BGT 2023: India’s lower order (8-11) averages 40.66 as against Australia lower order’s paltry 5.57

Border Gavaskar Trophy 2022-23: India’s lower order (8-11) averages 40.66 as against Australia lower order’s paltry 5.57. India's lower order added 244 runs from two test matches while Australia could only manage 78 runs.

Axar-Ashwin added 114 runs for 8th wicket in Delhi Test (Images: ©BCCI/Twitter)

Modern-day Test cricket has become really challenging for batters as the pitches used of late in the 5-day format are more suited to the bowlers. The conditions are largely against the batters, especially the top-order, at least in some parts of the world like England, South Africa, India and New Zealand.

The trend is that at most of the Test venues, playing the new ball has been a challenge but once it gets older, run making becomes a lot easier. The settled batters can make merry but it is the batters from the middle to the lower middle-order who can make the best use of conditions.

When one looks at some of the recently concluded Tests in New Zealand or India for that matter, one observation shines through is the impact of lower-order on the outcome of the game. While in New Zealand, it was Tom Blundell’s partnership with the lower-order batters that has bailed the Kiwis out of trouble in the Wellington Test, at least for the moment; while in the northern hemisphere, India’s lower-order batters combined to score more than the top-order in Delhi in a low-scoring Test match.

In India’s case, this bailing out by lower-order has occurred far too many times in just a short span of time. While it is concerning that their top-order has been in trouble more often, but at the same time it stresses on the importance of the lower-order batters’ (8-11) contribution to the overall total.

Read More: BGT 2023, IND v AUS, 2nd Test, Day 3: Jadeja & Ashwin help India retain Border Gavaskar Trophy

Stark difference between India & Australia’s lower-order batters’ returns in BGT 2022-23

The visitors are down 0-2 at the end of two Tests and it is their batting that let them down. The application shown by their batters has been below par and it is one of the reasons for their two huge defeats.

But the difference between the sides in the two Tests thus far is the performance of lower order with the bat. In Nagpur and Delhi, Australia had India in all sorts of trouble at one stage or the other but the hosts found ways to come out of the trench.

Test stats of numbers 8-11 for Australia and India in the BGT 2022-23

Team	Matches	Innings	Runs	Best	Average	50s/100s
India	2	8	244	84	40.66	2/0
Australia	2	16	78	33	5.57	0/0

India’s bowlers have clearly outperformed their Aussie counterparts in terms of batting, and it has given them much needed cushion to attack with the ball for a considerable amount of time. More often than not, the Australian lower-order much like the top-order have surrendered, with their contribution being just 78 runs in 16 innings between them. On the other hand, India’s lower-order batters have scored 244 runs in 8 innings between them. This includes the twin fifties scored by Axar Patel and useful contributions from Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammed Shami in the two Tests.

Read More: BGT 2023, IND v AUS, 2nd Test, Day 2: After Lyon’s fifer breaks top-order, Axar’s 74 rescues India

India the best team in terms of performance of lower order (8-11) in WTC 2021-23

If one looks at how the ongoing cycle of WTC 2021-23 has panned out thus far in terms of the performance of lower order of teams, it is hardly a surprise to see India at the top of the charts in terms of batting averages.

India’s lower order, i.e., batters in positions 8-11 have scored a whopping 9 half-centuries in 98 innings together which is one 50 in every 11 innings or so. This is a telling and significant contribution, one which could very well impact the overall result of the Test match. Several experts contend that partnerships and runs added by the bowlers at the end deeply frustrates the fielding side, especially the openers who are going to bat next.

Test stats of lower order batters from 1st August 2021 to 23rd February 2023 (before NZ-ENG 2nd Test in Wellington)

Team	Players	Matches	Innings	Runs	Best	Average	50s/100s
India	14	16	98	98	84	20.00	9/0
West Indies	14	13	73	73	100*	16.83	2/1
Australia	12	17	74	74	93	16.29	1/0
England	21	23	140	140	97	15.84	2/0
Zimbabwe	5	2	13	13	56	14.10	1/0
South Africa	11	13	84	84	84	13.89	2/0
New Zealand	13	12	77	77	68*	12.85	3/0
Pakistan	18	14	82	82	55*	11.98	1/0
Sri Lanka	15	10	62	62	61*	10.84	1/0
Bangladesh	12	12	88	88	64	9.10	1/0

For example, in the recent Delhi Test, the visitors were comfortably ahead at one point having India at a precarious situation of 139/7 chasing Australia’s 263 in the first innings. But the lower order of India added further 123 runs not only to bail their side out of trouble but also winning the Test in the end. It is true that even a small contribution from the lower-order does a lot for the morale of both the teams. Even in the Lord’s Test in 2021, India’s fast bowling pair of Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah played a pivotal role in winning the match for their side with their partnership not with the ball but with the bat.

According to the above list, the 3rd best team in terms of average runs scored by numbers 8-11 is Australia with 16.29 apiece from 74 innings. These figures would have been much better if Australia had fared better in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

The third Test of the series will be played from March 1-5 at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore, while the last Test of the four-match Test series will be played from March 9-13 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Read More: Axar Patel has grown to become an indispensable part of India’s Test set-up in a short span of time