Border-Gavaskar Trophy – Mid-Series Review

Marnus Labuschagne of Australia looks dejected while leaving the field after being dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah of India (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

No one could have written a better script for the most prestigious rivalry of the new millennium. India stunned Australia by 295 runs in Perth but were hammered in the day and night Pink Ball Test at the Adelaide Oval, going down by 10 wickets. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is tied at 1-1 with all to play for at the MCG and the SCG.

From Jasprit Bumrah’s brilliance with the ball to KL Rahul’s comeback as Test opener, from Travis Head’s counter-attack in the middle-order to the woeful form of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, RG.ORG looks at the numbers that have defined the series so far.

21 – The number of wickets for the leading wicket-taker of the series

Jasprit Bumrah has been the highest impact bowler of the series and has been sensational with the new ball. He is the leading wicket-taker with 21 dismissals at a sensational average of just 10.9, strike rate of 25.1 and economy of 2.6! Bumrah led India’s comeback with the ball at Perth with his inspiring five-wicket haul instrumental in routing Australia for 150 in the first innings. He also bagged six in the first innings in Brisbane.

490 – The number of balls faced by KL Rahul in the series

No batter has faced more deliveries than KL Rahul’s 490 in the series. Rahul has been a model of patience and displayed excellent courage, temperament, technique and mental toughness in his comeback to the Indian Test XI as opener. Rahul is the second-highest run-getter of the series with an aggregate of 235 runs with two gritty fifties. Rahul has defended 51.7% of the deliveries he has faced which is the highest such percentage amongst the four openers in the series. His Control Percenatge of 79.6% is higher than the corresponding percentages for Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney.

100% & 80% - The Failure Rate of Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli in the series

It has been a horrendous series for the two Indian stalwarts – Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. While Rohit has looked all at sea at his new batting position in the middle order with an aggregate of just 19 runs in three innings, Kohli, with the exception of his hundred in the second innings in good batting conditions at Perth, has also failed miserably in his four other innings in the series.

409 & 94.3 – The runs scored & strike rate for Travis Head in the series

Travis Head has been in outrageous form in the series and has an aggregate of 409 runs in five innings at a stunning strike rate of 94.23 with two hundreds and a fifty. Head was the Player of the Match, both in Adelaide and in Brisbane. He walked out to bat at 103/3 at Adelaide at smashed 140 off 141 deliveries putting Australia in the ascendancy. His 152 off 160 balls at The Gabba (from 75/3) rescued Australia from a tricky position and took them to a position of dominance in the match.  

13.8 – Mitchell Marsh’s batting average in the series

Mitchell Marsh has been in horrendous form in the series and scored just 69 runs in five innings at an average of 13.8. He has failed in four of his five innings. Marsh has also bagged just three wickets in four innings and been expensive going at 4.7 per over.

19.8 – The average opening partnership for Australia in the series

Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney have been in poor form at the top of the order for Australia. The opening pair have added just 99 runs in six innings at an average of 19.8 with a best of 31. While Khawaja has scored just 63 runs in six innings at an average of 12.6 with a high of 21, McSweeney has an aggregate of 72 at an average of 14.4 with a highest score of 39. Only twice has the opening partnership lasted for more than 10 overs (maximum 16.1 overs) and as many as on four occasions it has been broken within the first four overs.