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.

ALSO READ | Is Tilak Varma ready for a tryst with Tests?

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.”

ALSO READ | In the post-Bazball era, can Brook go from reckless to ruthless?

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.

ALSO READ | Ishan Kishan 2.0 — a sensational reinvention

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.

The International Cricket Council on Saturday, July 11, 2026 inducted former Indian men’s and women’s skipper Sourav Ganguly and Anjum Chopra into its prestigious Hall of Fame. Photo credit: International Cricket Council

Former cricketer Sourav Ganguly. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

Sourav Ganguly.
| Photo Credit: AFP

File image of Sourav Ganguly.© BCCI

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) stand as the third-most successful Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise at this point in time, having won three IPL titles, all featuring Gautam Gambhir in some capacity. However, things weren’t so rosy for the franchise in the first three seasons, when they failed to achieve a single IPL playoff finish, twice under the leadership of legendary India captain Sourav Ganguly. Ganguly was eventually not picked by KKR in the IPL 2011 mega auction. Former KKR team director Joy Bhattacharjya revealed the messages he received from angry fans when Ganguly wasn’t picked, and the extent of team owner Shah Rukh Khan’s involvement in the decision.

“When Sourav Ganguly was not bid for, within five minutes I got 400 messages on my phone. There was somebody who put on all groups saying, ‘This is a Bengali who has betrayed our Bengali icon Sourav Ganguly, please tell him what we think of him’,” revealed Bhattacharjya, speaking on ‘A Century of Stories‘ podcast.

“It reached a stage where I had to turn around and tell my dad that perhaps he should take down our address board from his house in Salt Lake,” Bhattacharjya adds.

Joy Bhattacharjya revealed who exactly had been behind the decision, and Shah Rukh Khan’s involvement in it.

“Shah Rukh first distanced himself. He said, ‘If you want Sourav, keep Sourav. If you don’t want him, your call,” revealed Bhattacharjya.

“Dav Whatmore was the coach, I was there, Venky Mysore the CEO was there,” Bhattacharjya said, speaking on who decided that Ganguly would not be retained.

KKR’s decision to not go for Ganguly but instead put their faith in Delhi-born Gautam Gambhir for a then IPL auction record sum of over Rs 11 crore ended up being a blessing in disguise.

Gambhir captained the team to two IPL titles (in 2012 and 2014) and then played an integral role as team mentor as KKR won their third (in 2024). Overall, KKR has reached the playoff stage on six out of eight occasions with Gambhir in the team.

Ganguly eventually played two further IPL seasons, after being drafted in by the now-defunct Pune Warriors India (PWI) franchise as a replacement for New Zealand opener Jesse Ryder. In IPL 2012, under Ganguly’s leadership, PWI finished bottom of the table.

Gambhir’s success with KKR as team mentor – leading to KKR achieving statistically the most dominant season in IPL history – saw Gambhir being appointed as Team India head coach after Rahul Dravid‘s departure.

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has heaped massive praise on ex-opener Virender Sehwag. According to Ganguly, Sehwag is the greatest India opener after Sunil Gavaskar. Sehwag, who played for India from 1999 to 2013, was one of the most fearless batters the world of cricket ever witnessed. He played 104 Tests and 251 ODIs, scoring 8586 and 8273, runs respectively. In 19 T20Is, Sehwag scored 394 runs. He was part of the Indian team that won the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 Cricket World Cup.

Ganguly made the statement in the trailer of “The Greatest Rivalry – India vs Pakistan”, a documentary series on the cricketing rivalry between India and Pakistan. The documentary is set to premiere on Netflix on February 7.

“After (Sunil) Gavaskar, the greatest opener is Virender Sehwag,” said Ganguly.

Ex-India opener Sehwag made his ODI debut against arch-rivals Pakistan in 1999 and played his first Test against South Africa in 2001. He is the only Indian batter to have scored two triple centuries in Test cricket. Overall, Sehwag is the fourth batter to have achieved the feat, with Don Bradman, Chris Gayle and Brian Lara being the other ones to reach the milestone.

The right-handed batsman also scored a double century in the ODI format. He slammed 219 runs against the West Indies in 2011.

Sehwag hit 23 centuries and 32 half-centuries in the longest format of the game. He was also adjudged ICC Test player of the year in 2010 as he scored 1,282 runs in 10 Test matches, including six centuries.

In ODIs, Sehwag smashed 15 hundreds and 38 half-centuries.

Sehwag, who was also known as the ‘Nawab of Najfgarh’, was a threatening presence for bowlers during his peak days. With his zeal and ferocious approach to scoring runs quickly, he developed an unbelievable career. The right-handed batter went on to amass over 16,000 runs for India across all formats, cementing his place in Indian cricket’s pantheon.

File photo of India coach Gautam Gambhir and ex-BCCI president Sourav Ganguly© AFP

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Monday (January 20, 2025) refused to read much into Virat Kohli’s prolonged lean run and hailed the batting maestro as the “greatest white-ball player” and “once-in-a-lifetime cricketer”.

Kohli struck a second innings century in the opening Perth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but then managed only 85 runs in the next seven innings.

With seniors such as Kohli and skipper Rohit Sharma failing to deliver, India lost the series Down Under 1-3.

“Virat Kohli is a once-in-a-lifetime cricketer. To score 81 international centuries in a career is something unbelievable. For me, he’s probably the greatest white-ball player the world has seen,” Ganguly said during a Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB felicitation programme for the state’s players.

Reflecting on Kohli’s struggle after the Perth century, Ganguly said even he was surprised to see him not build on that hundred in the remainder of the series.

