India under Kohli are the most aggressive Test team yet

All elevens involve some balance between batting and bowling. In some teams, they worry about how many of the bowlers can bat. In others, like the current Indian side, they worry about how to get 20 wickets.

There are strong teams and weak teams. This is a distinction which has to do with how much better a team is than its rivals. And then there are aggressive teams and defensive teams. This is a distinction which has to do with where they make the choice between picking extra batting and extra bowling. It goes without saying that each has to be meaningfully good enough to add to the threat in each department.

These distinctions about strength and aggression can be evaluated by considering how often a team takes 20 wickets in a Test and concedes 20 wickets in a Test.

Australia under Steve Waugh took 20 wickets in a Test 2.9 times for every time they were bowled out twice in a Test. Overall, Steve Waugh’s Australians took 20 wickets in a Test in 61% of their Tests. They almost never played 5 bowlers. They had two all time great bowlers in their ranks for Waugh’s entire tenure (with the exception of his last season in 2003-04 when they faced India and Zimbabwe at home), and a support cast which varied in quality from sublime (Jason Gillespie at his peak) to journeyman. Under Waugh, Australia invariably used Gilchrist as their 7th batter, following which Warne, Lee, Gillespie, Kasprowicz, Reiffel and others were better than rank number XIs (they had those - Glenn McGrath being the most prominent).

Other sides played a similarly conservative game, and benefited from an era when Test cricket was expanding. Sourav Ganguly led India in 49 Tests, of which 11 (or 22%) were against Bangladesh or Zimbabwe (in contrast, 5 of Australia’s 57 Tests under Steve Waugh were against Bangladesh or Zimbabwe), and 8 of South Africa’s 109 Tests under Graeme Smith came against Bangladesh or Zimbabwe. Even with these relatively high number of Tests against weak opponents, India under Ganguly took 20 wickets in a Test in 24/49 (49%) Tests (excluding BAN and ZIM the figure drops to 16/38 or 42%), and were bowled out twice in 13/49 (26.5%) Tests (excl. BAN and ZIM the figure rises to 12/38 or 32%).

By contrast, IND under Kohli have bowled the opposition out twice in 44/64 (69%) Tests, and been bowled out twice in 24/64 (38%) Tests. Exclude the 4 Tests against Bangladesh or Zimbabwe, and the figures rise to 42/60 (70%) and 24/60 (40%).

Of the 48 captains who have captained in at least 30 Tests, Virat Kohli’s India ranked 27th when it comes to the frequency of being bowled out twice in a Test (1st - least often, 48th - most often). But they rank 1st when it comes to frequency of bowling the opposition out.

Kohli’s India are the most aggressive team in Test history under the definition of aggression used here. Steve Waugh’s Australia (rank 5th best in taking 20 wickets and 2nd best in conceding them) are the strongest under the definition of strength used here.

Pakistan under Imran Khan are the antithesis of Kohli’s side - the most conservative side. Perhaps this is a reflection of the pitches they played on, because even though they were a very successful side (14 wins, 8 defeats in 48 Tests), they were bowled out twice in only 17% of their Tests, and bowled the opposition out twice in only 35% of their Tests.

In Tests where both sides lost 20 wickets, Kohli’s India have won 9 and lost 8.

A look at the records under the 16 Indian captains who have led India in at least 10 Tests shows us just how different the Kohli-era side is to the rest of them in terms of how the current Indian side is compared to its predecessors.

Under Kohli and Shastri India seem to have discarded their traditional preference for respectability in favor of competitiveness. And it has worked. They’ve cultivated a bowling attack which possesses both quality and depth, and it has brought them great success in all types of conditions. It has made India nearly impregnable in India, and more than competitive overseas.

This current Indian team is not only the best yet, it is arguably the purest Indian Test team of yet. No other side in the history of Test cricket has taken 20 wickets in Test as often as this Indian side has. The current India under Kohli are arguably the most aggressive Test team in the history of Test cricket. If you had told me that 10 years ago, I would have thought you were crazy.