In the glorious annals of Test cricket, which will ring in its 150th anniversary next year, some numbers have acquired permanence over time.

Sir Don Bradman’s otherworldly Test average of 99.94 will forever be iconic. Sunil Gavaskar’s 10,122 runs, on account of the Indian being the first in the world to cross 10K, is epochal. The mild-mannered Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan’s 800 scalps, snared with a ferocious snap of his right arm, is another monumental figure.

The magic figure

More broadly, in sync with the sport’s tendency to set benchmarks through statistics, a career average of 50 has long been the magic figure for batters in white flannels. Operating in another stratosphere without doubt was Bradman, whose average over 52 Tests from 1928 to 1948 is an insurmountable peak of the kind unlikely to be witnessed again in all of sport.

Moreover, Bradman’s influence extended beyond the field, with his runs acting as a balm to hordes of Australians suffering the grim consequences of the Great Depression.

For the rest, who cannot reach such dizzy heights, averaging half as much as the pre-eminent Australian over a reasonably lengthy career is a measure of bona fide greatness. To do so, a batter must be able to straddle different worlds, ranging from the fast and bouncy surfaces of Australia and South Africa in the southern hemisphere to the dusty, spin-friendly decks of the subcontinent.

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But in a landscape where so much of the Test game is undergoing transformation, there is perhaps a change unfolding here as well.

Among those with a minimum of 2000 runs starting January 1, 2020, only three have achieved the gold standard of 50 — the recently retired Kane Williamson of New Zealand and a pair of Englishmen in Joe Root and Harry Brook. The corresponding data for preceding decades point to a perceptible shift: 11 batters had a 50-plus average from 2010 to 2019, and as many as 19 from 2000 to 2009.

A multitude of factors

It isn’t by happenstance that the beginning of this shift coincides with the introduction of the World Test Championship (WTC) in 2019. Ever since teams have been incentivised to pursue silverware at the end of every two-year cycle, they have prioritised optimising home advantage by looking to win as many games as possible in familiar climes.

The chance to bag 12 points for a victory in the WTC, as opposed to four for a draw, encourages the pushing of the envelope. Result-oriented surfaces, where ball dominates bat, have thus become common.

The venues in Australia offer a striking example. In years gone by, most pitches Down Under had sharp pace and steep bounce, but they were also eminently favourable to batters who relished the cut and pull. Once the new Kookaburra ball lost its lustre, the willow-wielders were in prime position to make hay under the baking sun.

Now, the balance has swayed significantly in favour of the pacers. So much so that three of the last seven Tests have finished inside two days, with the fast men reaping the rewards. Even the Sydney Cricket Ground, traditionally conducive to guile and flight, has turned into a fast-bowling paradise.

“Probably averaging 35 with the bat is the same as averaging 45 a decade ago. I think the wickets have changed that much,” Aussie quick Josh Hazlewood told the media recently.

Changed thinking

In the view of former India opener Wasim Jaffer, a patient accumulator of runs during his playing days, a rise in result-oriented strips shouldn’t be an alibi for batters’ shortcomings. He contends that the prevailing mindset of run-makers, given their routine exposure to white-ball cricket, seldom lends itself to digging in and grinding out a meaningful score.

Increasingly, to paraphrase Jaffer, finding batters in the mould of Rahul Dravid or Cheteshwar Pujara is going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

“As soon as the ball seams, swings or spins, and conditions are a little in favour of the bowlers, the batters want to attack their way out of trouble,” Jaffer told The Hindu. “You’re not going to find somebody like Dravid or Pujara who will play out a session or a spell and cash in a little later. We are generally living in a time where patience is non-existent.”

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Jaffer concurred with the broad sentiment that many of the pitches of late haven’t been straightforward for batting. However, he cited the example of Headingley 2002, one of India’s famous overseas wins in which Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly peeled off centuries, to assert that such challenges have been conquered.

“The mindset is not there to survive. As a result, even balanced pitches become talked about because the batters don’t stay for long. They make it look tougher at times,” he argued, before recollecting, “I was part of the Indian team in Leeds in 2002. The conditions were very difficult. Still, the Test went into the fifth day. We had batters like Sachin, Sourav and Rahul. They survived the tough phases, and then it became easier.”

More than one reason

When it comes to defensive technique too, there has probably been a downturn. A case in point is the waning ability of Indian batters against spin on tracks assisting turn.

While the presence of the Decision Review System (DRS) has added another degree of difficulty, for batters are far more prone to being adjudged leg-before, very few appear adept at using the depth of the crease to move fully forward or back. Over the past two home seasons, India has borne the brunt, against New Zealand left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner and South African offie Simon Harmer.

The bowlers, often condemned to anonymity in the shorter formats, deserve their share of the credit. The widespread use of the wobble-seam delivery, a type of release where the seam isn’t perfectly upright on purpose, is an illustration of the ingenuity of fast bowlers coming to the fore.

