In the ongoing Test at Kingston, India registered a somewhat rare triumph of a fifty at No 9 along with a century partnership.
Fifty plus by No 9 batsmen from India:
Ishant Sharma’s 57 is a little below the middle. There are several Indians above him, led by J Yadav who vanished as quickly as he got into the team. Even a century at no 9 does not help.
Century partnership for the 8th wicket by India:
Again, the partnership of 112 by Vihari and Ishant is a little below the middle. There is one against WI a little higher (120* by Dravid and Sarandeep in 2002).
For the sake of comparison, we also look at:
Fifty plus at No 9 against the West Indies:
Here, too, Ishant is a bit lower than the middle. The highest for India is 79 by Kunderan in 1966-67. The highest for India in the West Indies is 68 by BS Sandhu. Oddly enough, Sandhu’s 71 against Pakistan in 1982-83 is the best on debut by a No 9 in all Tests.
Century partnerships for the 8th wicket against the West Indies:
The Vihari – Sharma partnership is the 8th highest here, while the 120* by Dravid and Sarandeep is the 6th highest. The highest partnership of 217 was part of one of the more remarkable comebacks in all Tests, when Brian Close captained for the first time:
This involved a recovery from 166/7 to 527 and fifty-plus from the No 9, 10 and 11 batsmen (Murray, Higgs and Snow).
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