Washington Sundar’s good start

At the time of writing, the 1st Test between India and England at Chennai has ended in defeat for the home side. Washington Sundar’s Test batting record is now 62 and 22 followed by 85* and 0, thus making two fifties in his first two Tests.

Not such a big deal, is it? 15 Indian players have made a century on Test debut (although a significant proportion of them never made another century). There are 44 instances of Indian players making at least one fifty on their debut, such as Sundar.

We now look at cases where they scored at least two scores of fifty-plus in their first two Tests. There are only 14 such instances. Let us look more closely at them.

1. Dilawar Hussain (1933-34): 59, 57; 13, 36. He and Gavaskar are the only Indian players to make two 50+ scores on Test debut.

2. DG Phadkar (1947-48): 51, 2; 55*, 13

3. AG Kripal Singh (1955-56): 100*; 63

4. SM Gavaskar (1970-71): 65, 67*; 116, 64* No less than four 50+ scores in his first two Tests. He and Dilawar are the only Indian players to score two fifties on Test debut.

5. J Arun Lal (1982-83): 63,1; 51

6. M Azharuddin (1984-85): 110; 48, 105

7. R Dravid (1996): 95; 84, 8

8. SC Ganguly (1996): 131; 136, 48 These two played their debut and second Tests together.

9. DJ Gandhi (1999-2000): 0, 75; 88, 31*

10. SK Raina (2010): 120; 62, 41*

12. RG Sharma (2013-14): 177; 111* Centuries in his first two innings, but not in the same Test.

12. PP Shaw (2018-19): 134; 70, 33*

13. MA Agarwal (2018-19): 76, 42; 77

14. W Sundar (2020-21): 62, 22; 85*,0

Some, like Dilawar, Arun Lal and Gandhi never scored a Test century.

Of these, only Gavaskar made four 50+ scores in his first two Tests. This is probably a world Test record. No one else from India made three 50+ scores in his first two Tests.

Unbeaten scores of 99,199 and 299

Test scores of 99 are more common than one may imagine. Misbah’s score of 99 in the ongoing Test at Kingston was the 89th such instance. The first such score was by Clem Hill against England in early 1902.

Scores of 99* are somewhat rarer. Here is the full list of such scores in chronological order:

The first such score was recorded only in late 1979. Boycott carried his bat through this innings.

Boycott had a special affinity for 99, as he was the first to score 99 and a century in the same Test:  http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63121.html

That series-equalling win was also due to Tony Greig’s little-used off-spin which got him 13 wickets in the match.

RT Ponting (101 and 99) was the only other batsman to score a century and 99 in the same Test, which was against South Africa at Melbourne in 2008-09.

All the scores of 99* (except that of Tudor) ended when the team was bowled out. Tudor’s 99* remains the only one where the team was chasing a target. This Test, which immediately followed the 1999 World Cup, had a rather weird scorecard:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63841.html

10 wickets fell on the first day and 21 on the second. At close England was 3 for 1 facing a target of 208. Alex Tudor, who normally batted at 8 or below, had come in as a nightwatchman at the fall of the first wicket. On the 3rd day it looked as if he would get a century but his fourth-wicket partner Graham Thorpe was in a hurry to finish things off, leaving Tudor stranded on his highest Test score of 99*. It was to be his only score above 50.

199s and 199*s are still rarer. Here is a complete list of the 11 instances:

The first 199 was scored in late 1984 by Mudassar Nazar, and the most recent by KL Rahul. Both the unbeaten 199s came when the teams were bowled out. Andy Flower scored 142 in addition to 199* in a follow-on as his side lost the Test. (That match ended on 9/11 in 2001).

Sangakkara was more fortunate as his team won.

