The Indian pace attack is great - but it is high time they learn to finish big matches

It’s fair to say that on that particular day, less than a handful of people would have expected India to be home to the ‘best pace attack in the world’ at the end of the decade. In nine years’ time, apart from developing a first-team pace battery that is being deemed the best in the world, India have also managed to revolutionize fast bowling in the country to such an extent that country is now, time and again, producing a platoon of young and talented pacers who can move the ball at pace. 

The revolution started with the Test debut of Jasprit Bumrah in January 2018 - which coincided with the second-coming of Ishant Sharma, incidentally - and, ever since, it’s fair to say that the trio of Bumrah, Shami and Ishant have ruled world cricket; Umesh Yadav, too, has chipped in with valuable contributions, although limited mostly to home. Since Bumrah’s Test debut, the aforementioned trio are the top three highest wicket-takers in away games - and India played in all four SENA countries during this time period - and together, have picked up an astonishing 182 wickets. 

On top of this, 2019 saw each of India’s four Test pacers - Umesh Yadav included - finish with a bowling average UNDER SEVENTEEN, despite playing five Tests at home. 

However, while that is partially true, they are far from perfect and have one major problem in their hands that they have, till date, found no answers to - dismantling the tail, particularly in the big matches. It is indisputable that all three of Bumrah, Shami and Ishant have been all over every batsman they’ve come up against and have made them dance to their tunes - in all conditions - but a glaring flaw and a major problem amongst the Indian pacers that has been growing with every passing game, especially away from home, has been their flabbergasting inefficiency versus the tail. This was evident from the recent drubbing at the hands of New Zealand earlier this year but it has been an unfortunate and striking feature in their bowling that stretches all the way back to 2018 -  and continues to hurt them repeatedly. 

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But what is to be noted here is it is not just a pattern that magically arose from the ground in the New Zealand series; it’s an Achilles Heel that has continued to haunt them for two years. In the last 91 innings against seventh to tenth wicket partnerships against SENA countries away from home (basically, since Jan 2018), the Indian bowlers have conceded a remarkable 2027 runs at an average of 22.27, with 10 fifty-run partnerships. What this effectively means is that every ninth innings against the lower-order away from home in SENA countries, the Indian bowlers, no matter how good or favourable the conditions are, are bound to leak a fifty-run stand.  This figure, of course, does also include the contribution of spinners, but it is damfool to rely on slower-bowlers to clean up the tail on pitches tailor-made for the quicker bowlers.

An equivalent comparison of how all the other sides - Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa -  have fared in SENA countries (including against India) against the tail does, in fact, shed light on just how inefficient the Indian bowlers, particularly pacers, have been - they are the second-worst of the lot, behind England.

In the five-match series that India lost 4-1, which many believe they should have at least drawn, the English tail (for wickets 7-10) averaged a dumbfounding 27.25, scoring a fifty once every five partnerships. Debutant Sam Curran, much like Jamieson this year, batting at No.8 and No.9, scored an astonishing 272 runs in the series at an average of 38.85.

The English bowlers, meanwhile, conceded no more than 16 runs per wicket against the Indian tail in the same series.

This India vs England series, in fact, provides a very interesting insight into why India’s inability to clean up the tail has - and continues to, till this date - cost them games. Runs scored by tail-enders in that series served as the single biggest differentiator, for the four Tests saw specialist batsmen across both sides (numbers one to six) average a meagre 30.71 in 60 innings. And barring Kohli, who averaged 59.30 in the series, there was not a single batsman across both sides who managed to average over 40 (min 4 innings). 

While India did win the third Test, the fourth Test saw them allow England to score 246 in the first innings after having them at 86/6 at one point, and the final result, unsurprisingly, saw the hosts win the Test by a 60-run margin. By the time the Indian bowlers pulled up their socks in the fifth Test - where they, instead, decided to leak runs to the top order - the series was done and dusted. 

If the numbers and the pattern of play from the SENA games played over the last two years have shown us something, it is that India, incontrovertibly, have a world-class pace unit at their disposal which still is a work in progress and has a long way to go. While the pacers have been exceptional with the work they’ve done with the new ball, what simply cannot be ignored or overlooked is that they’ve been an abomination versus the tail and, as much as people hate to admit it, have ended up costing the team close matches due to their inability to close things off. If batsmen ought to be responsible for finishing games off then so should be the bowlers. While there’s nothing wrong with celebrating the quality of this golden pack of pacers that the country currently possesses, it is important to self-introspect and improve, for, at the end of the day, their domination has meant little so far, due to them being culpable of failing to secure the W’s next to the side’s name.