Afghanistan-the first 5 Tests

Afghanistan has now played 6 Tests, neatly divided into 3 losses and 3 wins.

Here we compare the performances in the first 5 Tests for all teams (except Ireland who have played only 3 Tests).

(1 point for a win, 0.5 for a draw)

We see that Australia and England have the best performance in their first 5 Tests, followed by Afghanistan, New Zealand and Pakistan.

Australia is the only team to win their first Test, and Zimbabwe the only one to draw their first Test. Zimbabwe in fact drew their first 2 Tests.

Bangladesh and South Africa lost their first 5 Tests in a row.

We now look at individual performances by Afghan players in the 6 Tests played so far.

Most runs (100 and more):

Note the consistency of Asghar Afghan and Rahmat Shah who each made four 50+ scores.

Highest scores (75 and above):

While H Shahidi has the only double century here, others have been more consistent.

Bowling (5 or more wickets overall):

Rashid Khan has more than twice the next (Amir Hamza)

Innings bowling (4 or more wickets):

Note the dominance of Rashid Khan here. He and Amir Hamza are the only ones to have taken 4wi. Hamza’s 5-74 against WI was on debut.

Match bowling (5 or more wickets):

The top three places are by Rashid Khan, and the next two by Amir Hamza. He took 6-79 on debut.

Most dismissals (4 or more):

While wicketkeeper A Zazai has 10 dismissals, I Zadran has the most (6) by a non-keeper.

All-round overall:

Rashid Khan is the only one who can be called an all-rounder.

All-round match (fifty and 5wi):

Here, too, the only standout performer is Rashid Khan. He was captaining his side, and scored a fifty and took over 10 wickets. The only other Test captains who did this are Imran Khan (v Ind 1982-83) and AR Border (v WI 1988-89).

The Test debutants of 2019

Good performances by those who made their Test debut in 2019:

Batting:

40 or more in an innings:

One century was made by Pakistan’s Abid Ali. He scored another century in his second Test.

The next highest was by I Zadran of Afghanistan.

DJ Mitchell did not play in the Aus-NZ series which followed his debut.

van der Dussen scored another fifty (68) in his second Test. He had also done well in the World Cup before his Test debut.

Muthusamy played only 2 Tests and does not seem to be in the running now.

80 or more in the match:

Zadran also scored over a hundred on debut. Muthusamy scored 82 without being dismissed.

Bowling:

4 or more wickets in an innings:

Embuldeniya has added a 4-for to his 5-for on debut.

Linde has not played in a Test after his debut.

Amir Hamza’s team has not played a Test after his debut. He also made 34.

6 or more wickets in a match:

While JA Richardson (with the curious forename of Jhye) did well on debut, he was not considered for Australia’s Tests later in the year. He is a regular for 20 and 50 over cricket.

Embuldeniya is now a regular, while Adair and Hamza await their side’s infrequent Tests.

Fielding:

3 dismissals in an innings:

Not much heard about them, although Klaasen had been a regular in 20 and 50 over cricket.

5 dismissals in an match:

Alikhil still awaits another Test for Afghanistan, and has played in 50-over cricket.

Patterson also scored a century in his second Test, but does not find a place in the current Australian side.

All-round:

40 runs and 4 wickets:

Only Linde, who is not in the current SA team.

30 runs and 3 dismissals:

I Zadran did well as a fielder, although Patterson may not add to his 2 Tests for a while.

The most promising of the newcomers seem to be Abid Ali, van der Dussen, Embuldeniya and Amir Hamza. Others have not done much, particularly as some teams have limited opportunities.

 

 

 

Afghanistan’s performance so far

Afghanistan has won 2 and lost 2 of its first 4 Tests. This makes it the best performer along with Australia and England:

(Here we have taken 1.0 for a win and 0.5 for a draw).

Now we look at individual performances:

Most runs (100 and above):

Rahmat Shah is the only one with a century. He and Asghar Afghan each have three fifties.

Highest innings (50 and above):

Ibrahim Zadran and Ihsanullah made fifties on debut.

Most wickets (5 and above):

Rashid Khan is the only one with a 10wm, and he also has the most 5wis (3).

Best innings bowling (3wi and above):

The two best figures are by Rashid Khan in the course of his 11-for. He also scored a fifty.

Amir Hamza took 5-74 on debut.

Best match bowling:

Apart for Rashid Khan’s dominance, there is Amir Hamza’s 6-wicket haul on debut.

Most dismissals (4 and above):

Note that Ibrahim Zadran and Ihsanullah have the most by non-keepers.

All-round match performance (50 and 5wi):

Once again Rashid Khan stands alone. In fact he has the rare double of a fifty and 10wm, which has happened only 29 times in all Tests.

 

 

Fielding fails in T20Is

(Data correct as on 14 Mar 2017)

After looking at batting and bowling fails in all three formats, we turn our attention to those who failed to make any fielding dismissal in their careers.

Here we have these players arranged in order of innings fielded:

Amir Hamza of Afghanistan leads by a large margin over the better known Rangana Herath, currently the Sri Lankan Test captain and the only current Test player who made his debut in the 1990s.

Amir Hamza is an useful bowler but not much of a batsman either. But he is a regular for ODIs and T20Is at the moment.

A number of other somewhat well-known international players appear here, including some Test players.

You can see that the results would be virtually the same if you arrange them in order of matches played.

Now we look at wicket-keepers who have failed to dismiss anyone:

A number of Test and ODI players here, who have at least made some dismissals at those levels. The leader here is Regis Chakabva (9 Tests, 9 dismissals) followed by Carlton Baugh  (no less than 21 Tests, 43 catches and 5 stumpings). NV Ojha has played one Test and one ODI and has made dismissals in both.

Finally, we look at those who never fielded in their T20I career:

Nothing profound here. These two players from Netherlands were involved in a washed-out game against Ireland in 2008. As the toss was made, ICC rules state that this match counts in their career records. (Statisticians may disagree; as some disregard matches involving the ICC XI and their like, perhaps these matches should also be disregarded).

While Mol did play several ODIs, Schoonheim did not play for his country on any other occasion.