It's because we hadn't played many home series' in a while. We had SAF in Oct/Nov 2015 and then no one till NZ in 2016 (IIRC). Then we've had ENG (2012 last home series), AUS (2014) and Sri Lanka (feck knows).
Cricket
- Thread starter EdWeatherall
- Start date
It's because we hadn't played many home series' in a while. We had SAF in Oct/Nov 2015 and then no one till NZ in 2016 (IIRC). Then we've had ENG (2012 last home series), AUS (2014) and Sri Lanka (feck knows).
Due to lopsided schedule. They hosted Aus in Feb/Mar 2013 and played only one home series over next 3 years
2013 Dec - South Africa away
2014 Feb - NZ away
2014 July/Aug - Eng away
2014 Dec/2015 Jan - Aus away
2015 Jun - B'desh away
2015 Aug - SL away
2015 Nov/Dec - SA home
2016 Jul/Aug - WI away
This was followed by 13 home tests (3 vs NZ, 5 vs Eng, 1 vs B'desh, 4 vs Aus), 3 tests in SL and another 3 home tests vs SL (schedule pushed back from Feb 2018 to Nov 2017 since SL would be hosting Independence Cup and didn't want clash). India will now travel to SA, Eng, Aus and NZ over next 15 months. Think BCCI want to start a regular home season Oct-Feb starting from 2019 as a few series were already scheduled as per FTP.
Ind vs NZ - NZ hosted in 2014, India in 2016, NZ in 2018
Ind vs Aus - Ind hosted in 2013, Aus in 14/15, India in 2017, Aus in 18/19
Ind vs Eng - Ind hosted in 2012, Eng in 2014, Ind in 2016, Eng in 2018
Ind vs SA - Ind hosted in 2010, SA in 2011, SA in 2013, Ind in 2015, SA in 17/18
Going by my memory, may have a missed a few details.
Kohli has a ridiculous record in Australia and SA.
Yeah, in 8 matches he has 5 100s and 2 50s. Average of 62. He was awesome against Australia away last time he went there, scoring 4 centuries in a series.
Against SA he played only 2 games, scoring 1 100, 1 50 and average of 68.
Kohli's main negative points couple of years ago (when he was 4th best of Smith/Williamson/Root or even 5th if you count Warner) were that he doesn't score enough in Indian pitches, he can't play in swinging conditions and he doesn't score big hundreds. He rectified two of those since becoming captain and is now firmly at #2 behind only Smith. When he became captain, his highest score was 119. He now has 6 double centuries which is the highest for any captain breaking Lara's record of 5. Also the joint Indian record along with Sehwag and Sachin. Of course Sehwag has two triple centuries and another 293. Kohli's conversion rate also improved with 14 of his 19 50+ scores as captain turning into 100+.
As per cricinfo stats, he's bettered his highest score 14 times over the course of his career (latest instance is 243 vs SL bettering last yr's 235 vs Eng) which shows he's constantly trying to improve. He had a sequence of 8 centuries all away from home (4 in Aus, 1 each in NZ, SL, SA and WI) during the away series marathon and his first 12 centuries read 3 home and 9 away including his maiden century (Adelaide). His home record started improving from last test of SA series in 2015 (scored 44 and 88 in Delhi). Until Smith scored a double century in Perth, no international captain scored a 200 since Jul 2016 except Kohli with 6, including 4 consecutive series (WI away, NZ, Eng, B'desh home) - good record even if you consider the sequence of home tests. Even after his marathon home sequence, the centuries split is 10-10 (5 in Aus, 2 in SL, 1 each in SA, NZ, WI)
I think BCCI is trying to promote other venues instead of sticking to traditional ones like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, B'lore, Kolkata. During the 13-test home sequence, half the matches were at new venues - Rajkot (vs Eng), Indore (vs NZ), Pune (vs Aus), Vizag (vs Eng), Ranchi (vs Aus), Dharmasala (vs Aus) hosted their first test match. Attendances were averaging more than 10K per day (except for maybe SL series) which is decent enough in subcontinent.
I’m not questioning Kohli’s ability to score test tons here. It’s just that his performances, and that of the other Indian batsmen, in the recent slew of home tests should be taken with a pinch of salt. Kohli deserves his current place in the test rankings, but I don’t think any of the other Indian batsmen do.
As far as promoting new venues in India is concerned, the BCCI should pay far more importance to promoting test cricket in India. Indians as viewers and consumers of the game do not have the appetite for test cricket at all. Visiting any stadium for a test match in India is as dead a cricket-experience as can get.
Last edited:
My Kohli para was in response to this. I thought you were of the opinion that Kohli's recent record is massively favored due to home series. It's a bit unfair because that was one of his biggest criticisms during his early career. He still has some way to go but apart from Rahane and Kohli, no one else from India did well enough outside subcontinent. Vijay has 90s in Adelaide and Lords (or was it Nottingham?) but India's struggles away from home were also due to Pujara's lack of performances and poor #6 player (Rohit, Raina).
