across the world,” Raman, who hit a hundred in the one-day leg of the landmark 1992/93 tour, said. “What they have also been blessed with is a regular supply of fast bowlers. They have had inspirational pacers coming through all the time. The other thing is it's a fantastic fielding unit always, both in terms of slip catching and ground fielding. It's never easy to get singles to rotate strike and not allow their bowlers to stick to a plan.”
On their last visit to South Africa, there were five instances of Indian batters failing to cross the three-figure mark after reaching fifty. “Even if the ball is not really moving around, you will have pace and bounce on those tracks," Raman explained. "It's not that you are going to get the kind of respite that you may get in other places. Even if you look at Australia, the surfaces in Adelaide and Sydney may not be as bouncy as the ones at the Gabba and Perth. If you look at all the pitches in South Africa, they all have pace and bounce. And when you have seam movement as well, it is a jolly time for the fast bowlers and not so much for the batters.”
While Kohli, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul will know what to expect, India’s transition as a batting group puts Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer in the spotlight in these two Tests. Neither of these younger batters has the experience of playing a Test in South Africa, but the chance to script history should spur them on. “The key is to judge the line of the ball early. It is fun as a player,” said Amre. “You get more satisfaction when you put in a good performance in South Africa.”
