India's defeat at Bloemfontein once again underlined their frailty in the opening Test match of an overseas series. In their last 14 series outside the subcontinent, India have lost the first Test nine times. Only once have theywon, when they beat Zimbabwe earlier this year at Bulawayo. (Shocked by their own impertinence, they promptly went ahead and lost the second Test at Harare.) They have drawn four times - against South Africa shortly after they had returned to the international fold in 1992-93, and once each in Zimbabwe, New Zealand and West Indies.

The reasons for this woeful record are not hard to find. The Indian top order has failed consistently, and the bowlers have been unable to restrict the opposition to manageable totals. In the nine Tests that India have lost, their average first-innings score is 258. Not abysmal, but certainly inadequate, considering that the opposition average 397 in their first innings.

India's second innings used to be a redeeming feature, which had prompted many to say that they should play their second innings first. Not any longer though: their average second-innings total in these nine matches is a mere 204.

India's worries start at the top of the order. The opening partnerships in the first innings of those nine games read 0, 63, 21, 8, 2, 2, 0, 7, 7 - 110 runs at an average of 12.22. The improvement is marginal in the second innings - 179 runs at a touch under 20. The average overall is an appalling 16.

On overseas tours, India's middle order has been heavily reliant on Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, and their failure to get runs in the series openers has hit the team hard. Tendulkar averages 37.83 in the nine matches in question - 20 less than his career average and 17 less than his average abroad; Dravid has figured in five of the nine Tests, averaging a shade under 31, which is 22 less than his overseas average.

However, things improve dramatically once India cross the hurdle of the first Test match. The average opening stand reaches 28 - not huge, but 75 percent better than the first-Test figure.

More interestingly, Tendulkar comes into his own in the later matches of these series. His aggregate in these nine series is 2115 runs in 40 innings at 52.87. Remove his first-Test performances, and his record is even more impressive - 1434 runs at 65.18, almost 27 more than his first-Test average.

Dravid's record is pretty similar, too. His overall average in these five series in 48.11. Again, omitting his first-Test performances, it is a whopping 65.33, more than double his average in the series opener. Except for his failure in the three-Test series in Australia, Dravid has scored plenty on overseas tours. However, like Tendulkar, he has, on most occasions, revved up his engine only after the first Test.

The small improvement by the openers, and the huge one by the middle order enables India to post an average first-innings score of 376 in these games, 118 more than their average in the first Test. The bowling performance does not improve significantly - the average score posted by the opposition remains 392 - but India's improved batting display gives them a much better chance of drawing the match. Which is what they have managed in nine of the 15 matches, after the first Test.

The opening-match blues
1 1989-90: lost to New Zealand by 10 wickets at Christchurch
2 1990: lost to England by 247 runs at Lord's
3 1991-92: lost to Australia by 10 wickets at Brisbane
4 1996: lost to England by 8 wickets at Edgbaston
5 1996-97: lost to South Africa by 328 runs at Durban
6 1998-99: lost to Zimbabwe by 61 runs at Harare
7 1998-99: lost to New Zealand by 4 wickets at Wellington
8 1999-00: lost to Australia by 285 runs at Adelaide
9 2001-02: lost to South Africa by 9 wickets at Bloemfontein

S Rajesh is a sub-editor with Wisden.com India.

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