King of second innings

LONDON:Second innings collapses aren’t a rare feature in India, given the way spin and uneven bounce become more exaggerated as the match wears on. In recent times, however, Virat Kohli’s primary weapon in the second innings has not been a spinner, but a seamer. And yet again in Visakhapatnam, Mohammed Shami delivered for his captain, blowing South Africa away with figures of 5-35.

Since the start of 2018, Shami averages 24.95 with the ball in Tests, an exceptional record. Yet what reveals more about his development as a bowler is the split in averages between first innings and second innings -- in the second dig, the cost of his wickets plummets, and his strike rate of 32.1 is less than half of its first innings equivalent. Sixty three per cent of his wickets have come in the second innings. That’s when Shami comes alive.

It’s a double-edged sword, in some ways, to have such a bias in favour of the second innings of the match. Since the start of 2018, Shami’s first innings bowling average is the worst in the world for any seamer with 15 wickets or more. Yet in that same time period with the same constraints (minimum 15 wickets), Shami’s average in the second innings is the fourth best in the world.

Most bowlers see a fall in their average in the second innings, but the drop for Shami is extreme. What is it about his approach which makes him so lethal in the second innings but, relatively, so ineffective in the first? One explanation could be that Shami targets the stumps more than most Indian seamers. Such a method would allow him to exploit the uneven or low bounce in the second half of a match and not in the first as the bounce on the wicket is truer in the beginning. Of all the seamers to play at least 10 Tests since the start of last year, Shami targets the stumps more than anyone. However, Pat Cummins, the best second-innings seamer active today, almost never targets the stumps. While Australian pitches don’t break up as much as Indian pitches, it does suggest that targeting the stumps is not a magical elixir for second innings bowling.

The reason could simply be that Shami has been rather unlucky in the first innings, and it’s pure random chance that his rewards have come in the second innings. He has not produced significantly more chances in the second innings than in the first -since the start of 2018, Shami draws a false shot with 22.4% of his deliveries in the first innings, and 23.5% in the second innings.

TARGETING STUMPS ALLOWS HIM TO EXPLOIT THE UNEVEN OR LOW BOUNCE IN THE SECOND HALF OF A MATCH AND NOT IN THE FIRST AS THE BOUNCE IS TRUER IN 1ST