Review of India-New Zealand T20Is-January 2023

India continued its run of successes in white-ball cricket at home, winning the series 2-1 after losing the first match.

A total of 25 T20Is have been played between these teams.

India leads 12-10 with 3 ties.

In India, India leads 7-4

In NZ, India leads 5-4 with 3 ties

On neutral grounds, India trail 0-2. Both these losses came in World Cup matches.

Looking at individual performances, starting with Batting:

Most runs (250 or more):

Headed by RG Sharma with C Munro some distance behind Munro. S Gill and SA Yadav are the only other ones with centuries. RG Sharma has the most fifties (six).

Highest innings (75 or more):

S Gill now has the highest score in this series, overtaking Yadav’s 111* a short time ago. Munro’s 109* is the best for NZ.

Highest strike rates (minimum 250 balls faced):

This time Munro is ahead of RG Sharma.

Now for Bowling:

Most wickets (8 or more):

New Zealand bowlers dominate this list, starting with Sodhi (25) and Southee (20). The most for India is Bumrah’s 12.

Best innings bowling (including all 4wi or more):

DJ Hooda, not a frontline bowler, has the best innings figures followed by Santner and Pandya.

Most dismissals (8 or more):

Southee has the most dismissals (13). The most by a keeper is 9 by Dhoni.

Most innings dismissals: Several players have made 3 dismissals in an innings.

All-round match performance (20 runs and 2 wickets):

HH Pandya appears to have the best match performance, which came in India’s win in the final T20I.

Records by India and Shubman Gill

India won the T20I series against New Zealand 2-1, winning the decider in Ahmedabad by 168 runs. This is not a record for all T20Is, but it is a record for T20Is between full members.

The previous record for matches between full members was 143 runs, which has occurred twice: India vs Ireland in June 2018 and Pakistan vs West Indies in April 2018.

Looking at individual scores:

We see that Shubman Gill’s 126* is the highest T20I score for India. It surpasses V Kohli’s 122* vs Afghanistan in Sep 2022.

Review of India-New Zealand ODI series-Jan 2023

India won the series 3-0.

A total of 116 ODIs have been played between these teams,

India have won 58, New Zealand 50, ties 1, no result 7

In India: 29-8-0-1

In NZ: 14-26-1-4

Neutral 15-16-0-2

Note the strong home advantage for both teams.

Looking at individual performances, starting with Batting:

Most runs (750 or more):

The most centuries were 6 by Sehwag, followed by three players with 5 (Tendulkar, Kohli and Astle). The most 50+ scores were 13 by Kohli and Tendulkar, followed by 11 by R Taylor.

Highest innings scores (115 or more):

In this series, S Gill’s 208 became the highest for India against NZ, surpassing Tendulkar’s 186* in 1999. That was at Hyderabad, though on another ground.MG Bracewell’s 140 was the highest for NZ in India, surpassing NJ Astle’s 120 in 1999. Conway’s 138 also surpassed the old record.

Highest batting averages (Minimum 20 innings, all instances):

Headed by Kohli with Latham close behind.

Highest strike rates (Minimum 500 balls faced and 75.00):

Headed by Sehwag with Kapil Dev close behind.

Now for Bowling:

Most wickets (20 or more):

Srinath is far ahead of the second-placed Kumble. Southee has the most among current players.

Best innings bowling (including all 5wi):

SE Bond is the only one with a 6-for. Next is A Mishra. K Srikkanth is the only one with 2 five-fors.

Best bowling averages (Minimum 1000 balls bowled, all instances):

The best averages are by Srinath and Hadlee.

The best economy rates are by Hadlee and Kapil

The best strike rates are by Srinath and Southee.

Next is Fielding:

Most dismissals (12 or more):

Headed by the lesser-known NR Mongia, who also has the most stumpings. Latham has the most from current players, and R Taylor has the most catches by a fielder

Best innings fielding (4 or more dismissals):

Several have made 5 dismissals in an innings. Similarly for 4 catches as a fielder.

Best dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.500):

Again headed by NR Mongia.

All-round performances:

Overall performances (see criteria in table below):

Only one player qualifies here,

Match performances:

Only one player qualifies, and he was an occasional bowler.

Best innings bowling against India

After India’s first innings in the 2nd Test against New Zealand, a number of records have to be rewritten. Here we look at the best innings bowling against India by all teams in Tests.

(This covers all instances of 7 or more wickets in an innings):

Bombay-born Ajaz Patel now has:

Best figures by any team against India. The previous record was 9-95 by JM Noreiga of WI, in what was India’s first Test victory against WI.

