Highlights of the Nagpur Test (2023)

The first Test between India and Australia was concluded well before the close of the 3rd day. As you may guess, some records for low totals and highest defeats were set. There were also near-records in bowling figures on debut.

Let us first look at margins of defeat:

Worst innings defeats against India:

The result at Nagpur is not near the top. From the above list we see that the margin of an innings and 132 runs is the 3rd

worst by Australia vs India, after an innings and 219 (Kolkata, 1998), and 135 (Hyderabad, 2013).

Next we see the lowest team scores against India:

Australia’s 91 is not their lowest total against India. That was 83 at Melbourne in 1981 (which was the first time that any team was dismissed under 100 against India). But it is the lowest total for Australia in India, lowering the record of 93 at Mumbai in 2004.

There was some cheer for Australia in Todd Murphy’s 7-124 on debut. It is not quite a record for an Australian on debut against India:

Best innings bowling against India on Test debut:

It is the 5th highest haul, and the second highest by an Australian after JJ Krejza’s 8-215 in 2008. That Test was also at Nagpur and also ended in defeat (by 172 runs) for Australia. Krejza was, like Murphy, an off-spinner.

Test bowlers who failed on debut-Revised (Jan 2018)

This post from late 2015 started getting more views in January, perhaps because they wanted to see how England’s debutant Mason Crane would fare. He does appear here, but has not set any records. But Adil Rashid had done so in 2015.

England’s Adil Rashid became the unlikely hero for England on the last day of the first Test against Pakistan, but not before he had set an unwanted Test record in the first innings-the worst innings bowling by a debutant. This is assuming that no wicket was taken.

(All statistics are up to Jan 17, 2018 after the Ashes series and the 2nd Test between SA and Ind).

Worst innings bowling on debut-no wicket and 100+ runs conceded:

He took over the record from Australia’s one-test player BE McGain, while India’s Pankaj Singh is a close third. A few well-known names appear here, such as RG Nadkarni, GOB Allen and even JR Thomson. Bangladesh’s Abul Hasan at least got a century at No 10 to compensate; oddly enough he scored 113 in that innings to go with his 0-113. A more recent addition was 0-102 by RL Chase of WI.

A more unwanted record would pertain to those who failed to take any wicket in the match (though in some cases only one innings was bowled):

Worst match bowling on debut-no wicket and 100+ runs conceded:

Here Pankaj Singh is in top place, surpassing Pakistan’s Sohail Khan and the better-known Aaqib Javed. McGain’s 0-149 in an innings gets him into 4th place here. Some famous names here include RG Nadkarni, MA Holding, HH Streak, GOB Allen and others we have met before such as Abul Hasan and JR Thomson. More recently RL Chase entered this list with his 0-102 (which was in a single innings).

Of course, one may be able to take a wicket or two and yet concede a large number of runs. Now we look at those who took wickets but conceded the most runs in an innings on debut:

Worst innings bowling on debut-150+ runs conceded:

Here the leader is a current Sri Lankan player S Randiv who took over the lead from Australia’s JJ Krejza in 2010. Mason Crane ends up in 5th position with his 1-193. Not many well-known players here, until you come to the bottom to the Australian who took one wicket (Ravi Shastri) on debut.

There are several who took expensive fivers on debut but had rather short careers (Krejza being a good example as he played only one more Test). Adil Rashid finds his place in the top half of this list.

And finally we look at the most expensive match bowling figures on debut:

Worst match bowling on debut- 190+ runs conceded:

A surprisingly large number of bowlers conceded 200 or more runs in the match on debut. These include the luckless Krejza with 12-358 in a Test lost by Australia. Another 10-for here is AL Valentine’s 11-204. The West Indies lost this Test, but in the next three Tests he and his “old pal of mine” Ramadhin combined to wreck England.

Rashid finds his place here towards the middle with 5-227.  Crane is also here with 1-193 (as he bowled in one innings). There are a few current players who are yet unproven (such as KV Sharma) but the only other well-known players are AA Mailey (6-200) and J Garner (6-190).

Best debut bowling against India

The second Test at Centurion was noted for various things such as silly runouts and young Ngidi’s bowling. Here we look at the best bowling figures on debut against and for India (all figures as of 17 Jan 2018).

Best against India-innings (5wi): 

Ngidi is in 5th position here, while his compatriot Klusener leads. That was to remain Klusener’s best in Tests, as in the case of Lever. Krezja’s effort came in a defeat for his team, and he played only one Test after this. Hazlewood is another current player in this list, while B Lee, like Bedser, had a long career.

Bedser and Pollard made their debut together. BR Taylor remains the only one in all Tests to make a century and take a fiver on debut. We will come to Lever’s similar record in a moment.

Best against India-match (7wm):

The luckless Krezja tops this table. Bedser is second, and he followed with another 11-wicket haul in his second Test to start a long career for England. His partner Pollard is also here, though he had a relatively short career. Ngidi is relatively lower in this table as he took only one wicket in the first innings.

Hazlewood is the only other current player to appear here. Other famous names include B Lee and Trueman.

In an odd case of symmetry, JK Lever was the only one in all Tests to score a fifty and take a ten-for on debut. India’s S Venkataraghavan was in the Indian team on both occasions.

We also look at the corresponding figures for Indian bowlers on debut.

Best for India-innings (5wi):

Hirwani steals the show here. He had a slightly better career than RAL Massie, who also took 16 wickets on debut. Ashwin and Shami are in the current team, as is Mishra from recent times. Nissar’s effort came in India’s first-ever Test.

Best for India-match (7wm):

Hirwani again leads, with the best match figures in all Tests by a debutant. His 16-136 was just ahead of Massie’s 16-137. Shami, Ashwin and Mishra appear here as well. Doshi and Yadav had moderately successful careers.