The Headingley chase wasn’t an exception.
India were in a commanding position for most of the Headingley Test and would have fancied their chances of defending 371 in the fourth innings. However, a torrid bowling performance in the fourth innings allowed England to chase down the target with five wickets to spare. This was their second-highest chase ever and also the second-highest against India.
While chasing a mammoth target of 371 might look like an exception, the reality is a little different. India have had issues defending fourth-innings totals numerous times lately. And this is a collective failure.
Since 2021, India have the second-worst bowling average (28.93) in the fourth innings, only ahead of New Zealand (33.17). They have conceded 200+ ten times in the fourth innings, the second-most after Australia (11). Additionally, they have the joint second-most defeats (9) in the final dig, four of them came when the target was 200+.
We have filtered all bowlers who have bowled at least five times in the fourth innings since 2021. This reveals that India have the most bowlers (5) with an average of 30 or more. 55.55% of their bowlers fall in this criterion.
All Indian bowlers have struggled. Among all the bowlers to bowl at least 70 overs in the fourth innings since 2021, Mohammed Siraj (55.63) and Mohammed Shami (48.83) have the second and third-worst averages. Joe Root (71.25) is at the top, but he is not a specialist bowler.
Shardul Thakur (36.33) and Ravindra Jadeja (30.87) have been equally poor. While Bumrah (24.33) has been decent, he hasn’t exactly matched the lofty standards he has set for himself. Only Ravichandran Ashwin (18.96) has performed well, but he is not around anymore.
On comparing India’s performances in the first three innings to the final one, the problem becomes clear. Collectively, India have the best average (24.48) in the first three digs and the second-worst in the fourth one, as mentioned above. The average difference between the averages of the first three innings and the fourth innings paints a clear picture.
India have the biggest difference (4.45), followed by New Zealand (3.50) and Australia (0.37). They are the only teams with a higher average in the final turn than in the initial three. Bangladesh have the best difference (-8.89).
Fourth innings bowling has been an issue, but that’s mostly been away from home. Since 2021, India have the second-best average (21.02) in the final innings at home. In contrast, the away average stands at an abysmal 36.72, the second-worst after New Zealand (37.16).
At home, all bowlers, barring Siraj, average less than 30 among those with at least five outings. But away from home, only Ravichandran Ashwin (27.50) averages less than 30. As many as five bowlers have averaged more than 30, including Jasprit Bumrah (31.71).
Seven out of ten 200+ totals India have conceded are away from home. India failed to defend 378 and 371 against England and 240 and 212 against South Africa during this period. They even conceded 324 against Bangladesh, but fortunately, the target (513) was too big for the opponent.
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The issues will exacerbate now that Ashwin has retired, Shami is injury-prone, and Ishant is no longer in the plans. These three provided control and wickets when the pitch deteriorated and were the most prominent reasons behind India’s immense success at home and away. The current crop of fast bowlers have shown a lack of control, prominently on display at Headingley this week as England won a Test match by acing just one out of five days.
This Headingley chase isn’t an exception, rather it highlighted a longstanding problem that is slowly but surely starting to become noticeable. England have shown a tendency to bowl first in the Bazball era, and given India’s issues while defending targets, they might exploit more in the upcoming matches of the Anderson-Tendulkar series.
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