Best figures by NZ against India. The previous record was 7-23 by Sir Richard Hadlee at Wellington in 1976. In India, the previous record was 7-64 by Patel’s teammate TG Southee at Bengaluru in 2012.

Best figures by any team against India in India. The previous record was 8-50 by NM Lyon (Aus) at Bengaluru in 2017.

We now look at the best bowling figures by New Zealand against all teams in Tests.

Ajaz Patel’s 10-119 was the best by any NZ bowler, surpassing the 9-52 by Sir Richard Hadlee against Australia at Brisbane in 1985. This also makes Patel’s haul the best for NZ away from home.

The best figures for NZ at home remain with Sir Richard, with his 7-23 against India at Wellington in 1976.

After the Test is over, we will have a look at match bowling records.

For the moment, we note that the best match figures against India are 13-106 by IT Botham (also at Wankhede) in 1980. And the best match figures by New Zealand are 15-123 by Sir Richard Hadlee against Australia at Brisbane in 1985.

Notes from the 2nd India-England Test

First, a left-over stat from the 1st Test.

Here we see that JE Root’s 218 was the highest innings score for England in India, surpassing the 207 by MW Gatting in 1984-85 which was also at Madras.

Now for the second Test. We look at India’s highest victories by runs against all teams:

We can see that India’s win by 317 runs in the 2nd Test is their highest winning margin by runs against England. The previous record was by 279 runs at Leeds in 1986. In India it was by 246 runs at Visakhapatnam in 2016-17.

This margin of 317 runs is India’s 5th highest victory against all countries.

We also look at India’s highest defeats by runs against all teams:

In the first Test, England won by 227 runs against India. This is quite far down this list, but was England’s highest victory by runs against India in India. It surpassed the 212-run victory at Mumbai in 2005-06.

Debut innings figures by Indian bowlers:

AR Patel’s 5-60 is 7th on the list, but the 2nd best by a left-arm spinner.(after DR Doshi).

We also look at debut match figures by Indian bowlers:

AR Patel’s 7-100 is again 7th on this list and the second best by a left-arm spinner after DR Doshi.

Best match bowling figures by an Indian player who scored a century in the same Test:

Ashwin has the first 3 of the 5 positions here. His 8-96 is in 2nd place.

Axar (AR) Patel has figured in these columns before:

https://abn397.wordpress.com/2015/08/28/axar-patels-feat-4-wickets-for-none-3/

The importance of February 6

On February 6, 1952 King George VI died in London. His daughter Elizabeth, who was than on an official visit to Kenya ascended the throne (though the coronation took place over a year later). 69 years later, she is still going strong….

In 2021, Queen Elizabeth will turn 95, Prince Philip will turn 100 and their marriage will complete 74 years. They were married a few months after India’s independence.

Closer home, Feb 6, 1952 was the first day of the 5th Test between India and England at Madras. England led 1-0 at that point.

In those days there used to be a rest day after 3 days of play. However Feb 7 was made the rest day instead because of the King’s demise. The English players wore black armbands.

On Feb 10th (the 4th day of play) India won by an innings and 8 runs. This was India’s first Test victory and they drew the series 1-1. This was the only Test when England was captained by DB Carr, while Vijay Hazare was India’s captain.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-tour-of-india-1951-52-61800/india-vs-england-5th-test-62729/full-scorecard

On February 6, 2021 another Test between India and England will be in progress at Chennai.

Important people born on Feb 6:

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1890)

Ronald Reagan (1911)

Eva Braun Hitler (1912)

Fred Trueman (1931)

Bob Marley (1945)

S Sreesanth (1983)

Important people who died on Feb 6:

Motilal Nehru (1931)

King George VI (1952)

Ritwik Ghatak (1976)

James Hadley Chase (1985)

Arthur Ashe (1993)

besides several football players of Manchester United in a plane crash at Munich airport in 1958.

Low Test scores against India-and India’s bowlers

While much has been said about 36 all out in recent days, it should not be forgotten that Indian bowlers have also now become capable of dismissing Test teams for two-digit scores. This did not happen before 1981, and the lowest by anyone against India is 79.

Here we list all Test scores by teams which are 100 or less, and 8 to 10 wickets down.

Note the 80/8 was not an all-out score, but probably would have ended under 100.

We give below details of the Indian bowlers involved, plus other features of interest.

Starting from the top:

SA 79 in 2015-16; I Sharma 0-4, Ashwin 5-32, Jadeja 4-33, A Mishra 1-9

NZ 80/8 in 1964-65; Desai 1-18, Jaisimha 1-4, Chandrasekhar 3-25, Durani 2-16, Venkataraghavan 1-10.

