While it may sound pedantic to point out India's top-order batting woes at a time when the hosts have outclassed Australia in the first two Tests, en route retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, it's equally undeniable their frailties have been masked only because the willow wielders in the rival ranks have come up short in these challenging conditions.
More crucially, India's lower middle-order batters and tail-enders have been as effective with the bat as they have been with the ball, bailing the team out twice in the three innings the hosts have batted in Nagpur and Delhi.
In Nagpur, skipper Rohit Sharma produced a masterly ton to help India overhaul Australia's first innings total of 177, but when he was out after compiling 158, the total was only 229/6 which soon became 240/7 with the dismissal of KS Bharat.
Given that India had to bat last on a wearing track, a substantial first-innings lead was critical but it looked unlikely with only three wickets left. Though Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel's abilities with the bat are well-known, few would have thought the left-handed duo would add another 88 runs. With Mohammed Shami blasting 37, India were armed with a daunting 223-run lead.
In the second Test, India found themselves in a far worse situation after slipping to 139/7, still 124 runs adrift of Australia's healthy first innings total of 263. R Ashwin and Axar came together this time to raise 114 runs for the eighth wicket as India folded for 262, just one run short of Australia's total.
The importance of all-rounders in a side can't be more emphasised. Apart from the balance, they also provide depth in batting and bowling. And India are fortunate to have three spinning all-rounders in the XI at the same time. It's almost serendipitous.
"... Last game specifically after 139 for seven, to get to 260 (262) was a great effort," said Rohit when asked about lower-order contributions on Tuesday. "In this team Axar, Jadeja and Ashwin bat in the lower order but Axar when he plays domestic cricket, he bats at five. They all are quality batters. It doesn’t matter whether runs come from top or lower order, the end result for the team is what matters. We are in a stage where we can create that depth in our batting. Even when we are four or five down we know we have the quality to get runs on the board. Yes, the runs have not come from the top order as expected but the quality they bring to the table is what matters to us."
While it's a luxury to have this depth in batting, lower-half can't be relied upon to deliver all the time. The focus on KL Rahul's struggles has been so sharp that the failures of other top batters like Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli have been completely glossed over. Yes, they do bring the quality but that has to be justified by a quantitative performance at some point.
While plain numbers can sometimes hide more than they reveal, they do give some interesting perspective. The top five Indian batsmen, excluding wicketkeeper Bharat, combined have made 359 runs including Rohit's 158. On the other hand, the trio of Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar alone has contributed 314. Add 41 between Shami and Mohammed Siraj and the lower-order contribution comes to 355. While their bowling has won the matches, it's their batting that has set-up the games for India. It's about time the top-order joined the party.
Rohit admitted that the depth gives top-order batsmen a lot of comfort.
"We have spoken about this a lot," he noted. If you have that kind of depth, some of the guys in the middle and the top order can go and play freely as well. It gives us the advantage knowing that no matter what the situation of the game is, you've got the batting depth to come closer to the opposition target, if you are batting second. Even if you are batting first, you are four or five down for not many runs, you know that there's quality coming and getting you out of that situation, which they have done pretty well in Indian conditions. So yeah, it definitely gives us a lot of confidence."