The Gambhir Factor

This article has been published here.

India's march towards the top of the heap in the Test tables started in October 2008, which was when Australia toured India for a four-Test series. From the start of that series, till now, India has not lost a single Test match. They have played 14 Test matches starting from then, across three countries and two continents, and have not lost a single one since.

India's top seven batsmen in the batting line-up have not changed much since the start of that journey. Sourav Ganguly retired after the Australia series, and hence figured in the first four Test matches, but with Yuvraj Singh replacing him, the line-up of Gambhir, Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman, Yuvraj and Dhoni has remained more or less constant - barring injuries, suspensions etc.

With batting being India's stronger suit by far, it has often been the weight of the runs the batsmen have scored in this period that has either set up wins or prevented defeats. Here is a look at how the top seven performed since October 2008:

Player	Matches	Innings	Not Outs	Runs	Average	Highest	100s	50s
Gautam Gambhir	12	23	2	1758	83.71	206	8	5
Virender Sehwag	14	25	1	1244	51.83	293	2	7
Rahul Dravid	14	24	2	1149	52.23	177	4	6
Sachin Tendulkar	14	24	4	1357	67.85	160	6	5
VVS Laxman	13	22	6	993	62.06	200*	2	8
Yuvraj Singh	10	14	2	532	44.33	86	0	5
MS Dhoni	12	16	3	847	65.15	110	2	8

Gautam Gambhir clearly dominates the table. He has missed two matches - one due to a suspension when he was provoked into elbowing Shane Watson, and one to attend his sister's marriage - but he still leads the charts in runs scored, average and number of centuries. The others have contributed no doubt, but nobody's contribution has matched the strength and consistency of Gambhir's. Tendulkar has been solid throughout, but has lacked a big innings. Dravid has seen ups and downs - the last of his wretched form was in the first four Tests in this period, after which he re-emerged as the old Dravid. Sehwag has blasted the bowling, but has also self-destructed at some key moments. Laxman has been contributing quietly, but has lacked a match-winning effort (that may be partly due to the position he bats in), while Dhoni has not batted enough, and Yuvraj has not scored enough. Only Gambhir has had all the check-boxes ticked against his name: he has dug in to play a long match-saving innings, he has not endured a single spell of poor form, he has scored match-winning innings, he has always put a premium price on his wicket, and he has scored runs by the buckets against every opposition and in every condition that India have played in during this time period.

Further analysis, demonstrates Gambhir's consistency better. Here is a look at how the top seven have performed in matches that India have won and matches that India have drawn:

Player	Matches	Total Runs	Runs in Wins	Average in Wins	Runs in Draws	Average in Draws
Gautam Gambhir	12	1758	732	81.33	1026	85.50
Virender Sehwag	14	1244	976	81.33	268	22.33
Rahul Dravid	14	1149	480	48.00	669	55.75
Sachin Tendulkar	14	1357	876	97.33	481	43.72
VVS Laxman	13	993	361	40.11	632	90.28
Yuvraj Singh	10	532	248	41.33	284	47.33
MS Dhoni	12	847	564	80.57	283	47.16

Again, only Gambhir has demonstrated outstanding excellence in both won matches as well as drawn matches. Sehwag has been outstanding in wins and pedestrian in draws; Dravid has been solid in both without being outstanding in either; Tendulkar has shone like no other in victories, but has been middling in draws, while the opposite is true for Laxman. Yuvraj and Dhoni have once again not scored enough and batted enough.

Gambhir has revelled in all situations, whether under pressure or free of it, whether setting up a match or finishing it, whether chasing a large target or digging in. The table below illustrates the performance of the top seven in the first Team innings (which comprise the 1st and 2nd innings of the match, depending on when India batted) and the second Team innings (which comprise the 3rd and 4th innings of the match, again depending on when India batted).

Player	Matches	Runs	1st Inns Runs	1st Inns Avg	2nd Inns Runs	2nd Inns Avg
Gautam Gambhir	12	1758	862	71.83	896	99.55
Virender Sehwag	14	1244	810	57.85	434	43.40
Rahul Dravid	14	1149	934	71.84	215	23.88
Sachin Tendulkar	14	1357	942	72.46	415	59.28
VVS Laxman	13	993	542	45.16	451	112.75
Yuvraj Singh	10	532	242	26.88	290	96.66
MS Dhoni	12	847	668	60.72	179	89.50

Perhaps nothing encapsulates Gambhir's value to Team India by the figure in "Average in 2nd Inns" column. Gambhir has averaged an astounding 99.55 in the second innings of matches played in the time period. It is almost as on the rare occasions that he has failed in the first innings, he has taken it as a personal insult, and decided to dig in and make the opposition pay for the grave error of dismissing him cheaply!

The fact that he is an opener is what makes that average so outstanding. Although Laxman has a higher average, he has had a lot more opportunity than Gambhir to be there when matches end, and thereby get a not out against his name. Gambhir has managed his feat by coming in at the top of the order. Even Bradman would have been impressed.

And though Gambhir narrowly failed to emulate Bradman's feat of centuries in six consecutive Tests, he did equal the feat of another batting legend - Viv Richards - in scoring a half-century for the 11th consecutive Test. He will now have a chance to make the record his own if he scores more than fifty in an innings in the first Test against South Africa. At the rate he is going currently, the odds of Gambhir failing to score a fifty should be roughly the same as the odds that Pakistan cricket functions chaos-free for the next six months.

Photos courtesy Cricbuzz.