No.6: Unsung hero in the batting order
NEW DELHI:Chennai, 2013. This tale begins on the third day of the first Test against Australia. The visitors had scored 380 in the first innings and India were tottering at 196/4 when Sachin Tendulkar plodded back to the Chepauk pavilion. Skipper MS Dhoni, at No. 6, walked in to join a young Virat Kohli.
The second new ball seemed a trigger for Dhoni to switch from being positive to aggressive— the shiny, hard ball travelling faster to the ropes. Seven overs later, 50-odd runs had been leaked by the Aussies. Following a 128-run stand with Dhoni, Kohli (107) was out. Then a second resistance began. With debutant Bhuvaneshwar Kumar for company, Dhoni put on a record 140 runs for the ninth wicket—taking the team’s first innings score to 572.
The hosts won the Test by eight wickets. Significantly, Dhoni’s 224 remains the highest by an Indian at No. 6.
In numerology, six is often referred to as the motherhood number: it stands for sacrifice, care, protection and the quality of educating. In Test cricket, a specialist batsman at No. 6 is expected to have all those qualities. He has to protect tail-enders by farming the strike. He also has to stretch the innings or score quick runs, depending on the situation. He needs to possess the skill to deal with the second new ball as well. Dhoni did all that often, and all of it to perfection.
India’s Test history has numerous examples of great contributions from the No. 6, which changed a match’s outcome. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman switched positions in the second innings of the 2001 Kolkata Test, and the rest is history worth more than their 376-run stand.
FIVE-BATSMAN THEORY
But in Tests at home in 2019, India almost did away with a specialist batsman at No. 6; skipper Kohli preferring to go with five specialist batsmen. In 11 home Tests since Ravi Shastri returned as coach in November 2017, India have played a specialist batsman at No. 6 only on four occasions to squeeze in an extra bowler. In batting friendly conditions in the subcontinent, that makes sense in the absence of a genuine allrounder, such as the injured Hardik Pandya—who can bat and is a handy medium-pace option.
“No. 6 has a very crucial role.
He is the last recognised batsman before the all-rounders and the tail come in,” says Pravin Amre, who played as a No.6 in 12 out of his 13 Test innings for India. “When I got a hundred (in South Africa in 1992), we were 38/4 and then we got to 250. It’s about the ability to absorb pressure. If Virat and Pujara get out quickly, the pressure is on the No. 6. He is the one who has to get the extra runs, build a partnership,” Amre says.
True. In away Tests, especially in conditions where the ball moves a bit, the need for a specialist batsman at No. 6 is felt more often. India have drawn 13 and won six out of the 31 times where their No. 6 has scored 90 or more in an innings in away Tests. Which explains why Hanuma Vihari has returned to the mix for the series in New Zealand, where the wicket for the first Test in Wellington promises a fair amount of both movement and bounce. “The bowling unit which India has at the moment—three frontline pacers and a spinner— should be able to take 20 wickets,” says Aakash Chopra, India’s former Test opener. “Only against the Australian batting line-up, India may need to field five bowlers.”
ENTRY POINT
Over the years, some of India’s most successful batsmen have begun their careers at No 6. From Sachin Tendulkar through Rahul Dravid to VVS Laxman; from Kohli to Cheteshwar Pujara—all made Test debuts batting in that position. The No. 6 spot used to be an entry point for fresh talent.
“You do not really get a specialised No. 6 because if someone is batting at No. 6 for his Ranji team, he should not be in the India team as a batsman. The idea is to accommodate a young guy because your batting order is mostly settled,” says Chopra.
So even someone like Virender Sehwag, who later became one of India’s match-winning openers, had to make his Test debut at No. 6—behind Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman at 3, 4 and 5. “This trend will continue unless you have a really weak team where nobody is sure of his place,” adds Chopra. “The role of a No. 6 remains marginal. His presence is felt only when there is a collapse of sorts.”
Amre agrees. “You can’t judge a No. 6 batsman by his average. He is an unsung hero whose fifty will be overshadowed most of the times by a big hundred or double hundred at the top. But his contribution can be game changing.”