INDIA TOUR OF SOUTH AFRICA, 2018

Stats analysis: India's over reliance on top three

by Deepu Narayanan • Last updated on

Dhawan and Rohit have averaged 41.58 from 33 stands since April 2015 while Kohli averages 91.13 with the former and 87 with the latter. © Getty

170 for 3. 178 for 1. 171 for 2. These were India's scores at the end of the 30th over in the last three ODIs of the South Africa tour, each time batting first. Teams often target to double the score from the 30th over, especially when there are enough number of wickets in hand, and of late the launch point has even shifted to the 35th over. India ended up scoring 303 for 6, 289 for 7 and 274 for 7 respectively, underwhelming on each occasion.

The Dhawan-Rohit-Kohli impact

In the third ODI, Virat Kohli was batting on 73 at the end of the 30th over and he batted through the innings scoring 160. In the last 20 overs, he scored 87 off 67 while the rest managed 46 off 53 balls. In short, it encapsulates India's batting issues in the death overs particularly when none of the top three - Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan or Kohli bats through the innings. Since the last World Cup in Australia in 2015, these three have raced ahead of the rest of the pack and sit on the top three slots in run-getters position for India. Kohli averages 76.89, Rohit 58.97 and Dhawan 49.62 and all three possess a scoring rate in excess of 96.

Most runs for India post 2015 World Cup

Player Mat Inngs Runs Highest Avg SR 100s 50s Virat Kohli 49 49 2922 160* 76.89 96.62 12 13 Rohit Sharma 44 44 2359 208* 58.97 96.71 10 9 Shikhar Dhawan 40 40 1836 132* 49.62 99.51 5 13 MS Dhoni 55 44 1468 134 45.87 84.22 1 9 Ajinkya Rahane 35 33 1344 103 40.72 80.57 1 15 Kedar Jadhav 39 26 778 120 40.94 109.88 2 3 Hardik Pandya 37 25 628 83 29.90 115.86 0 4 Manish Pandey 22 17 432 104* 39.27 93.10 1 2 Yuvraj Singh 11 10 372 150 41.33 98.67 1 1 Ambati Rayudu 7 6 312 124* 104.00 78.19 1 1

More balls faced = More impact

India's top three have been the most dominant in ODI cricket in the period post 2015 World Cup, scoring nearly 9000 runs, almost 2000 ahead of the next best. India's top order have consumed 61.41% of total balls faced, with the global average hovering around 48%. That is they bat nearly 40 balls per innings more compared to the global average. They haven't done too bad either, scoring 61.80% of the total runs off the bat - among the top eight ranked teams. Only the top three of South Africa (53.37%) and Australia (51.73%) have managed in excess of 50%.

"It augurs well for the team... We always talk about batsmen batting through the innings. That is what we are trying to do. Top three have got the best opportunity because they get to play maximum balls. So, our three's responsibility is that if we are set then we have to try and play long," Rohit said.

The top three have scored 30 of the 35 hundreds for India in this period whereas no other side's top three have managed to score even 20.

India's top order domination

Teams Runs Avg SR 100s by top 3 100s by team Runs % Balls % India 8914 59.82 92.61 30 35 61.80% 61.41% England 7039 45.12 96.36 18 30 47.18% 48.78% New Zealand 6790 42.7 91.53 13 20 49.83% 49.32% South Africa 6768 47.32 91.40 19 27 53.37% 54.10% Australia 6712 43.86 91.67 19 23 51.73% 51.67% Sri Lanka 6150 34.55 87.20 8 12 45.70% 43.14% Pakistan 5782 39.06 85.08 16 18 47.39% 48.40% Bangladesh 4133 37.91 82.23 7 12 48.29% 48.77% West Indies 2736 25.81 74.63 3 6 37.94% 39.49%

The ploy of top three consuming bulk of the balls has worked to a good extent thanks to their remarkable consistency. Out of India's 58 innings since April 2015, one batsman from the top three has top scored in 45 of those. In eight of the 13 remaining innings, at least one from the top three managed to score a fifty. However, it can hurt them badly when the top three are back in the hut inside the first Powerplay as it happened in the final of the Champions Trophy last year. India have scored 300-plus 16 times in this period and only one of these came without either of Rohit or Dhawan or Kohli scoring fifties - 381 against England in Cuttack when Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni winded the clock back to the yesteryears.