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Though the delivery isn’t exactly new, there seems to be greater awareness among a wider pool of quicks about the benefits of the seam wobbling on its way to the batter. For the men facing up, in comparison to dealing with swing through the air, there are no obvious clues to lean on when the ball deviates off the surface after pitching.

“It’s an additional weapon in the armoury of fast bowlers. The wobble seam sometimes confuses you as a batter. If it lands in the right spot and darts back in, it creates problems,” Jaffer observed.

It brings us interestingly to Virat Kohli, Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. Formidable occupants of India’s middle-order until three years ago, they have all retired from Test cricket over the past 15 months.

At the time of their exits, the fact that none of them finished with an average above 50 was perceived to be a blot on their careers. It may not be so in the years to come.

Since the start of the IPL, runs have been flowing from B. Sai Sudharsan’s bat. The Gujarat Titans opener had a great season, finishing as the third-highest run-getter (722 runs). He then seamlessly switched into the longer format, scoring 81 in the Test against Afghanistan before following it up with twin centuries for India-A in the two four-day games in Sri Lanka.

In this chat with The Hindu, the 24-year-old Tamil Nadu batter opens up about his “best IPL season” as well as his experience playing Test cricket over the last year. Excerpts:

How do you see this purple patch?

I am feeling really grateful for whatever I have done in the IPL. The way it started, the way it unfolded, the way it ended — it was very interesting.

I have always had good starts in every IPL. So this one was even more interesting because I didn’t score much in the first four to five games. Mentally, I won’t say it was challenging but more interesting, as belief, trust, and everything increased day by day rather than becoming doubtful. It was a very good IPL, and it was my best year.

Does it make it more special that you recovered from a tough start?

Yes, for sure, because when you are scoring, it is easy. When you keep playing, it is easier to believe and to be in a confident frame of mind. But when you don’t score, it’s even more important to feel the same way.

So, in that way, it was very interesting, and I learnt a lot in this IPL. When it is not converted into evidence, are you still trusting the process and your abilities? Mentally, when you enter the game, are you still thinking about not scoring in the previous match, or are you entering in an expressive frame of mind to make an impact for the team? So I think, in those ways, I learnt a lot — to not take the past into the game.

Was there a specific game that unlocked something for you?

Yes. I got a hundred against RCB. That was the game which actually changed quite a lot of things. We lost that match, yes, but that game gave us momentum. From there, the team also did well. The team faced a challenge: we were still doing well, but something was not going right. Then we won in Chennai, and from there, everybody’s game started going the way we wanted.

You came into the IPL after an injury lay-off due to a rib fracture. How difficult was the recovery?

Definitely, it was not easy because breathing was difficult. But sometimes, when you get a break, you have time to think about the game. You have time to really introspect about what you want to do. So I saw it as a blessing in disguise. At that time, I wanted to use it wisely and productively, so that I would still bat a lot mentally. I couldn’t do it physically, of course, but mentally I batted a lot and didn’t feel that I was away from the sport.

What did you specifically work on during those three to four months?

It’s more about the feel. The feeling of batting. All the small things I wanted to improve, all the small additions I wanted to make — I just did them in my head. I tried to visualise it more and sustain that feeling.

There’s a lot of talk around strike-rates. However, you and your opening partner, Shubman Gill, took a different approach, trying to bat long. How do you see it in the bigger picture when the demands of T20 cricket keep changing? Do you feel tempted to play at a higher tempo?

We’re not looking at it as ‘We have to play at this strike-rate to win’. We’re looking at it from a broader perspective — what is required for the game, rather than individual statistical points. We’re not looking at it as a stats-oriented approach. Yes, stats are very important for improving and getting better. But we’re not looking to predetermine how we’ll play. If we’re chasing 240, we have to play at a 200 strike-rate anyway. It’s situational, rather than saying we can only do well if we play at a particular strike-rate. As a team, as you rightly said, we’re trying to give ourselves the best chance of winning.

At the same time, don’t you feel it could affect your personal career?

It’s actually a great question because it’s actually a challenge as well. But I feel winning is the ultimate recipe, or the ultimate key, to whatever you want to do. You don’t have to think personally. For a team, winning is the ultimate recipe. If you make your team win, you will eventually get the call-up and recognition. Everything else is secondary. It is a by-product. The ultimate goal is to have the team’s intent to win. The way I’m looking at it is: Am I giving myself the best possible chance to contribute? I feel that if we put a constraint like that in place, we are holding ourselves back.

You have now scored more than 700 runs for the second consecutive season. How do you ensure you keep improving to stay ahead in a format that keeps changing?

Even during the tournament, the game is evolving. This year, there were two spectrums of games. Either they were very low-scoring or very high-scoring. At the start of the tournament, there were three or four situations in which it was still possible to hit the ball correctly. I learnt certain things from that. I got out to balls that weren’t really wicket-taking deliveries. They were short, into the body, down the side of the leg. So I felt there was still space for the right movements to happen, and then you score runs. I worked more on that. Similarly, there were many examples from last year and this year. At certain times, I wasn’t finishing games, so I wanted to finish games. I feel I’m aware of those things. I keep building on them so the batting works automatically.

