Today, when England starts its five-match Test tour in India, it will be facing the most successful team at home in the last decade. India’s win-loss record at home, in the past 11 years, stands apart when compared to the home records of other major Test-playing nations. Notably, India’s last Test series defeat at home came against England back in November-December 2012. The numbers analysed in this piece pertain to all the matches played in the 11 years post that defeat, unless specified otherwise.
Table 1 | The table shows the number of home Tests played by all teams since December 20, 2012. It also lists the win/loss ratio and the share of wins.
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With a win/loss ratio of 12, India’s home record is much higher than Australia’s 7. India topped the table in terms of share of wins too.
India had not always been such a formidable force at home. In fact, its record in home Tests before the 2010s pales in comparison to the much superior figures it has maintained in the last two decades.
Table 2 | The table shows the number of home Tests played by India, the win/loss ratio and share of wins, decade-wise.
In both the win/loss ratio and share of wins, India’s record in the last two decades stands tall compared to its own record before the 2010s.
The key to India’s dominating Test performances at home has been its two premier spinners. The record-breaking number of wickets taken by spin duo Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the past decade formed the bedrock of India’s impregnable fortress on home turf. Ashwin, in particular, has secured the majority of India’s wickets in the period. If sorted on the basis of a bowler’s share in total wickets taken by the team in the past 11 years, Ashwin ranks first on the chart. Incredibly, Jadeja is not far behind on the list which features the top five bowlers.
Table 3 | The table shows the list of bowlers sorted based on wickets taken as a share of their team’s total Test wickets in home matches, since December 20, 2012.
By securing 33.3% of all of India’s Test wickets at home in the period, Ashwin ranks first. Jadeja is ranked fourth on the list (22.5% of all wickets).
In fact, though India has a rich legacy of spin bowling, with star-studded spinners adorning the line-ups, it was in the 2020s that the spinners’ share of India’s total wickets at home reached a new peak. This shows that not only were Ashwin and Jadeja better spinners than their contemporaries, but their record is also superior compared to India’s spinners from earlier periods.
Table 4 | The table shows the share of India’s wickets secured by Indian spinners at home, decade-wise.
In the 2020s, 79.2% of all wickets claimed by Indians were taken by spinners. The previous high of 80.2% was way back in the 1950s.
While it is true that the two spinners have dominated the proceedings back home, India has been building a world-beating pace attack too in the past decade. The fast-bowling unit’s accomplishments in pace-friendly overseas conditions have led to historic triumphs. Yet, the fact that such a fast-bowling unit captured relatively fewer wickets back home only underscores the spin twins’ exceptional performance.
Also read: Spin trouble: On Indian cricket and the World Test Championship
In all the Tests played in India, in the past 11 years, the Indian pace attack has the best average and strike rate compared to the speedsters of all the visiting teams.
Table 5A | The table shows the bowling average and strike rate of various teams’ pace attacks in India since December 20, 2012.
This is also true if only the nine matches played against England in the period were considered, as shown in Table 5B.
Table 5B | The table shows the bowling average and strike rate of pace attacks in India since December 20, 2012, considering only the matches played against England
vignesh.r@thehindu.co.in, srinivasan.vr@thehindu.co.in
Source: ESPNcricinfo’s Statsguru
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