And 299? Two such instances, the first one being unbeaten:

Martin Crowe’s 299 was the New Zealand record for over two decades until McCullum made 302.  Let us have a closer look at Bradman’s unbeaten 299:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/62601.html

This was the 4th Test of Australia’s 5-0 whitewash of South Africa, who had not yet fully graduated from whipping boys. Bradman was stranded on 299 when the No 11 HM Thurlow was run out for 0 on his debut. Thurlow also failed to take a wicket in two innings. Predictably his first Test was his last.

Karun Nair’s Test records

You will remember the fuss about Karun Nair when he scored his triple century in his third Test at Chennai. We now look at his oddly skewed Test career after he has completed 6 Tests. This should be apparent from this sequence of scores:

He has a respectable average of 62.33. But he scored 303 of his 374 runs in one innings (81.0 %) and never made another score above 50. To be precise, his next highest score is only 26.

It is hoped that he will play at least a few more Tests and score more centuries. Until then, he holds a couple of records in all Tests. This does NOT include the highest maiden century, as Gary Sobers (365*) and Bob Simpson (311) are ahead.

Highest score by someone who scored only one century ( 150 and above):

KK Nair heads this list, ahead of England’s RE Foster who held the record for about 113 years. His 287 (on debut) was the world Test record until early 1930 when Andy Sandham made 325 (in his last Test), though Bradman crossed it with 334 later the same year.

Foster, Kuruppu, Fawad Alam, K Ibadulla, C Bannerman and A Jackson  were making their Test debuts. Gillespie made his only century in his last Test while batting as nightwatchman. There are several other current players here led by MT Renshaw with 184.

Another quirky record is the highest Test score made by someone who never made a fifty (i.e. a score between 50 and 99). This gets a bit messy due to Statsguru’s limitations, but we get these figures:

Highest score by those who scored one century and no fifty (110 and above):

Highest score by those who scored two centuries and no fifties (all cases):

And finally:

Highest score by those who scored three centuries and no fifties (all cases):

No one has scored more than three centuries without a fifty. For a short time KL Rahul shared the record with Bopara. But Rahul scored his first fifty soon after he scored his third century.

As we can see, KK Nair is the only one to score a triple century but no fifty. David Lloyd and Brendon Kuruppu are the only ones to score a double century but no fifty. And Ravi Bopara’s Test career may be over, but he also holds a record which may not be broken for a long time.

KK Nair is also the only current player with one or more centuries and no fifties.

 

 

 

 

 

Batting fails in T20I matches

You may think that this is about England losing 8 wickets for 8 runs in the third match. That has been covered enough elsewhere. Here we note some remarkable figures about players who have played the most matches and innings without scoring a single run, and others who have gone a step better and did not get to face a single ball while batting. These figures are as on 2 Feb 2017.

The unlikely hero here is India’s new-found death bowler Jasprit Bumrah, apparently a Sikh who was born and brought up in Ahmedabad. We know about his bowling. Now see the records he has set while batting.

Most matches played without scoring a run (5 or more):

Bumrah stands at the peak with 24 T20Is played without scoring a single run, twice that of his nearest competitors Santokie and Sodhi. He did bat in 4 innings, faced 2 balls and was dismissed once. As you can see, there are others who have played up to 9 matches without being called on the bat. The Australian Test player Stuart Clark played 9 matches without going in to bat.Then come Fareed Ahmed and the better known Josh Hazlewood in 7 matches. The latest hero YS Chahal has not had to bat in his 6 matches.

Now we look at

Most innings played without scoring a run (2 or more):

Bumrah leads here as well, but interestingly a prominent Test batsman MS Sinclair also appears here. The end of his career seemed to coincide with the increase in the frequency of T20Is which began in 2005.Ruchira Perera also played a few Tests as an all-rounder. Note that he played 2 innings without facing a ball.

Next, we look at those who never got to face a ball in T20Is.

Most matches played without facing a ball (5 or more):

Santokie and Sodhi head this list. Next comes A. Mishra who did get dismissed without facing a ball, with the dreaded diamond duck which usually strikes non-strikers who are run out. Then we note that Stuart Clark heads the list of those who never went out to bat.

