Teamwork, not Tendulkar

However, he is not India’s lone performer, and Rahul Dravid’s fluent, facile double century at Motera, and India’s posting of 500 despite Sachin failing with the bat, offer further proof in support of that fact. Match-winning apart, in terms of sheer run-scoring and consistency, Dravid has caught up with Tendulkar over the past couple of seasons as far as Test averages go (see chart) while Saurav Ganguly and, most emphatically, VVS Laxman have made their presence felt.

Even if we leave out the ongoing Test match, the statistics show how India has played in a variety of conditions over the last couple of seasons and all four of them have done well on a number of occasions. Also, as the figures will show, while Tendulkar has continued to maintain his standards, Dravid and Laxman have managed to up their game significantly.

And the statistical difference between Dravid and Tendulkar has diminished to the point where it barely exists.

Over the last 20 Tests, spread over eight series, Tendulkar has scored at 57.40, almost identical to his career average of 57.58. Meanwhile, Dravid has batted at 56.00, higher than his career average of 53.46 and Laxman, unbelievably, has scored at almost 50, nine points higher than his career average.

What these figures don’t show is equally important. That Dravid and Laxman, having scored at significantly higher rates than before, have dragged their career run rates up. Their averages before the last 20 Tests were even lower than their career averages are currently.

While there isn’t anything to separate Dravid and Tendulkar at the moment, Laxman’s consistency has been of a different kind. While not playing massively significant roles in winning matches since the magic Kolkata Test in March 2001, Laxman has managed to score substantially in practically every Test match played over the past couple of seasons.

Ganguly’s case, again, is a tad different. He hasn’t been consistent. But he has managed to showcase his talent on occasions when the team has required it the most – especially in West Indies and England. He hasn’t won matches, but he’s stood up when needed.

Going through the statistics for Tendulkar, we find that he last won India a Test in 1997-98 against Australia in Chennai. Not just that Test (the first of the series), but in the whole series, Tendulkar was the major difference between the two sides. Since then, he’s played stellar roles in a number of match-winning or match-saving Indian efforts, but never to the extent of being singled out as the most important man responsible for the result.

This is not to say that Tendulkar is a lesser player today than he was before. This is also not to say that the others can match his sheer destructive qualities.

Simply to say that those who have long sought reinforcements for India’s leading batsman can sleep easy: The reinforcements are here, ready to take over the show.