India's top 5 run-scorers in WTC 2021-23 cycle ft. Virat Kohli

Did India's batting let them down in the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final? Probably yes. Did India's batting do anything unexpected? Surely not.

Once you concede over 450 runs in the first innings of an important Test match on a bowling-friendly track against one of the best bowling attacks, it's always difficult to catch on. However, the way India got bowled out twice under 300 runs, despite batting in the best available conditions during the match, was simply poor.

It only unveiled a badly kept secret - India had been carried to the final because of their bowlers and because of playing in spin-friendly conditions at home. No Indian batter made it to the top-15 run-scorers in the 2021-23 cycle, while as many as four bowlers (almost the entire bowling attack) did in the wicket-taking list.

Below is a glance at India's top-five run-getters in WTC 2021-23 and how did they reach where they did. There were a few memorable performances but the numbers aren't impressive, only proving how much India needs to change going forward in Test cricket.

---

#5 Ravindra Jadeja (Overall rank - 35)

In a testament to his growing stature with the bat, Ravindra Jadeja beat five specialist batters to reach this list.

The southpaw, who missed some of the matches due to injury, scored 721 runs across 13 Tests at an average of 36.04.

He collected three half-centuries and two fifties in this period. His highest score in the period came against Sri Lanka at Mohali — a magnificent match-winning 175 not out, which was also the best knock in his career.

The left-arm spinner also ended up as India's second-highest wicket-taker in the WTC 2021-23 cycle.

---

#4 Rohit Sharma (Overall rank - 30)

Skipper Rohit Sharma's second coming as a Test batter took him to fourth in this list. The right-handed batter scored 758 runs off 11 Tests at an average of 42.11, including two centuries and two half-centuries. His best knock came against England at the Oval when his 127 off 256 earned India a famous victory.

The 36-year-old didn't do too well against Sri Lanka at home and after starting the 2023 Border Gavaskar Trophy in style with a 120, didn't score more than 35 runs in the remaining three Tests, raising questions on why he isn't converting his starts.

The same clouds loomed the darkest after the WTC Final. Rohit looked to be on course for a big hundred in the second innings like he had done two years ago at the same ground.

But in a moment of misjudgment, he got trapped in front for 43 (60) missing a lap sweep against off-spinner Nathan Lyon.

---

#3 Rishabh Pant (Overall rank - 25)

If you still have doubts about how much India missed Rishabh Pant in the WTC final, this might clear it up.

The keeper-batter played 12 matches in the cycle and scored 868 runs at an average of 43.40 — the best for anyone who played more than 10 Tests — and a strike rate of 80.81, the best among all Indians.

Pant scored at least a 90 in each of the four series he played in these two years and overall collected five half-centuries and two tons. Only Cheteshwar Pujara had as many 50-plus scores as him in the Championship but the former played four more Tests. Pant also hit 22 sixes in these matches, six more than the next best.

Painfully for India, his best knock in this cycle also came in England — a 111-ball 146 at Edgbaston where he took the team from 98/5 to 320/6, a quality that Rohit and Co. desperately missed in the final.

---

#2 Cheteshwar Pujara (Overall rank - 18)

It's difficult to judge Pujara's WTC 2021-23 campaign based on just numbers. He started the tournament decently, scoring over 300 runs on the 2021 tour of England but then had two poor series with a few unlucky games and was dropped midway through.

Pujara went to the domestic circuit and county cricket, scored heaps of runs, and made a comeback against Bangladesh. But after doing well against them, he had another five forgettable Tests, including the final against Australia where he didn't offer a shot in the first innings and got out playing a needless ramp in the second.

Still, the 35-year-old managed 928 runs, six half-centuries, and a ton in the two years at an average of 32.

These occasional good knocks made him difficult to drop but his lack of consistency didn't allow him to help India much either.

---

#1 Virat Kohli (Overall rank - 17)

Despite not being able to help India win the final on the last day, Virat Kohli ended the WTC 2021-23 as the highest run-scorer for the team — 932 at 32.13.

He got there with a century (186 off 364 in Ahmedabad against Australia in the drawn Test) that ended a three-year-long draught and three half-centuries.

However, apart from that century and the 49 at the Oval, Kohli didn't have a great WTC. His averages in the series against England, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh were 27.67, 18, 40.25, 27, and 15, respectively.

The team will expect more consistency from their champion batter in the next cycle.