Decoding Team India’s batting woes

Tags: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Kumar Raina, Rohit Gurunath Sharma, Ravindrasinh Anirudhsinh Jadeja, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Cricwaves Columns

Published on: Jan 05, 2013

The Men in Blue faltered yet again, at the Eden Gardens against Pakistan, to allow the visitors to the clinch the much-awaited series without having to put up much of a fight. India’s batting failures in both the games played so far cost them the series.

The Men in Blue faltered yet again, at the Eden Gardens against Pakistan, to allow the visitors to the clinch the much-awaited series without having to put up much of a fight. India’s batting failures in both the games played so far cost them the series. The batsmen, barring M S Dhoni and Virat Kohli, went into the series low on confidence, and their performance, or the lack of it, showed on the field. We look back at how Team India’s major batsmen performed in ODIs in 2012 to try and decode India’s batting woes.

Virender Sehwag: He has been one of the key reasons why India’s fortunes have spiralled downwards drastically. Sehwag played 10 matches in 2012 and scored only 217 runs at an embarrassingly low average of 21.74. He has failed to register a century in this period, 96 against Sri Lanka being his highest. Here again, out of 10 games, he played seven against the Lankans and yet only managed to gather 188 runs at an average of 26.85. In the five games that he played in Australia during the tri-series he managed only 65 runs at an average of 13. One wonders on what basis has he maintained his place in the squad.

Gautam Gambhir: His overall figures seem impressive at the outset – 685 runs in 16 matches, averaging 42.81 with two hundreds. Break it down further though and you realise that things actually aren’t as rosy. Both his hundreds came against Sri Lanka, against whom he featured in nine games and raked in 541 runs at an average of 60.11. In contrast, he played four games against Australia, but managed only 125 runs at an average of 31.25, 92 of those coming in one innings. It may be argued that his figures merit him a place in the squad, but what about consistency and accountability?

Virat Kohli: He hadan exceptional 2012, amassing 1026 runs in 17 games at an average of 68.40 with five hundreds. Sensational no doubt, but there’s a glitch in his performance as well. While four of the five hundreds came against Sri Lanka, against whom he averaged 86.67, he averaged only 20.50 in four matches against the Aussies. To be fair to the man, he is still young in international cricket so it too early to judge his overall performance. At present, he is the best ODI batsmen in the Indian side, and can do with some support from the rest.

Suresh Raina: The left-hander played 17 games in 2012 and managed 492 runs at an average of 41. Considering the fact that he bats lower down the order, one can’t find too many faults with his figures. Often, he has come in with a few overs left and has thrown his bat around to gather precious runs. Of course, if he can manage to get bigger scores when he comes in to bat early, like he did on Thursday against Pakistan, it could do the side a lot of good.

Rohit Sharma: The talented Mumbai batsman came up with a horror show in 2012. In 14 games, he managed only 168 runs with a highest of 68 and a tailender-like average of 12.92. No wonder he was dropped for the 2nd ODI against Pakistan.

Ravindra Jadeja: The southpaw did precious little to justify his slot as an all-rounder in 2012. He featured in 10 games but made only 105 runs, averaging 17.50. With the ball, he managed only four wickets at an embarrassingly high average of 97.50.

M S Dhoni: Amidst all the carnage, the Indian skipper stood tall – 16 matches, 524 runs, averaging 65.50. Cricket being a team game though most of his heroics have gone in vain.

--By A Cricket Analyst

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