With only 2 batsmen reliable enough to score, India were forced to add another batsman at #6 which means they haven't had enough bowlers to take 20 wickets. For whatever reason, Rahane lost his form over a year ago before Eng visited India and been in a rut ever since. If he doesn't get back into form, India is going to struggle a lot with away tours.
I agree but it's almost the same with everyone these days. I believe home performances have been better than ever before and batsmen/bowlers are performing better than their predecessors did at home conditions. Whether that is because of pitches suiting home players or the inability of touring sides to adjust (due to lack of technique, lack of preparation or whatever the case) is a wider discussion. Ashwin/Jadeja/Herath go #1 and people question what they have ever done outside spin conditions to deserve the rank. Anderson goes #1 and people question what he's done outside England (think he has worst home-away split of fast bowlers with so many wickets). Starc goes #1 and people question his record vs top 6 batsmen. Similarly with Philander, Rabada, Hazlewood etc.
Apart from Steyn I don't think any bowler was ranked #1 without many doubts on their performances in last decade. We should stop giving too much importance to rankings maybe. Apart from Smith, Kohli, Williamson and Root (in whichever order) I have no idea who else is in top 10 - rankings keep changing drastically based on schedule discrepancies.
Smith
Home: 74
Away: 57
Kohli
Home: 63
Away: 45
Williamson
Home: 56
Away: 46
Root
Home: 59
Away: 42
There haven't been many batsmen who have ever averaged equally both home and away. There's almost always a huge difference between the two, however, it doesn't make them any better or worse (unless you're Jayawardena or Samaraweera).
Interestingly:
Rahane
Home: 33
Away: 53
I've always viewed Rahane as one of the best. Averages 57 in Aus; 33 in Eng (where he scored an incredible 100 on that green Lords pitch); 54 in NZ: 70 in SA: 121 in WI. Ironically, Rahane is awful at playing spin but so comfortable against swing and seam. I think it was in an emerging players tournament many moons ago where he and Steven Smith ripped the bowling attacks into pieces. Plus, I'll never forget when he destroyed Mitchell Johnson.
I am of the opinion that the consistent triple digit scores put up by Kohli have skewed towards the higher end (200+) due to the prolonged run of home tests. And by that i only mean that it would’ve been harder for him to consistently post those scores had a couple of those trans-continental duels been fought abroad.
Batting in home conditions might have been a weakness for him 3 years back (before the long stretch of away tests), but he clearly has worked on it and turned the tables- that self-initiated change in fortune is again something that I’m not here to discredit him of.
A direct comparison of home and away averages is again tricky imo, because in England, SA or Australia it is very likely that the visiting bowlers can come in and exploit the conditions at a consistently high level in a way similar to the home bowlers.
In Indian conditions you’re usually faced with a situation where, as things stand in world cricket, only India has a collection of spinners who can effectively destabilise any batting order. To put it in simpler words, the home-advantage coefficient (if i may use that term) for India would be higher. Maybe I’m just being too pedantic, but hey that’s how i feel at the moment.
P.S. Those Rahane stats are quite an anomaly!
Well, you're not considering the quality of the bowlers. Those three countries are going to have stronger fast bowling options whereas the sub-continent teams will be stronger in the spin department anyway. In all honesty, you're looking for excuses here to, sort of, undermine the Indian batsmen. I could state that, for instance, when India tour the above mentioned countries, they'll boost the averages of the home nations' batsmen as their fast bowling isn't as strong - same applies to SL, Pakistan etc. It works both ways hence why we see a similar pattern for almost every batsman in the history of the sport.
Off the top of my head, the last time India toured one of those nations and had a fast bowler bowled consistently well during the tour would have been Zaheer in England 2007.
Yeah but that’s only one touring nation (out of the Top 5-6) that you’re talking about. Other visiting teams would in fact have an attack that could reduce the so called home advantage. And that’s exactly my point - apart from the Indian spinners there are very very few foreign bowlers who can effect a match on Indian pitches.
And it might seem like i am trying to undermine Indian batsmen and their performances at home. But i did say i take these recent performances with a pinch of salt.
Michael klinger kind of takes a step back from active cricket to support his wife’s cancer treatment
If we're talking individual success, maybe there a few. But the stats would illustrate that away teams (from the big nations) don't win many tours. In fact, here's a list of the occasions where the away team beat the host nation:
India in Sri Lanka (2017)
SA in New Zealand (16/17)
SA in Australia (16/17)
England in SA (15/16)
Pakistan in SL (2015)
Australia in SA (13/14)
So over the last 4 seasons of cricket, only 5 teams have won away from home. And only 3 have won in different continents. Looking at some stats from those series' above:
South Africa's leading wicket taker in the win over NZ was a... spinner.
In Australia, SA were led by their fast bowlers. In fact, the entire series was a good one for both sides' pace men.