“I was really surprised the way he batted after getting a 100 in Perth. He struggled before that but I thought after the 100 in Perth, it’ll be a big series for him.

“But I think it happens. Every player has his weakness and strength. You know, there’s no player in the world, who will not have that. It’s how you adapt to your weaknesses as you play great bowlers over a period of time.”

With Kohli’s poor form being a topic of discussion, Ganguly expressed confidence and said he would be back at his best in the three-match ODI series against England and the ensuing Champions Trophy.

“He will score runs in this tournament in Indian conditions, and I still feel there’s a lot of cricket left in Virat Kohli, the tour of England will be a big challenge for him.

“I’m not too worried about his form in the Champions Trophy, because as I said, he’s probably the best white-ball player the world has seen for a long period of time.”

‘India are Champions Trophy contenders’

Ganguly further said India would be one of the contenders in the Champions Trophy, especially after their runner-up finish in the 2023 ODI World Cup and the T20 World Cup title triumph last year.

“I know India did not have a great series in Australia, but if you look at the last two World Cups, the T20 World Cup India won it unbeaten, and the 50-over World Cup India lost their final.

“So if you look at India’s performance in the last two World Cups, they’ve just lost one game, in almost about 20 of them. So, I think it’s a phenomenal white ball team. For me, they will be the favourites in the Champions Trophy.”

It will be a different Rohit come CT

Ganguly also backed struggling Indian skipper Rohit Sharma to return to his best in the Champions Trophy.

“Rohit Sharma in white-ball cricket is phenomenal, and you will see a different Rohit Sharma once the Champions Trophy starts. And as I said, they (India) will be one of the contenders in the tournament.” Ganguly, however, said India need to work on their Test cricket with their next series being in England in the coming summer.

“Come England in July, they’ll have to really work hard to play well there because the conditions are different. The red ball and the seaming, swinging pitches, they’ll have to bat a bit better than what they have done,” Ganguly said.

“I’ve always said that if you score 350 to 400 runs in first innings of Test matches away from home, you get yourself in a position to win Test matches.”

“Now if you’re getting out for less than 200, then you’re always fighting from behind. And the reason they won in Perth is because they got 400-500 runs on the board in second innings.”

Shami next best after Bumrah

Ganguly was also excited to see pacer Mohammed Shami back on his feet and fully fit after a long injury layoff.

“I’m happy to see Shami fit because I think he’s probably the best bowler after (Jasprit) Bumrah in the country.

“I know he’ll be a bit nervous because he’s playing cricket after a long time, especially with a knee injury, but the good thing is that he bowled a lot for Bengal in the domestic cricket, which is going to help him in the games to come,” he said.

Shami will return to international action in the series-opening T20I against England here on Wednesday.

Ganguly also supported the idea of Shami returning to Test cricket, stating, “He’s as good as anybody in the world. Shami and Bumrah bowling at two ends is different than Bumrah bowling from one end. Both players are vital to each other’s success in Test cricket.”

There has been a lot of criticism of Team India following their loss to Australia and Ganguly stressed the importance of focusing on performance and maintaining a strong mindset amid all the noise.

“There’s so much at stake with sport these days, and there will be negativity and opinions. As an athlete, you need to find a way to keep yourself out of it,” he advised.

Former India and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Manoj Tiwary has gone on a rant in criticism of current senior national team head coach Gautam Gambhir. Tiwary and Gambhir have been teammates in the past, not just in the Indian Premier League but also for the Delhi state team. As Gambhir faces criticism over his poor handling of the Indian team, owing to the recent results against Australia and New Zealand in Tests, Tiwary went on to brand him a ‘hypocrite’, who doesn’t do what he himself preaches.

The criticism Gambhir faced recently, especially from Tiwary, saw India pacer Harshit Rana, who made his Test debut in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, jump to his defence. But, Rana’s defence doesn’t surprise Tiwary.

“Why wouldn’t Nitish Rana and Harshit Rana, for example, not support Gautam Gambhir? Harshit Rana played in Perth in place of Akash Deep. How was that possible? What did Akash Deep do wrong? He bowled fantastic spells against Bangladesh and New Zealand. As a fast bowler, you dream about bowling in friendly conditions, but you dropped him and went in with Harshit, who doesn’t have that much first-class experience. Akash Deep has fabulous records. That is a completely biased selection. That is why players will come out and defend him,” said Tiwary in a chat with Hindustan Times.

“I have said nothing wrong. This is PR which I am talking about. That never used to happen. When something or someone speaks the facts, people come up defending the individual, but they don’t know me. I only speak on facts. PR is quite evident,” he added.

Tiwary also opened some old chapters of his relationship with Gambhir, saying the latter even abused his family and said bad things about former India captain Sourav Ganguly.

“When he fought with me during the Ranji Trophy match in Delhi, everyone heard every word from Gautam Gambhir’s mouth. Whether he was talking bad about Sourav Ganguly or whether he was abusing my family, he was protected by a few of the individuals. This is the PR I am talking about. The process of picking players and selecting them in the playing XI is not happening properly. Akash Deep was dropped in favour of Harshit Rana. If you thought Harshit was so good, why didn’t you continue with him for the rest of the series? Akash Deep doesn’t have a voice,” said Tiwary.

Tiwary remains sceptical of Gambhir’s decisions in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He questioned the selection of players like Harshit Rana and Devdutt Padikkal over other proven First-Class cricket performers.

“How was Devdutt Padikkal included in the Test squad, he was out of the equation. How did he come into the mix when Abhimanyu Easwaran was there, scoring so many runs non-stop? He has scored so many runs. Why wasn’t he selected and not played at No.3. These are the kinds of things happening, and the results are there for everyone to see,” he asserted.