Comparing India's Test performance in the last 5 years with others- Where do India stand?

The current team India has been billed as the best ever by many experts. While India did have world-class batsmen like Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly in the same team before, all of whom would go down as India's greatest batsmen of all time, they have historically struggled to find a core group of bowlers who can pick 20 wickets in tests.

While spinners like Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh managed to do the job for India at home, the pace bowling landscape was barren. India had only Zaheer Khan who continued to perform consistently. R.P. Singh, Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan did impress, but faded away quickly. Moreover, even Zaheer used to get injured in the middle of important tours towards the end of his career, adding to the team's woes. Now, though, things have changed..

India have a crop of extremely competent fast bowlers in Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and youngsters like Navdeep Saini and Deepak Chahar knocking on the door, a luxury which India have seldom had before. The batting lineup has some great talent as well, with 3 batsmen in Top 10 and 5 in top 16. India became the No.1 side in Tests in October 2016 and stayed there till May 2020.

However, have India lived up to the hype? India had held Test No.1 position for a long time, but was it because of only wins at home? We'll go through India's performance in Tests (as that's the real Test of a player) since 2015 and compare it with that of the top 7 teams in the ICC rankings. We won't be counting series with nations outside of Top 7.

Note that, even though Pakistan have played majority of their games in the UAE in this period, they are still counted in sub-continent, as the conditions are pretty similar there as well.

India

Clearly, India's home is a fortress. No team has beaten India in India in a Test series since England (in 2011), and only Australia have been able to win a test (in 2017). India have also won at least one test in all SENA countries except New Zealand, in the only series where India looked out of sorts.

In 2019, India became the first Asian side to defeat Australia in Australia. Captain Virat Kohli holds the distinction of being the first Asian captain to win a Test in each of England, Australia and New Zealand.

However, India have failed to convert the promise they showed in England and South Africa to series wins, and some fans even refrain from giving full credit to India for their Australia win citing the absence of Steve Smith and David Warner. Logically, though, given how strong Australia's bowling lineup is, losing two batsmen for a home series shouldn't be that big an issue.

Win % = 55.6 %

Home Win % = 72.7 %

Win % in SENA = 28.6 %

Australia

Australia have maintained an excellent record at home as well, with only South Africa (in 2016) and India (in 2018-19) being able to beat them. They have beaten New Zealand in their home, although one may argue about the weight of winning a series in a neighbouring country, where conditions are not drastically different.

They also played two wonderful Ashes series in England, which the scoreline reflects.

However, they have only one away series victory, and seem to have serious problems facing the spinning ball in sub-continental conditions. They only managed to win one Test in India, were whitewashed by Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and could only eke out a draw against Bangladesh (which has not been included in the table since they are World No. 9)

Win % = 51.0%

Home Win % = 69.2%

Win % in SA,ENG,NZ,SUB-CONTINENT = 32%

New Zealand

New Zealand have maintained a healthy win-loss ratio at home, winning nine series and losing two.

Away from home, they managed to draw the England series, and lost 1-0 in SA. They have a decent record in the subcontinent, where, despite being whitewashed 3-0 by India, they beat Pakistan 2-1 and drew the Sri Lanka series 1-1. However, their neighbours Australia have been particularly harsh on them, and New Zealand have been able to only get a draw in the six tests they have played there over 2 series.

Win % = 37.1%

Home Win % = 52.9%

Win % in SA,ENG,AUS,SUB-CONTINENT = 22.2%

England

England don't have a very good record at home, and have lost the most number of Tests among the top 4 teams. Nevertheless, they have not lost a single Test series at home.

Away from home, they have dominated SA, winning both times they have toured them, but have taken a hammering from Australia, losing 4, two of which were innings defeats. They also lost by 1-0 twice to New Zealand.

In the subcontinent, they have been whitewashed 4-0 by India and 2-0 by Pakistan. They could only get a 1-1 draw against Bangladesh (which again isn't reflected in the table).

The only saving grace is the 3-0 whitewash they handed out to Sri Lanka in their own backyard. Also, in 2019-20, England became the first side to lose a Test series in West Indies since 2015, and the first side in top 7 to lose a Test series to West Indies since 2013. Note that WI have not been included in the table as they are World No 8.

Win % = 44.8%

Home Win% = 60.0%

Win % in SA,NZ,AUS,SUB-CONTINENT = 28.6%

Sri Lanka

Although Sri Lanka have a very poor record at home, the reason can be attributed to two series defeats at the hands of India (1-2 & 0-3) and one by Pakistan (1-2). Obviously, Sri Lanka had negligible home advantage in those series. Take those series out, and they will have a 6-4 win loss record at home (win %=60). England are the only team from outside the sub-continent to defeat them in this period, when Sri Lanka were whitewashed 3-0.

In 2019, Sri Lanka became the first team from Asia and third overall after England and Australia in the history of the game to defeat South Africa in South Africa.

However, that's the only thing they have to smile about, as otherwise they have a very poor record away from home, failing to win a single game in England, New Zealand and Australia.

Win % = 32.2%

Home Win % = 42.1%

Win % in SENA = 16.7%

South Africa

South Africa also don't have a very impressive record at home. They have lost 3 series (twice to England and once to Sri Lanka).

Their performance in England, New Zealand and Australia has been good even with the limited no. of matches they have played there. In fact, South Africa have never lost a Test series in New Zealand.

However, they can't seem to find their way in the sub-continent. They have been whitewashed 3-0 twice by India and 2-0 once by Sri Lanka. The only Test they managed to draw was courtesy rain against India, when only one innings was possible. They even failed to win a Test in Bangladesh, drawing the 2 match series 0-0.

Win % = 40.9%

Home Win % = 56.0%

Win% in ENG,NZ AUS,SUB-CONTINENT = 23.5%

Pakistan

Pakistan are another sub-continent team which have a poor record at home, although they have played very less at home. They have lost to New Zealand (1-2) and Sri Lanka (0-2) in this period.

Overseas too, Pakistan have an unimpressive record. They were whitewashed in South Africa, New Zealand and both times in Australia. In fact, Pakistan have not won a Test in Australia since 1995 (25 years!). In England, though, their performance has been good, and they have played a couple of thrilling Test match series, drawing them both.

Win % = 28.6%

Home Win % = 41.7%

Win % in SENA = 18.8%

Conclusion

Clearly, India has the best win percentage against top 7 teams among all the nations. India have also played the second-least number of Test series at home (6) against the top 7 sides. Therefore, no critic can claim that India's win percentage is high because of playing more at home. Away from home, India's win percentage is second only to Australia, and equal to England.

Despite all this, there is still a lot to be desired from team India, and they must get their first series victory in South Africa. If this team can do that, and then go on to win/draw in England and New Zealand, Kohli's side will be remembered for generations to come.