Josh Tongue earned the nickname “the mop” in county circles for his ability to clean up the tailenders regularly. It’s a label given to him by Worcestershire teammate Ben Duckett for his exploits down the order.

The pacer’s four wickets for seven runs triggered a collapse as India were bundled out for 471 in the first innings in Leeds after cruising along at 430/3. The story was not much different in the second innings as they lost their last six wickets for 31 runs.

A lead of around 450, which looked a strong possibility at one stage, vanished as India had to be content with 370. Ravindra Jadeja was the only player in the lower order who reached double digits in both the innings.

When India needed its tail to wag, it barely twitched. Shubman Gill did admit
after the match that India had aimed for a target “around 435.”

Only four years ago, Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur put on 123 in a seventh-wicket partnership in the first innings during the famous triumph at the Gabba. Then, chasing 328, Rishabh Pant virtually battled with the tail to pull off a three-wicket victory.

The lower-order again contributed significantly in the next series at home, against England, with Ravichandran Ashwin slamming a century at No. 8 in Chennai in a winning cause.

It was not that everyone down the order scored enough to augment the total. It was more about providing the support and blocking one end up, which could have helped Jadeja in propping up the lead on the fourth evening at Headingley.

Compare the lack of contribution from India’s tail with England’s partnerships — Harry Brook and Chris Woakes put on 49 and Woakes then stitched together 55 with Brydon Carse for the seventh and eighth wickets, respectively, in their first innings.

England’s last five wickets added 189, which made a stark difference to their fortunes, while India’s late-order managed just 24 and 31 in the two innings in Leeds. The lower order’s resilience came as a psychological blow to the visitors, though none of the Indians will concur.

“Collapses have become a part of Indian cricket. Generally, everyone’s tail wags, and our tail is so tiny. It ends as soon as it starts. So that is a problem. In the first innings, at one stage, it seemed like you would score 550-575, but it was not to be,” former India opener Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

During the last series in England in 2021, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami put on an unbeaten 89-run partnership for the ninth wicket at Lord’s in the second innings, which went a long way in their 151-run victory.

The decline has been steep since and one of the main reasons for Gill’s team failing to sustain the pressure, Bumrah’s brilliance notwithstanding.

No outright solution seems in sight even if India decide to play Nitish Kumar Reddy at Edgbaston. With the venues unlikely to roll out green tops because of the Bumrah factor, India can’t amend the collapses by including another batter since it would reduce their bowling strength. Similarly, they can’t afford to accommodate an extra bowler since it would extend the tail.

Gambhir refused to pin the loss on a lack of application from the lower order.

“Look, first of all, it’s not that they weren’t applying themselves. Sometimes people fail. And that’s okay,” Gambhir said.

“I know it’s disappointing... It’s not like they’re not working hard in the nets. These things happen. Hopefully, they’ll learn.”

Runs from the lower order can’t be dismissed as a fallacy nowadays since it has become an expectation rather than an exception. Tail-end runs is a serious business in today’s cricket and endless run of ducks in the fag end is a thing of the past.

The likes of Daniel Vettori and Mitchell Johnson had taken No. 8 batting to a different level. Former India coach Duncan Fletcher had tried to make it a habit of ensuring that the bowlers could contribute regularly with the bat though he didn’t achieve much success.

Ravi Shastri, who worked with him as team director, took the mantra forward which benefited the team hugely during his successful reign. Gambhir’s tenure will also be judged on how he can carry this legacy forward.