Is a specialist batsman worth his place at No.7?

In a format that many teams haven't yet become used to, team composition remains a hot topic for discussion. India's early exit has had many pundits questioning the team's strategy of playing the extra batsman and going in with only three specialist bowlers.

Those in favour of the extra batsman reckon it gives the rest of the line-up the confidence to bat with more freedom, with the knowledge that there is a batsman who can shore things up if the top order fails to fire. Those against it fail to see the logic of playing seven batsmen for an innings that only lasts 120 balls. Here's a look at what the numbers have to say about the runs scored and balls faced by batsmen at each batting position in Twenty20 internationals played between the top 10 teams (Zimbabwe and the nine Test-playing nations).

The openers obviously play the most balls and have the highest average: they score 25.60 runs per dismissal, and face about 19 deliveries per innings. They also get the maximum opportunity to get the big scores - three out of four hundreds, and 74 out of 150 half-centuries in these matches have come courtesy the openers. The number of balls faced per innings goes down marginally for the No. 3 and 4 batsmen, but thereafter it reduces quite a bit, with the average balls per innings at 12.22 for the sixth position.

At No. 7, the average and strike rate don't change too much, but the balls per innings reduces to 9.56. And that's the average when the No. 7 batsman actually comes out to bat; there are instances when he isn't even required to bat. Taking those games into consideration, the average balls faced by a No. 7 batsman per match is 14.87 for both teams together; per team, it's half of that, or 7.44. Would you want a specialist batsman in a position that, on average, will offer him fewer than eight deliveries? On the other hand, it could be argued that in a format that gives a team only 120 deliveries, even eight balls count for a lot.

A look at the team-wise stats indicates Australia have easily been the team who have got the most out of their No. 7 batsman: in 22 innings they've managed 366 runs, at a high average and strike rate. It's also noticeable that the No. 7 batsmen from most teams only get about 7.5 deliveries per match. It's even fewer for India, whose No. 7 only faces 6.64 balls per match, which is fractionally more than an over.

Australia's excellent stats at No. 7 are largely due to Michael Hussey, who is a perfect example of a batsman at five-down who offers plenty of value. Twice in this World Cup, Australia have struggled at the start, and twice Hussey has done his act: against Bangladesh he came in at 57 for 5 and helped them recover to 141 with an unbeaten 29-ball 47; against Sri Lanka his undefeated 39 off 26 was an excellent support role for Cameron White. Of course, Australia can also afford the luxury of a specialist batsman at No. 7 because of the strength of their four specialist bowlers, and because of the all-round option that Shane Watson offers.

Apart from the opening position, the other batting slot that has been most profitable has been No. 4, where the average and strike rate are higher than at the No. 3 position. Again, Australia have the best strike rate, and a very good average. India have done well too, thanks largely to a batsman who isn't quite having the best time of his career at the moment.

Among batsmen who've played at least six innings at this position, Bangladesh's Mohammad Ashraful has the best strike rate, of almost 181 runs per 100 balls. He's been in too much of a hurry, though, averaging only 15.67, which means he lasts fewer than nine balls per dismissal when he bats at this position.

The other batsmen in this list, though, have done a much better job of marrying the urgency to score with the need to last a reasonable number of deliveries. Andrew Symonds and David Hussey have done the bulk of the scoring for the Australians, while Yuvraj Singh, in his better days, was quite a force for India at that position.