- Those whose highs in terms of performances are in tune with the highs of the team (if they play well, the team usually wins). I consider them MVPs for the team
- Those who are adapted to pressure situations - I took the example of 4th innings when more often than not, the situation demands either batting out the innings for a draw or chasing a challenging target on a dicey pitch.
I compiled the stats in 2 ways - First for the Indians and then to compare the list with that of players worldwide.
Some miscellaneous stats
2000s
In the past decade, i checked the performance of the Indian batsmen in wins. But considering the fact that the so-called "fab-four" have been a part of the squad for pretty much most of the decade, the list is not so surprising (Classification: Innings played >= 15).
| Player | Matches | Runs | Average | 100s | 50s |
| R Dravid | 39 | 3810 | 74.7 | 11 | 17 |
| SR Tendulkar | 35 | 3163 | 67.29 | 12 | 10 |
| V Sehwag | 27 | 2382 | 59.55 | 5 | 10 |
| VVS Laxman | 35 | 2364 | 50.29 | 4 | 16 |
| G Gambhir | 14 | 1094 | 49.72 | 3 | 6 |
| SC Ganguly | 31 | 1944 | 46.28 | 4 | 11 |
| MS Dhoni | 16 | 857 | 45.1 | 1 | 8 |
| Yuvraj Singh | 13 | 585 | 39 | 0 | 5 |
Now to check with the performance of other batsmen worldwide. (Top 20 after removing the Indians' names from the list). Surprise, Surprise - No Aussie in the top 5!!!! (probably a good thing indicating that they do not necessarily depend on a couple of individuals for wins)
| Player | Matches | Runs | Average | 100s | 50s |
| Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pak) | 26 | 2684 | 83.87 | 11 | 9 |
| KC Sangakkara (SL) | 41 | 4179 | 75.98 | 14 | 15 |
| GP Thorpe (Eng) | 26 | 2053 | 70.79 | 7 | 10 |
| JH Kallis (SA) | 50 | 4257 | 68.66 | 15 | 20 |
| BC Lara (WI) | 9 | 952 | 68 | 3 | 6 |
| Younis Khan (Pak) | 22 | 2241 | 67.9 | 7 | 10 |
| Mohammad Yousuf (Pak) | 28 | 2477 | 66.94 | 8 | 11 |
| RT Ponting (Aus) | 75 | 7012 | 66.15 | 25 | 30 |
| GC Smith (SA) | 41 | 3887 | 65.88 | 15 | 12 |
| MEK Hussey (Aus) | 32 | 2821 | 65.6 | 9 | 13 |
| DPMD Jayawardene (SL) | 43 | 3797 | 65.46 | 13 | 13 |
| TT Samaraweera (SL) | 30 | 2222 | 65.35 | 8 | 11 |
| RR Sarwan (WI) | 13 | 1210 | 60.5 | 5 | 6 |
| G Kirsten (SA) | 23 | 1907 | 59.59 | 6 | 10 |
| SR Waugh (Aus) | 33 | 2028 | 57.94 | 9 | 6 |
| S Chanderpaul (WI) | 17 | 1261 | 57.31 | 5 | 6 |
| AG Prince (SA) | 29 | 1738 | 56.06 | 7 | 3 |
| MS Atapattu (SL) | 24 | 1681 | 56.03 | 6 | 6 |
| ML Hayden (Aus) | 68 | 5975 | 55.84 | 22 | 19 |
| DS Lehmann (Aus) | 19 | 1447 | 55.65 | 5 | 7 |
Fourth Innings Heroes:
Here's the performance of the Indian batsmen in the 4th innings of test matches in the last decade
| Player | Matches | Runs | Average | 100s | 50s |
| R Dravid | 37 | 993 | 52.26 | 0 | 8 |
| SR Tendulkar | 31 | 723 | 42.52 | 1 | 2 |
| SC Ganguly | 29 | 537 | 41.3 | 0 | 3 |
| VVS Laxman | 32 | 549 | 36.6 | 0 | 3 |
| V Sehwag | 25 | 539 | 31.7 | 0 | 4 |
And here's how they match up to the other batsmen worldwide in the same time frame (Filter: Batting Average >= 50). While compiling this list, it occurred to me that even statisticians sitting in the dressing rooms have access to this data. However, we don't, for example, see changes to the batting line up in the 4th innings depending upon who is most likely to succeed and who is almost surely not going to score big (those who are primarily first innings players).
| Player | Matches | Runs | Average | 100s | 50s |
| RT Ponting (Aus) | 40 | 1266 | 60.28 | 4 | 4 |
| GP Thorpe (Eng) | 22 | 457 | 57.12 | 1 | 2 |
| MA Butcher (Eng) | 18 | 562 | 56.2 | 1 | 3 |
| GC Smith (ICC/SA) | 30 | 1275 | 55.43 | 3 | 8 |
| ML Hayden (Aus) | 37 | 1268 | 52.83 | 1 | 9 |
| Younis Khan (Pak) | 19 | 675 | 51.92 | 3 | 3 |
| S Chanderpaul (WI) | 33 | 1136 | 51.63 | 2 | 9 |
| DPMD Jayawardene (SL) | 28 | 757 | 50.46 | 2 | 3 |
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