The first four in this list have Indian connections-even Stuart Clark, whose parents were Anglo-Indians.

Finally, we look at the most innings played without facing a ball. It is a short list.

Most innings played without facing a ball (1 or more):

The aforementioned Ruchira Perera heads this list, playing two innings without facing a ball. Note that AA Noffke, like Amit Misra, also got a diamond duck.

ODIs and Test matches deserve separate posts.

High scores at No 11

In the general batting mayhem of the 3rd ODI between England and Pakistan at Nottingham, it did not go unnoticed that Mohammad Amir on the losing side scored 58 at No 11 which was the first 50 by a No 11 in an ODI. The previous record was 43 by Shoaib Akhtar in the 2003 World Cup.

As we can see from the scorecard , Amir was joint top scorer in the innings with Sharjeel.

We take this occasion to look more closely at scores by No 10 and 11 batsmen in all 3 formats.

Tests:

45 and above at No 11:

Note that the top 4 scores have come after 2000.

There is even a listing of No 11s who have top scored in the innings:

The highest score of 98 here was made by AC Agar on his debut. The lowest (14) also came in recent years, when Australia moved from 21/9 to 47.

At No 10, there have been 4 centuries and a ninety:

And there are numerous centuries at No 9. The highest is 173 by IDS Smith for NZ v Ind in 1989-90, followed by 169 by SC Broad in this famous Test. The highest for India is 90 by FM Engineer vs NZ in 1964-65.

We now move to ODIs:

Highest by No 11 (30 and above):

Highest score by No 10 (50 and above):

Note that Amir also held this record for over two years before Rampaul took it.

At No 9, the highest is 92* by AD Russell for WI vs Ind in 2011. For India, it is 69 by Jai P. Yadav in the same match as IK Pathan (above).

As we will see, tailender scores are considerably lower in T20Is.

Top scores by No 11 (in double figures):

Only 4 No 11s have crossed double figures. The highest for India is 5* by Ishant Sharma v SL in 2009-10

Top scores by No 10 (20 and above):

The highest for India is 19* by S Sreesanth v NZ in the 2007 World Championship.

At No 9, the highest is 46 by Anwar Ali for Pak v SL in 2015. For India, it is 33* by IK Pathan v SL in 2008-09.

 

 

 

Hanif Mohamad R.I.P.-some highlights

This time it is true-he did pass away on 11th August. We review some highlights of his career. There is of course Cricinfo for an overview.

Hanif made his debut in Pakistan’s very first Test in 1952, remembered more for Mankad’s 13-wicket haul. Here he made 51 and 1, and was also the designated wicket-keeper. That didn’t go too well, as he conceded 28 byes in India’s only innings besides taking one catch. He played his first 3  Tests (all against India in 1952-53) as a wicket-keeper but never kept in Tests later.

He is remembered for his 337 against the West Indies, which occurred in the very first test between Pakistan and the West Indies: http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/62835.html

Note that his 337 came in a follow-on, and the 4 successive century partnerships with Imtiaz, Alimuddin, Saeed Ahmed and brother Wazir. Ultimately Pakistan lost the series 3-1, running into Sobers and his 365 not out along the way. And the 970-minute innings is a record in all Tests, though not in first-class cricket now.

Hanif’s innings was a record for all first-class cricket for over 40 years, until it was broken in a Ranji Trophy match between two weak sides: http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283145.html

In Tests, only Gary Kirsten has come close.

Then there was the first-class record which stood for over three decades. It came about a year after the Test mentioned above.

http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Records/Firstclass/Overall/Highest_Player_Scores.html

And this was the match scorecard:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/pakistan/engine/match/308265.html

While most of the Karachi team had played or would play for Pakistan, the Bahawalpur team did not have any Test players.

The Parsi Institute Ground has since sunk into obscurity, hosting its last first-class match in 1976-77.

Finally, here is a souvenir from the birthplace of the Mohammad brothers (taken in 2013):