Dhawan and Rohit have averaged 41.58 from 33 stands since April 2015 while Kohli averages 91.13 per partnership with the former and 87.00 per partnership with the latter - both the highest for second wicket in this period across teams (minimum of ten innings). Together, India's top-two wickets' average partnership is 61.75, with South Africa being the only other to manage 50-plus per partnership for the first two wickets (52.91).

No top three? Dip in the death overs

In the matches between the top nine sides in the three-year period from April 2015, India's run rate of 7.79 in the overs 41-50 is only the fourth best among teams after England (8.50), South Africa (7.96) and Australia (7.81). The point to note here is how India's scoring in the last ten overs alters when one of the top three bats through these death overs.

India have batted post the 40th over in 42 instances in the period, and in 21 of these innings, one of the top three has still batted after the 40th, including eight instances of one of them batting till the end.

When all of the top three are dismissed before the start of the last ten overs, India's scoring rate is 7.06 per over and average is 24.04 per wicket. But when at least one of them stays on post the 40th, the scoring rate surges to 8.47. On the eight instances of one of them batting till the end of innings, the rate surges ahead to 9.35 and average run per wicket nearly doubles to 45.33.

India have scored 100-plus runs in the last ten overs five times and on four of those occasions, one of the openers or Kohli batted post the 40-over mark.

India's performance in overs 41-50

Scenario Inngs Avg RPO Most runs scored b/w 41-50 All of top three dismissed inside 40 ovres 21 24.04 7.06 120 vs Eng, Cuttack, Jan 2017 At least one of top three bats past 40th over 21 26.25 8.47 147 vs SL, Mohali, Dec 2017 At least one of openers/Kohli bats through the inngs 8 45.33 9.35 147 vs SL, Mohali, Dec 2017

** ODIs against Zimbabwe excluded for the above table

The best in the death overs

It might be surprising to many that Rohit Sharma, who opens the batting, possesses the best strike rate for a batsman in the overs 41-50 (minimum of 100 runs) - 197.39. Rohit has been a cut above the rest with his low dot-ball percentage of 13.91 (the best) coupled with an exemplary ratio of 4.11 balls per boundary (second best after Jos Buttler's 3.78) in the last ten overs.

Unfortunately for India, the only other batsman with a 150-plus strike rate for them is Stuart Binny, who last played an ODI in October 2015. But 88 of his 107 runs there have come against Zimbabwe. While Kedar Jadhav has done decently while striking at 141.33, all of Manish Pandey (125.97), MS Dhoni (123.66), Ravindra Jadeja (119.77) and Hardik Pandya (119.10) have been disappointing. Dhoni's finishing powers too have waned off quite a bit in the past couple of years and the fact Hardik has struggled to get going as finisher has only added to Dhoni's pressure.

India's batsman in overs 41-50 post WC 2015 (Min 100 runs)

Player Runs Fours Sixes SR Dot% Balls/Bou Balls/Dis Rohit Sharma 227 11 17 197.39 13.91% 4.11 28.75 Stuart Binny 107 12 2 150.70 25.35% 5.07 23.67 Kedar Jadhav 318 32 7 141.33 28.44% 5.77 32.14 Virat Kohli 353 30 11 137.35 27.24% 6.27 28.56 Manish Pandey 194 20 1 125.97 28.57% 7.33 51.33 MS Dhoni 601 50 20 123.66 34.57% 6.94 27.00 Ravindra Jadeja 103 9 1 119.77 32.56% 8.60 17.20 Hardik Pandya 237 18 10 119.10 38.19% 7.11 15.31 Bhuvneshwar Kumar 158 15 3 95.18 45.78% 9.22 33.20

The issue with Hardik has been his inability to tee off against the quicks. He has a career strike rate of 115.87 but it comes significantly down to 97.42 against pace. In comparison, he strikes at 162.34 against spinners. The opponents are well aware of this issue and dish out pace when Hardik is in the middle. As a result, Hardik has faced only 28.41% of deliveries from spinners and in his last two series (against Sri Lanka and South Africa) has faced spin only once in six innings.

Not only do Kohli, Rohit and Dhawan shoulder India's batting for the maximum duration during a match but two of them are necessary for creating a major impact during the death overs dash as well. By the sheer value that they add to the current team, the three can probably lay claim to being India's best top order of all time and maybe even in the world, but that's a debate for another day.

© Cricbuzz

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