The Indian tail also wags

Data as of 14 Oct 2019:

Having seen how batsmen of no 8 and below have fared against India, we see how India’s tailend batsmen have done in Tests:

Innings of 90 and above by Indian batsmen at No 8 and below:

Dhoni and Ashwin are among the main contributors here. It is often forgotten that Saha has scored centuries (also two more while batting at 7 or higher).

There are relatively few newcomers here. RH Shodhan is the only debutant here, while Ratra, Ashwin and Pandya made their centuries at the start of their career. J Yadav soon dropped out of the Test reckoning. Kumble and Harbhajan made their centuries at a late stage of their careers.

It should be noted that Kapil usually batted at 7 or higher.

We now look at averages of those batting at 8 and below, subject to a minimum of 10 innings:

Dhoni expectedly has the highest average, while Saha is surprisingly second and Prabhakar third. Prabhakar also played many of his matches higher in the order.

Sandhu seems to have been better as a batsman than a bowler during his brief career. He still holds the record of the highest score by a debutant (71) at no 9.

Dhoni, Kapil, Ashwin and Harbhajan all have two centuries here. The most 50+ scores are by Kapil (15), Harbhajan (11) and Jadeja (10). Harbhajan did make rapid progress as a batsman since his debut.

Kumble has over 2000 runs here, while Kapil and several others have over a thousand. Saha, Ashwin and Jadeja are among the current players here.

Finally we look at century partnerships for the 8th to 10th wicket:

There are some large partnerships here, some of which were in a losing cause (such as the one between Azhar and Kumble). One which was significant was the 122 by Prasanna and Sardesai, which helped India to impose the follow-on on the West Indies and gain a psychological advantage which lasted till the end of the series.

The partnership between Tendulkar (248*) and Zaheer Khan (75) was then the record for the 10th wicket, until Root and Anderson overtook it against India. Both Tendulkar and Zaheer made their highest scores here. Another useful 10th-wicket partnership was the one between B Kumar and Shami, in which both scored fifties.

High scores by debutant tailenders

In the middle of the Chennai Test, we see Liam Dawson’s 66* on debut while batting at No 8. We look at similar performances by debutant tailenders.

These details are at the close of play on 17 Dec 2016.

60 or more by debutants batting at No 8:

Dawson’s 66* is the highest for England here, taking over the record from the father of a current player: 59 by DL Bairstow in 1979, which was also against India. That was the Oval Test where Gavaskar’s 221 brought India close to victory.

India does have one century by a debutant at No 8, by RH “Deepak” Shodhan who passed away earlier this year. India’s next highest in this category is Stuart Binny’s 78 in 2014. There are several who have done well against India in this category, headed by current NZ player JDS Neesham.

We also take a look at scores of 60 or more by debutants batting at No 8 to 11:

Neesham again heads this list, batting at No 8. Then there is Abul Hasan with 113, the highest at No 10, Agar with 98 which is the highest by ANY No 11 in Tests, and finally the now-forgotten BS Sandhu with 71, the highest at No 9. For India, RH Shodhan has the highest score by a debutant tailender with 110 at No 8.

Dawson’s 66* is also the highest for an England tailender on debut, just edging ahead of Darren Gough’s 65 in 1994.