(NZ narrowly escaped defeat after they had dismissed India for 88 and made them follow on. But Sardesai had other ideas and made his maiden century of 200*)

SL 82 in 1989-90; Kapil 1-14, Prabhakar 1-27, V Raju 6-12, G Sharma 1-26.

(The only Test played at Chandigarh).

Aus 83 in 1980-81; Ghavri 2-10, S Patil 0-5, Doshi 2-53, Kapil 5-28)

(The first time an Indian team dismissed the opposition in a Test for under 100, and they squared the series with this unexpected win. India’s next win in Australia came in 2003-04.)

SA 84 in 2006-07; Zaheer 2-32, Sreesanth 5-40, VRV Singh 1-8, Kumble 2-2

(Probably the high point of Sreesanth’s Test career. This was India’s first win in SA).

BD 91 in 2000-01; Srinath 3-19, Zaheer 1-20, Agarkar 2-16, S Joshi 3-27, M Kartik 1-1

(Bangladesh’s first Test. However, they had made 400 in the first innings).

Aus 93 in 2004-05; Zaheer 1-14, Harbhajan 5-29, M Kartik 3-32, Kumble 1-5

(Australia failed to chase 107, though India won a dead Test and lost the series 2-1.)

NZ 94 in 2002-03; Zaheer 5-29, Yohannan 0-16, Nehra 2-20, Bangar 0-4, Harbhajan 2-20

(India still lost this Test. They had made 99 in the first innings.)

NZ 100 in 1980-81; Kapil 4-34, R Binny 2-26, Shastri 3-9, S Patil 1-12, K Azad 0-5

(India lost this Test. Shastri took 3-9 on debut, which included 3 wickets in 4 balls.)

WI 100 in 2019; I Sharma 3-31, Bumrah 5-7, Jadeja 0-42, Shami 2-13.

(India reduced WI to 50/9 before Roach (38) and M Cummins (19*) doubled the score.)

Comparing Indian wicketkeepers

There is a lot of debate about who is better suited to be India’s wicketkeeper. Let us compare the keeping and batting averages for all those who have kept for India.

Test keepers – dismissal rate (min 20 innings fielded):

See the 1st position (Pant) and 6th (Saha).

Now see the batting figures:

Test keepers – batting average (min 20 innings):

Here, coincidentally, Pant is still first and Saha 6th.

Now for ODIs:

ODI keepers – dismissal rate (min 20 innings fielded):

Neither Pant nor Saha have played enough to appear on this table, although Karthik and Dhoni are near the top.

ODI keepers – batting average (min 20 innings):

They don’t appear here either, although the table is headed by Dhoni, Dravid and Karthik.

For T20Is, Dhoni is the only one to have batted and fielded enough.

Coming back to Test fielding figures, the best match figures for all Test players are:

Note that Pant has a share in the world record, while Saha has a share in the runners-up record.

Chetan Chauhan R.I.P.

Chetan Pratap Singh Chauhan (1947-2020) appears to be the first international cricketer to fall victim to Covid-19.

At the time of his death, he was a state minister in Uttar Pradesh. He had earlier been a member of the Lok Sabha (Parliament).

A quick look at his cricketing career :https://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/player/27619.html

He started on a low key in 1969 against New Zealand. By 1973 he had appeared in 5 Tests without a fifty, and most cricket followers in India thought they would not see him play Tests again. However, strong domestic performances got him a place on the 1977-78 tour to (Packerized) Australia. He made a century in a tour match, 88 and 32 in his comeback Test and was then a regular in the side until 1981. Openers who followed him (such as Srikkanth) usually failed to match his consistency.

He did possess an odd record of the most Test runs without a century. He was the first to score 2000 without a century, and held this record until Shane Warne crossed it in March 2002 and went beyond 3000 until he ended with a top score of 99.

Here is a list of those who crossed 1000 without a century. Many of them are tailenders (including many regular No 10s and 11s) who played enough Tests to reach 1000:

(Up to Jul 31 2020. Does not include the ICC XI v Aus Test).

We can see that Warne and Chauhan are the only ones to cross 2000 without a century. The current player N Dickwella will probably join them soon. But he would probably prefer to score a century and get off this list!

The lowest average here is by JM Anderson (9.68) followed by Waqar Younis (10,20)

Waqar and NM Lyon are the only ones to cross 1000 without a fifty. Lyon has a slightly better average of 12.27.

Chauhan has the most 50s here (16) and is followed by Dickwella with 15 and Mackay with 13.

We take a look at the

Same players ranked by batting averages (for averages above 20):

This table is headed by the relatively unknown BM Laird (an opener), KD Mackay (all-rounder) and TD Paine (wicketkeeper). Chauhan is 4th on this list. There are several other Indian players in this category who averaged above 20, ranging from Surti to Abid Ali.

