Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has urged India's star batters to pull up their socks in Test cricket and get their individual averages higher, which would in turn help the team win more often in the longest format. Ganguly said that the fact that only Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal average more than 40 in Tests played away from home is a cause for concern.
"My only worry when I see them playing Test cricket is that other than Virat and Yashasvi, not many of them average more than 40 away from home," Ganguly said on RevSportz. Jaiswal, who has made waves of all kinds in his young career, has scored at 44.18 in the nine Tests he has played at home. Kohli, on the other hand, averages 41.51 in the 66 Tests he has played away from home in his storied career. It has to be noted, though, that he averages exactly 30 in the two Tests he played in neutral venues, which were the two WTC finals in England against New Zealand and Australia.
Outside of these two, Rishabh Pant's 37.59 in 29 Tests is the highest among the rest of the batters that made up India's regular top six during the tour of Australia. "The likes of Rahul, Shubman, Pant will have to look at that. You want to be a good Test team, three or four of your top six batters must be averaging close to 50," said Ganguly
'Gill needs to take his Test cricket batting much higher'
India's next Test assignment comes right after the IPL, a gruelling five-match tour of England to start off their next WTC cycle. "It's (all about) the mentality, determination and grit. They have the talent. Virat Kohli - best in the business. I don't see him failing five Tests in England. Shubman Gill needs to take his Test cricket batting much higher," said Ganguly.
{{/usCountry}}India's next Test assignment comes right after the IPL, a gruelling five-match tour of England to start off their next WTC cycle. "It's (all about) the mentality, determination and grit. They have the talent. Virat Kohli - best in the business. I don't see him failing five Tests in England. Shubman Gill needs to take his Test cricket batting much higher," said Ganguly.
{{/usCountry}}India have won the last two ICC titles that they competed for on the trot in the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2025 Champions trophy. However, between the two title wins was an utterly forgettable run of form in the 2024/25 Test season in which India were handed a historic 3-0 hiding at home by New Zealand and then lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia 3-1, all of which culminated in them missing out on a place in the World Test Championship Final.