Fire is the Test of gold, and Team India’s top order melted in this test of fire at The Ovals in London in the finals of the World Test Championship. Considered the gold standard of the cricketing world, mostly by Indians – due to our cricket jingoism and ever-burgeoning population, the question is why do they falter at the last hurdle?

Before answering that question, let’s take a look at what was the target and how far were they from it at the beginning of Day 5 of the WTC. On Sunday, the last day of the match, India had 164/3 on the scoreboard, and 280 runs away from the WTC title and of course, it was a big ask. Things indeed looked in Australia’s favour. But not many would have expected that the likes of Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat, and Shardul Thakur would be bundled up within 55 runs in about 20 overs. Though, the onus lies not on the Jadejas and Rahanes. The onus lies on the top order and their away record is pretty average – the clear reason why India did not put up a fight.

The skipper Rohit Sharma’s average in Tests in away conditions is 31.20 runs. On the contrary, in India, his average is 66.73 runs. While in India, Sharma has made nine centuries in 26 matches, abroad he just has one century to his name in 24 matches.

Former skipper Virat Kohli in 50 Tests that he has played in India has an average of 60.06 runs. In away conditions, his average drops to 41.29 in 59 Tests that he has played in those conditions.

Opener Shubman Gill’s performance more or less has been even in home and away conditions. In India, he averages 32.08 while away he averages 33.60 in the 16 Tests he has played eight each in both conditions.

Cheteshwar Pujara has an average of 52.59 in 51 matches while his away average is 36.48 in 52 matches that he has played there.

Barring Shubman, who made his Test debut in 2020, these statistics only tell half the story about Rohit, Pujara, and Kohli whose form and average have only descended southwards in the latter years of their careers. But right now, they are averagely good as Test cricketers and not even that overseas.