India vs Australia: These 3 charts show how Kohli's squad outplayed Aussies

Budget 2019 : India’s historic test series win against Australia on Australian soil was path-breaking in more ways than one. It reversed the normal gap that Australia enjoyed over India in multiple departments of the game. For once, India had a large bowling gap in its favour, with a much better average on a per-bowler basis.

This Business Standard analysis, based on ESPNcricinfo data for Indian matches against Australia played in Australia, shows that the batting average of Team India, led by Virat Kohli, also showed a similarly wide gap over Australian batsmen.

The batting average is based on total number of runs scored divided by the innings played by the run-scorers. Innings in which batsmen remained unbeaten were excluded. Sixteen Indian batsmen played a total of 69 innings, including seven not-outs. This meant that every time an Indian got out in the middle, he added an average of 32.72 runs to the board. For Australia, the average was 24.6 runs.

This eight-run gap in favour of India is higher than those seen for previous decades going back to the 1980s. It is also a break in tradition from the recent past. The period between 2010 and 2018 saw a 20-run gap in favour of Australia. The average Australian innings added 49.6 runs to the board then, compared to India’s 29.1.

The bowling average is a measure of how many runs a single wicket cost. The Indian bowlers gave away 25 runs for every wicket taken. The Australian bowlers gave away 33.6 runs. This lower bowling average was primarily helped by the wickets taken by India’s fast bowlers, despite pace typically being considered a weak part of Indian bowling. No wonder then that this is being lauded as a new dawn for Indian fast bowling.

Interim Budget 2019