Australian Mitchell Starc’s fearsome spell of fast bowling during the second ODI against India in Vishakhapatnam refreshed the memories of the recent past.
It was just one of the many instances of a left-arm pacer dismantling the Indian top order and the only difference was the relative importance of the match compared to previous such debacles. Mitchell Johnson in the 2015 World Cup semi-final, Mohammed Amir in the 2017 Champions Trophy final, and Trent Boult in the 2019 World Cup semi-final have left scars on the Indian batting line-up.
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More than the batters, they have left scars on the Indian fans’ thoughts. Those instances of “45 minutes of bad cricket" have led the fans to think that Indian batters are vulnerable against left-arm pacers and that left-arm swing for Indian batters is as good as what Kryptonite is for Superman.
For people who follow DC Comics, Superman is a god-like creature for humans, considering his superpowers. And Kryptonite is the only material – green in colour and emitting radiation – that has the potential to kill him.
Indian batters are time and again treated no less than demi-gods as playing cricket for the national team is the closest to having superpowers in the sub-continent.
But are left-arm pacers really as lethal for Indian batters as Kryptonite for Superman? Is it that big a weakness ? While numbers don’t always portray the entire picture, they do clarify a lot more than what just the emotions tend to make one believe.
Well, Indian batters have the best average – 35.97 – against left-arm fast bowling in ODIs since 2016 and also scored the most runs – 4101 when compared to other teams. This is a steep improvement from the 2011-2015 period, wherein India ranked fifth with an average of 25.79.
India also stand in the middle of the graph – fifth out of nine top ODI teams – if number of dismissals since 2016 are compared.
India’s average further rises to 46.16 (again top of the chart) when batting positions 1 to 4 are considered. This stat also bursts the myth that the right-hand heavy top-order of India is more vulnerable to left-arm swing bowling.
To confirm if Indian batters falter in ICC events, we check the numbers for three 50-over tournaments – The 2015 World Cup in Australia, 2017 Champions Trophy in England, and the 2019 World Cup, again in England.
India’s average in these three tournaments significantly drops down to 28.63 (916 runs and 32 dismissals), but they still are the best team when facing left-arm pacers. England averaged the second-best at 26.74 (1016 runs and 38 dismissals) and South Africa (775 runs and 31 dismissals) stood third with an average of 25.
The numbers confirm that when Virat Kohli, after the 2019 World Cup semi-final loss against New Zealand said, “It always feels disappointing when you’ve played such good cricket and then 45 minutes of bad cricket puts you out of the tournament," it was a fair statement.
When the performance of Indian batters is analysed, Kohli averaged the best amongst batters with at least 100 runs against left-arm pacers during 2011- 2015 period with an average of 56.11. Shikhar Dhawan (46.0), MS Dhoni (40.2), and Rohit Sharma (35.62) follow him in the list.
When the period of analysis is changed to 2016-2023, Rishabh Pant’s average of 72.5 displaces Kohli’s 60.25 at the top. Shreyas Iyer is also in the mix with an average of 58.5. And Rohit Sharma holds on to his fourth position, but with a steep rise in average to 54.4.
In fact, the current Indian skipper has the most number of runs (816) against left-arm pacers but his average is subdued due to his 15 dismissals, which is the second-most amongst Indian batters since 2016. Dhawan tops the chart with 20 dismissals, while Kohli ranks third with 12 dismissals.
The numbers now highlight that the top-order has been dismissed the most number of times to left-arm pacers, indicating a possible penetration of the ‘green poison’ in the Indian batting bloodline. However, if at all this is true, it would be fair to say that the other teams are already suffering from it.
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The other significant number that shows the extent of penetration is the performance of top left-arm pacers since 2016 against their oppositions.
Trent Boult (141 wickets) Mitchell Starc (129 wickets), and Mustafizur Rahman (116 wickets) are the three left-arm pacers in the top 10 wicket-takers list since 2016. Boult and Starc also make it to the list of top 10 bowlers in terms of average, alongside Shaheen Afridi.
However, none of these bowlers average less than 20 against India. Starc’s average of 45.38 against India is his worst against all opponents. Boult’s average of 24.58 against India is his third-best after West Indies and Australia. And Mustafizur also averages a middling 35.33 against India – seventh on his list of opponents. Shaheen Afridi has played just one ODI against India but failed to bag any wicket.
There is no anti-dote to good bowling. And on days when these bowlers run with steam and determination, they sure turn into Kryptonite for any team.
But, for now, it would be safe to say that it’s not as lethal as it seems for the Indian batters but they sure have to do better in those ’45-minute’ windows.
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