CHENNAI: The last time India played a Test match in Australia, things didn't go well for the batters. After letting Australia post 369 in the first innings, India were reduced to 186/6 at the Gabba. The match, and the series, was on the line when Shardul Thakur joined Washington Sundar in the middle.
What followed from thereon was one of the all-time lower-order partnerships for India. Together, they would take India past 300 and reduce the lead to just 33 runs. The rest, as the world has witnessed, is just history. India breached the fortress, retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and won the series 2-1.
Not just in The Gabba, but through the series as well as the historic victory in 2018-19 one of the crucial reasons for India's success was the contribution from the lower-order batters. Whether it was the draw in Sydney where R Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari saved the day or Melbourne where Ravindra Jadeja scored a fifty, complimenting Ajinkya Rahane's century in 2021, India would not have been able achieve what they did without the lower-order.
In fact, irrespective of where they played, it has been the trend since the pandemic for India until last year. Between 2020 and 2023, India's lower-order (No. 7-9) had scored as many as three hundreds and 20 fifties in 33 matches, averaging a little over 22 (22.73). In fact, at a time when their No 3-5 were going through a rut, it was the middle-order and lower-order who consistently bailed them out. When it comes to Australia, the No 7-9 batters added 477 runs in four matches during the series win in 2018-19. Last time around, they contributed 377 runs.
This year, however, the story has not been the same. Yes, Jadeja and Ashwin scored a century each at home, but by and large they were not able to successfully enact the rescue act against New Zealand. This, in the larger scheme of things, does not augur well for India. They have arrived in Australia with three spin-bowling all-rounders — Ashwin, Jadeja and Washington — and a rookie pace-bowling all-rounder in Nitish Kumar Reddy.
Now, Reddy's selection is based more on hope and future. The youngster rose to fame through the Indian Premier League and was immediately fast-tracked to the international level in the shortest format. Since then, he has been on the radar, especially with Hardik Pandya not in the scheme of things for the longest format. He played in the Duleep Trophy and then was a part of the India A side that travelled to Australia for two unofficial Tests.
In all this, one thing was clear. Reddy's bowling has the potential to be useful while he might not be there yet purely as a batter. His first-class average of 21.05 with the bat and 26.98 with the ball is a sign of promise, but a lot of work is there to be done. However, all said and done, he has shown glimpses of what is possible against Australia A and there is no better way to graduate than going out there and putting on a show in India colours Down Under.
And not just Reddy, who seems likely to take the field in Perth for India on November 22, whether it is Ashwin or Jadeja or Washington, whomever gets to play will have to make some crucial contributions with the bat. The good thing for India is that apart from Reddy the other three have played in Australia and succeeded in the past as well.
And that is exactly the all-rounders and the entire team would be thinking about. In fact, their former coach Ravi Shastri said that India should take confidence from past success, leaving behind the loss against New Zealand at home.
"Think about the positives. Think about what you did in Australia last time around and take it ahead from there. Put what (has) happened behind you. These are different conditions and some of the tracks in Australia when you get in are probably the best to bat. I think it will be totally different, the conditions when they get out there," Shastri told The ICC Review. For the Indian team to do that, they will need their all-rounders to fire now, more than ever.