3 statistics that reinforce India's dominance in Test cricket since 2016

7 months. 16 bilateral ODIs. 8 T20Is. IPL. World Cup. After a seven-month hiatus, one that has seen the razzmatazz of white-ball cricket, the World No. 1 Test side will be back in the purest format of the game when they take on the West Indies at North Sound, Antigua on August 22. The match will also kick-start India's campaign for the World Test Championship.

The Men in Blue hold the Test mace and the numero uno spot in the Test rankings, which is a validation of their dominance in the longest format of the game.

The last India were in the West Indies, Virat Kohli got the first of his six Test double hundreds as he led his side to two Test wins in a single series in the Caribbean for the first time. That tour kick-started India's dominance in Test cricket. While there have been disappointments: most notably the losses in South Africa [1-2] and England [1-4], the Men in Blue have easily been the most consistent side in world cricket since 2016.

Here's a look at three statistics that reinforce India's dominance in Test cricket since 2016:

#3 Most hundreds by a batting unit - 53

Kohli and Pujara have been the spearheads

India have been the best batting unit since 1st January 2016 with a cumulative average of 37.61, and 53 tons between them.

It's true that the opening combination has been a cause of concern for the side - especially in overseas tours of SENA countries. But the penchant of the Indian batsmen for big runs and 'daddy' hundreds, led by their captain Virat Kohli and No. 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, has been a standout feature in the past three years.

Kohli [3619 runs in 36 Tests] and Pujara [3006 runs in 36 Tests] have been the spearheads as far as the Indian batting is concerned. They are the second and third highest run-getters in the world respectively during the said time frame.

While Pujara's 521 runs in 4 Tests were instrumental in setting up India's maiden series win Down Under last summer, no one in world cricket has scored more hundreds [14], aggregated 500+ runs in more series [vs England at home in 2016, vs Sri Lanka at home in 2017 and vs England in England in 2018] or double hundreds [6] than Kohli since 2016.

The tendency of the Indian batters to rack up hundreds [53; next best is Australia with 38] has been directly proportional with their team putting up mountains of runs. Since January 2016, no team has racked up more 500+ totals [13] than India.

While Ravindra Jadeja has been a revelation with the bat, having scored 1012 runs at an average of 42.16, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane has witnessed a sharp dip in his fortunes. The right-hander has managed just 1869 runs in nearly the same innings [55] as Kohli and Pujara at an average of 37.38, and is yet to score a hundred since his 188 against New Zealand in Indore nearly three years ago.

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#2 Best win-loss ratio - 2.875

The Indian team

Since the start of 2016, India has the best win-loss ratio - 2.875 - in Test cricket. Kohli's men have won 23 out of the 38 Test matches since 2016.

The Men in Blue have been clinical as far as playing in home conditions is concerned. The extent of their dominance can be gauged by the scorelines that they have inflicted on the sides that have come visiting: 3-0 vs New Zealand in 2016, 4-0 vs England in 2016, 2-1 vs Australia in 2017, one-off Test wins against Bangladesh (2017) and Afghanistan (2018), 1-0 vs Sri Lanka (2017) and 2-0 vs West Indies (2018).

Outside the comforts of home, India registered their first white-wash at the expense of Sri Lanka in 2017, won two Tests in the West Indies for the first time (2016) before scripting their maiden Test series win in Australia last summer.

The three years haven't been without disappointments though. Despite boasting of a lethal pace attack and probably the best Test middle-order in the world, India occasionally faltered when it mattered the most.

Insipid top-order batting, shoddy team selections and not to forget 'lack of preparedness' contributed towards India missing out on scripting history in South Africa and performing an encore of 1986 and 2007 in England in an otherwise fruitful period.

#1 Second best average by a pace attack - 26.17

The trio has claimed 136 wickets between them

If you are an Indian cricket fan of a certain vintage, seeing the current pace attack that India have at their disposal would be nothing short of a fairytale.

India has had great fast bowlers in the past; the likes of Kapil Dev, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan come to mind instantly. But never in their history have the Men in Blue assembled a factory of fast bowlers so ruthless, consistent yet different in their skill sets as they possess right now.

The numbers tell the same story.

The combined bowling average and strike-rate of the Indian pace attack since 2016 are 26.17 and 52.5 respectively, second only to their South African counterparts whose corresponding figures read 22.51 and 42.2.

Apart from their pace and consistency, the most striking feature of this Indian pace attack lies in how different they are from each other. Umesh Yadav has established himself as India's fast bowler in home conditions courtesy his mastery over the SG ball and reverse-swing. After Ravichandran Ashwin (108 wickets) and Ravindra Jadeja (94 wickets), Yadav has the most wickets (50) in home conditions for India.

In overseas conditions, the trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami have spearheaded the bowling unit. Bumrah claimed 49 wickets from 10 overseas Tests in his debut year while Ishant (66 wickets at 26.33) and Shami (97 wickets at 26.34) have done their job admirably since 2016.

India's pace attack of Shami [47], Bumrah [48], and Ishant [41] claimed a total of 138 wickets between them in 2018. Notwithstanding all the runs from Kohli and Pujara, the bowlers were the real superstars last year, paving the way for India's eventual success in Australia.