How do you handle not being in India’s T20 plans despite two very good IPL seasons?

There is nothing to handle. No disappointment, no expectation. We have a job in our hands. As simple as that. I know it may sound contradictory to many people. Yes, everybody wants to play for the country, and I want it even more. But what’s important is understanding what is within our control and what we should be hungry for. In the IPL, the important job is to put the team where we want it to be and win the tournament.

That’s the biggest priority. Selection comes as a by-product. There are still many things I can improve. I can work on those, come back to the IPL, and make an even bigger impact. Those are the things I have in my control, and I will back myself to do that every year.

Your assessment of your first year as a Test cricketer?

It is interesting. Even a small weakness or flaw will be challenged. As a batter, you have to keep improving and evolving from all those small things. It changes every single day and every single session. To be versatile enough to understand that and be smart is very important. But the satisfaction you get from scoring runs in Tests is unparalleled. You toil for five days. The hard work on the fourth or fifth day, when you get those runs or that win, is just very satisfying.

What have been the biggest learnings from the first year?

We have to keep evolving as batters, and there isn’t much time to do so. You have to be smart enough to pick things up and evolve. I feel it is all about owning that place. I could have owned it a bit more. I could have been a bit freer. The more ownership I take, and the more courage I have to go out there and express myself, the more I feel I’ll be able to bring out the best version of myself. That’s probably the biggest learning for me.

A little bit of that happened during the Afghanistan series. It helped me express myself more rather than trying to be right.

But hats off to my team: because of the support staff, the communication, and the way they supported and backed me — I was very happy with that.

Even in the Kolkata Test (vs. South Africa), which I didn’t play, I was very comfortable because the communication was very clear. We were looking at an extra spinner to give us the best chance. The communication was very clear, and as a player, you need that freedom.

During the West Indies series, GG (Gautam Gambhir) sir was very communicative. He backed me really well. In the Delhi Test (vs. West Indies), I was actually happy because I understood my batting better. I needed that clarity at that time, so it was very helpful to me.

I feel my batting has also become a little more fine-tuned. Decision-making, footwork, and movement in the crease—these experiences have helped me further fine-tune my game.

After the South Africa tour, I had quite a lot of time to prepare, understand those things and fine-tune them.

You have been dismissed twice in the 80s. Do you regret not converting those starts?

I’d agree that it was a little disappointing not to convert them. But at the same time, I was really happy with the level of control I had and the intensity of my play. The feeling while batting was really good, and the control was good. So I’m looking forward to building on that. The big score will come when it’s supposed to come.

There has been some criticism surrounding your First Class average. Are you aware of that, and how do you handle it?

Honestly, I’m not even aware of my own statistics. I don’t know how many matches I’ve played, how many hundreds I’ve scored or what my average is. Even in the IPL, I don’t know how many games I’ve played or how many runs I’ve scored. The reason is simple — I don’t want to judge myself based on statistics. I believe more in the experience than the numbers.

One game might be on a raging turner. Another game could be on a seaming wicket. Every match presents a different challenge. So it’s very difficult for me to look at my average and tell myself, ‘I’m batting well because my average is good’ or, ‘I’m batting badly because my average isn’t good enough’. For me, it’s about being fully present in that particular situation and doing the best I possibly can.

How was your experience of playing those two four-day games in Sri Lanka?

It was a really valuable experience and a great opportunity for us to understand the conditions. There was more breeze, a little more bounce and a little more turn than what we’re generally used to. Even the bowling culture there is different.

The bowlers are extremely consistent and disciplined rather than relying on something extraordinary. As a batter, getting more game time in Test cricket is always the best opportunity to learn.

Luckily, we played at Galle, so we got an opportunity to understand how the wickets behaved and how they generally prepared the surfaces. Overall, it was a really good experience and a great opportunity for us to understand the conditions.

Can you elaborate on the impact of the breeze?

The strong breeze changes everything. Because of the wind, the ball’s line changes quite a lot. Experiencing that was really valuable. It’s actually very similar to England. In England, the fast bowlers get late movement. Here, because of the breeze, the spinners get late drift. So you can’t commit too early, and you can’t judge the length too early. You have to keep judging the ball as late as possible because it keeps changing its line.

What’s the next month looking like for you?

The next month will be a proper off-season with some long practice sessions. Overall, it’s a great window to work hard and build towards the coming season. There are two main areas. The first is from a physical perspective. I want to become stronger, leaner, and fitter, especially in my movement and recovery, so that I can recover better and faster.

The second is my batting. I want to continue fine-tuning my game against spin. We have a series against Sri Lanka, where the conditions are quite similar, and then a couple of Tests in New Zealand, which will obviously present a different challenge. So my focus is on improving my batting against spin, better understanding my footwork, and continuing to develop my game.