When England beat SA in their backyard, it was a mix. Broad and Rabada did well with the ball. Stokes smashed a run a ball 250...
When Australia beat SA in 2013/14, many runs were scored in that series but I remember Mitchell Johnson tearing SA apart. In fact, only he and, to some extent, Steyn had a good series with the ball.
To me, this illustrates that every nation takes advantage of their home conditions, not just India. And, rarely is there an advantage for the opposition bowlers. On the odd occasion, a bowler has had a huge impact ala Broad last year in South Africa, Mitch Johnson in 2013 South Africa, Steyn in 2010/11 in Australia. This debate, for me, no longer applies in modern day cricket. Host nations do well and host nations also win.
The last time India lost a home series, and the only one they've lost in the last 14 years, was against England - Monty and Swann got 40+ wickets in that series (IIRC). Sean O'keefe and Lyon had a fairly good series earlier in the year, too. I agree that there aren't many top class spinners to take advantage of the conditions in the sub-continent, but, in my opinion, the same applies to fast bowlers in foreign conditions that are supposed to favour them.
Rohit is a limited overs beast. Sri Lanka are being destroyed here.
19 fours and 19 sixes 
Eagerly waiting for INDv. SA series to start. Have a good feeling India may really do well this time. Our bowling attack is pretty decent this time around. Hope Kohli like Dhoni doesn't sacrifice ashwin for jadeja. Ashwin must play and him playing with full confidence will be an asset.
My playing XI for the first test will be Vijay dhawan Pujara Kohli rahane saha ashwin pandya Bhuvi Ishant Shami
My playing XI for the first test will be Vijay dhawan Pujara Kohli rahane saha ashwin pandya Bhuvi Ishant Shami
Ashwin is pretty ineffective in non spinning tracks though
Understatement. He's horrendous on them. Although, since he became this monster of a bowler (in Indian conditions over the last 2-3 years), we've yet to see him on foreign soil.
Would be amazed if the SA-Zimbabwe game gets beyond the 3rd day.
So they try out a four day test and it doesn't even last two full days
I loved watching the #11 bat for Zimbabwe
Fully clearing the front foot and giving it a big mow to cow every ball
Fully clearing the front foot and giving it a big mow to cow every ball
I'd play Umesh Yadav in place of Shami. Get some pace into the bowling attack. Target the Proteas with some bouncers and get them caught out at square leg/deep backward square leg.
Has there been a quicker test match than the 150 overs needed?So they try out a four day test and it doesn't even last two full days
Edit 15 years ago Aussies beat Pakistan quicker
Last edited:
Good start by the Kiwis. Munro carrying on the good form from the series with the Windies.
This series will be a good challenge for the Pakistan side.
And as I type, Hasan gets Munro!
This series will be a good challenge for the Pakistan side.
And as I type, Hasan gets Munro!
Sarfraz gives Babar a bollocking for poor fielding then drops a standard catch himself 2 balls later
So windy at the ground they’ve taken the bails off. Don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.
So windy at the ground they’ve taken the bails off. Don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.
I'll never forget the sound of this one
All the away teams taking a pounding today it seems. Cricket has become so pathetically predictable with the home teams dominating.
Guy in the NZ crowd just made the calmest 1 handed catch to win $50,000 in the first over!! Legend
Pakistan 27/6 
Locke Ferguson is the quickest bowler right now. Clocked 159km right now.
I used to be under the same impression until I came across this a couple of days back:
http://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/42590656
Check out the interactive chart. The away win percentages in the 60's, 70's, 80's - eras where we think it was more even - are worse than anytime in the history of cricket. In fact they have increased quite a bit in the last three decades from those three decades.
Someone will have to do a deeper analysis to check if those games were any more closer to the one-sided contests of these days for us have those impressions. I am very surprised.
You'd think in the 70s and 80s where the Australians and then the West Indies were dominating and regularly won on their travels the % of away wins would be much higher than it is now, and more so because there are now minnows like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh that are never going to win away from home, strange indeed.
I think the issue is increasing run rates. Win, lose, or draw, teams are scoring faster now than at any point in the past which is forcing results.
Even the best teams don't win more often away from home than they win (South Africa at 37.8% win ratio since 2010), but much of South Africa's 'recent' success away from home is based on the fact that when they're not winning they spend more of their time not losing either than they do losing (14 draws vs 9 loses). No other team matches this, and since 2010 there have been far fewer draws overall with the draw dropping from the result 32% of the time historically to 21% now.
So whilst teams are winning away from home about as often as they have in the past thats actually not saying a huge amount because it means that those draws are being turned into home team wins and home wins only.
That is an interesting point. I guess too many white washes has skewed our thinking. It'll be interesting to see the stats regarding home win percentages in juxtaposition with the away win percentages through the decades.
Pakistan are having a shocking tour of NZ. Batting collapses in every game - which isn’t unusual but I was hoping we were getting better with younger players
Shocking stuff from England U-19. They've completely bottled it against the Aussies.
