Data | Despite 36 all out, Adelaide Test not India's worst match by a long shot

In the Adelaide Test, India managed to score 14.73 runs for every wicket lost. In 16 past matches, India’s RSW was worse than its latest in Adelaide, three of those were played in the last six years

Australia’s Nathan Lyon knocks the bails of the stumps after a throw from Josh Hazlewood to dismiss Virat Kohli on day 1 of the first Test in Adelaide on December 17, 2020.

India’s score of 36 runs in its second innings of the first Test against Australia on Saturday was its lowest total ever and the lowest for any team in the past 65 years. However, if the runs from the first innings are included, this was not the team’s worst batting numbers in a Test match by a long shot. Even under Virat Kohli’s leadership, India’s batting has fared worse in two matches in the past. Also, if all the four innings of the Adelaide Test are considered as a whole, given the significant first innings lead secured by India, this is by no account the team’s worst Test performance.

1. In a single innings

India’s second innings total of 36 was the joint fifth-lowest in an innings in Test history where a team has been bowled out (including retired hurt). New Zealand posted the lowest total in an innings when it was bundled out for 26 against England in 1955.

 

2. In both innings

The chart shows the average runs scored per wicket lost (RSW) by a team in a Test (both innings together) which yielded a result (win, loss or tie). In the Adelaide Test, India managed to score 14.73 runs for every wicket lost. In 16 past matches, India’s RSW was worse than its latest in Adelaide, three of those were played in the last six years.

3. Not the first for Kohli

Since 1978, India’s RSW has fallen below 15 in only seven matches, including the Adelaide Test. Three such instances have been recorded under Virat Kohli and two under Sourav Ganguly.

 

4. The match as whole

The chart plots the difference between the average runs scored per wicket lost (RSW) by the two teams involved in all Test matches that yielded a result (win/loss/tie). For instance, in the Adelaide Test, India’s RSW was 14.73, and Australia’s was 23.66.

 

Thus the difference (-8.9) is a measure of how poor India’s performance was relative to Australia’s in this Test. When this relative measure is plotted for all Tests, it becomes evident that in many past matches, there were poorer performances than India’s on Saturday.