Finally, let us look at

Indian opening batsmen (who played at least 20 innings at No 1 or 2):

The first two names are easily guessed, though you might not have expected Shastri and Gambhir to be the next two. Chauhan does not fare too well here, being 20th out of 28. However he is above some well-known names such as Pankaj Roy and K Srikkanth.

Even non-flashy openers have a place, although they often do not get a long enough run.

Lies, damn lies and statistics in cricket-Revised in 2020

For some unknown reason, this post in Dec 2015 was the most popular of my cricket-related posts and got over 700 views in that month.

https://abn397.wordpress.com/2015/12/07/lies-damn-lies-and-statistics-in-cricket/

So I thought of revising it in 2020.

The first question we asked was “Who is the best opening bowler of the 2010s?”

Here we set the bowling position as #1 or #2, and a minimum of 50 wickets.

You may have thought of someone like Steyn or Mitchell Johnson or Morkel.

In Dec 2015, R Ashwin had the best average, BW Hilfenhaus the best economy rate, and Ashwin again with the best strike rate.

When we consider the entire 2010s:

There is another unexpected result with the burly Rangana Herath having the best bowling average here. He is followed by Bumrah (expected) and Rabada (also expected). Ashwin is 4th.

Other spinners here are MDK (Dilruwan) Perera, and MH Miraz.

This time Mohammad Abbas has the best economy rate and K Rabada the best strike rate.

Next, who is India’s best opening bowler? Surely Kapil or Srinath?

In 2015 we got Ashwin again (followed by Srinath and Kapil). Phadkar had the best economy rate and Ashwin the best strike rate.

Again in 2020, we consider all those who bowled at 1 or 2 for India and took at least 50 wickets up to the end of 2019.

This time Bumrah leads, followed by his contemporaries Ashwin and B Kumar. The first 4 places are held by current players.

Phadkar still has the best economy rate and is now followed by Bumrah. Bumrah has the best strike rate while Ashwin is second.

Finally, who was India’s best all-rounder? We consider all those who scored at least 1000 runs and took 100 wickets up to the end of 2019.

In 2015, it was Ashwin followed by Kapil and Pathan.

In 2020, the topper was not Ashwin but one of his contemporaries.

Indeed, this is led by Jadeja who is followed by Ashwin and Kapil. Of course, anyone below Shastri in this table should not really be called an all-rounder.

 

Notes on Test statistics-Nov 2019

Pairs by captains:

Mominul Haque became the latest captain to make a pair. Also remember the double act by du Plessis and Sarfaraz last year.

While the balls faced in an innings were not always recorded before 2000, we know that the only unusual pairs by captains were the “queen pairs” or silver pairs by Bedi and de Villiers.

Highest scores by wicketkeepers:

BJ Watling’s double century is the highest score by a wicketkeeper from New Zealand, but there are many other keepers with high scores:

Scores above 175 by wicketkeepers:

Mushfiqur Rahim is the only keeper with two double centuries.

Highest totals in Eng-NZ Tests:

New Zealand’s 615/9 dec against England was the highest in ANY Test between these teams:

Lowest scores against India:

Bangladesh’s 106 in 30.3 overs is not really the worst innings score against India. But it is the lowest score (both by runs and balls faced) in the first innings against India.

You can also see how Afghanistan fared in their first Test, against India in June 2018. They have picked up well after that.

 

200+ scores for and against India

RG Sharma made the 54th score of 200 and above in a Test for India. These include 3 of 300+ and 51 from 200-299. Kohli has the most such scores (7), although Sehwag has the highest scores both inside and outside India. Outside Asia, we go quite far down until we reach Tendulkar’s 241* at Sydney.

The first such score was Umrigar’s 223 in 1955, equalled in the next month by Mankad and then surpassed by him with 231 which remained the record until Gavaskar’s 236* in 1983.This was surpassed by VVS Laxman’s 281 in 2001, Sehwag’s 309 in 2004 and again by him in 2008.

The highest in a win is 309 by Sehwag, in a loss 201* by Sehwag and in a draw 319 by (who else) Sehwag. An unique triple.

Now we see who did the same against India:

4 triple centuries and 47 from 200-299.

McCullum and Ponting have each done this 3 times against India.

The highest score here is Jayasuriya’s 340, the highest outside Asia is Gooch’s 333 and the highest in India is M Jayawardene’s 275.

The best in a victory is 333 by Gooch, in a defeat 242 by Ponting and in a draw 340 by Jayasuriya. In fact, Ponting’s 242 is the highest in any Test defeat.