Rahane's Tail-tale Signs of Lower-order Grit

NEW DELHI: Tail is the neglected part of a cricket team. It refers to players occupying slots in the rear of a batting order, who make headlines when they contribute. Because this doesn’t happen often, they can get branded as pushovers with the bat. Longer the tail, lesser are chances of a team becoming a world-beating unit. No rule this, but that’s how the theory goes.

 

Cricket being a game that encourages contradictions to coexist, tales of the tail changing the course of a match or having an impact on the outcome are not rare. Not really known to possess muscles in that part of the body, the Indian team has shown of late it too can expect runs from the lower half, and owes its commanding position in the ongoing Test to Ajinkya Rahane’s rally with the tail.Bowlers made crucial runs in both Tests India won, which got overshadowed by the failure of batsmen. But by helping Rahane propel the team to 334 from 139 for six at Kotla, they underlined their growing reputation of being tough nuts to crack, as the last four wickets made South Africa toil for 64 overs. That teams struggled to last that long earlier, highlights the significance of such doggedness. “Partnership with Ashwin was crucial because when the lower order does well, it affects the morale of the opposition,” said Rahane.
Criticised for inability to stick around abroad, script of the rear started changing in Sri Lanka, where Amit Mishra made valuable runs. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have better records than average tail-enders, and Rahane was lucky to have the two, who allowed him to continue the way he wanted, instead of forcing him into desperation. “The positive thing that has emerged in this series, and during the past few matches, is how the lower order has contributed. It used to be an issue before,” said India’s batting coach Sanjay Bangar on Day 1.
Partnerships of 58, 98 and 38 for the seventh, eighth and ninth wickets justified that.
Other than adding runs, such rearguard acts can demoralise opponents and the South African surrender in the final session bore signs of that. Harassed and harried by spin and pace their batsmen were, but the way Indian bowlers prolonged the agony of their team with the bat should remain an important subplot in a tale that is about to end in a near whitewash of the No 1 team by Virat Kohli’s boys.