Indias missing link: No. 6

History is rarely altered by the willow of a man batting last. It is,however,almost dependent on the success and failures of the batsman who is considered the last recognised one. The number six man,a person who bats just above the keeper and the tail,has and continues to determine the true mettle of a batting line-up. And it is no coincidence that teams with a powerhouse in that position have gone on to dominate the rankings Garry Sobers in the 50s and 60s,Clive Lloyd in the 70s and 80s,Steve Waugh in the early 90s who handed the position over to Ricky Ponting until the early 2000s.

Plenty of expectations

They were all part of sides that sat on the throne. As were India when VVS Laxman predominantly performed rescue acts at six,followed by England with Ian Bell defining a packed order,and subsequently as AB de Villiers fired on all cylinders for South Africa. They were all number one not just due to their venerated top-order,but also due to an enterprising player who walked in at four-drop and kept pedal pressed on metal. Ever since India lost its crown though,the think-tank has unfortunately treated that spot as the Kiwis do Martin with zero expectations and plenty of experiments.

Its ironic,considering the big concern for India leading into a fresh Test season revolved around how they would cope with the retirements of Laxman and Rahul Dravid. Within the space of a Test,however,Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli have shown plenty of promise with regard to the occupancy of numbers three and five. Yet,number six continues to remain as the permanent crick in Indias batting neck.

Suresh Raina,the incumbent number six,is one of 26 Indian batsmen to have scored a hundred in this position. He did so in his very first Test innings two years ago,a 120 against the Sri Lankans in Colombo. But Raina,like 17 others,hasnt scored another. While most of those 17 such as Dravid,Virender Sehwag and more recently,Kohli,to name a few found promotions and moved on to more fertile top-order positions,it is unlikely that Raina will get the same benefit,considering that this is where those returning from a drop are usually drafted in by the team management.

Apart from Nottingham,where he batted twice at number five,Raina has played each of his 16 match Test career at six. Yet,he averages a dismal 34 runs per innings in his so-called comfort zone. Its a far cry from the best Indian Laxman,50.18 and half of the best ever Shivnarine Chanderpaul,67.05,even after the filter of 10 or more Tests played in that slot is applied. Chanderpaul has played just over twice the number of innings 46 to Rainas 20 but has scored nearly four times the runs 2414 to 646. West Indies still believe they have a chance when number six walks in. India once did,when it remained a specialist place in the batting order.

Papering over cracks

Ever since India began participating in Test cricket in 1932,only four batsmen have scored more than 1000 runs at six. Laxman,the runaway leader,has 2760 runs. Heres another significant fact that you possibly werent aware of Dravids 180 against Australia in Kolkata,an innings in which he was demoted,is the countrys highest ever score at six. So,despite India doing well in getting themselves to believe that they have moved on from Dravid and Laxman before Bangalore,they havent quite replaced them thanks to the lack of highlights from the last proper batsman in recent times.

Even walking wicket Martin gets those regularly at the batting nets.