File Pic: Virat Kohli (left), Ajinkya Rahane (middle) and MS Dhoni in discussion during Southampton Test vs England.
© AFP
India were the spared the humiliation of a sub-100 total at the Oval on Friday thanks to a stonewalling No. 11 who had the stomach to ward off a strong pace attack and keep his captain company and win some respect for his beleaguered teammates. MS Dhoni and Ishant Sharma put on 58 -- India's highest 10th wicket partnership in Tests when they have lost nine wickets for less than 100 runs.
The 10th-wicket partnership aggregate of 466 (average 42.36) in 12 innings is a record in a Test series, surpassing the 458 (average 24.10) in the 1924-25 series, involving England and Australia.
After being put into bat at the Oval, India lost five wickets for 36 runs. It was their sixth instance when they have lost their first five wickets for less than 40 runs in a Test innings in England. India's worst performance was losing five wickets conceding six runs at The Oval in 1952.
Murali Vijay and Gautam Gambhir once again failed to put up a substantial score for the first wicket. An Indian pair is without a 50-run partnership for the first wicket in 17 innings in Tests. The last 50-run stand was a 77 between Shikhar Dhawan and Vijay versus West Indies at Mumbai in November 2013.
Ajinkya Rahane, the man who has showed some semblance of form in this series, scored his first duck in 18 innings in Tests. In all, Indian players have recorded 14 ducks in the present series as against three by England -- all three from Ben Stokes.
On a day when he became India's highest-capped captain against England, Dhoni (82) registered his 12th fifty versus England, extending his Test record for most fifties against an opponent without posting a hundred. Dhoni has a 92 at the Oval.
Despite the fact that his Test captaincy has been questioned by former stars and pundits of the game, Dhoni has managed to score runs at a time when the rest of the batting has collapsed. Dhoni has scored 55.41 % of runs, providing the first instance of an Indian captain scoring more than 50% of runs in a team innings.
While the captain has managed to score, his deputy has been the biggest setback of the series. Virat Kohli has so far produced his worst performance in a Test series. His tally of 114 in nine innings at an average of 12.66 is way below his standards. Kohli, for the first time, is without a Test fifty in nine consecutive innings.
No wonder why Dhoni continues to be India's captain in all formats of the game. Kohli needs to sort out his batting first and win the confidence of his team.
(With inputs from Rajesh Kumar)
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