Over to Fortress Brisbane

First we look at India’s performance at the Gabba ground in Brisbane, which has been holding Tests since 1931-32. India played its first Test here in 1947-48.

India has lost 6 of the 7 Tests here, with one being drawn.

Some points of interest:

The Test in 1947 was India’s first ever against Australia. India was dismissed for 58 and 98, thanks to left-arm paceman Ernie Toshack who took 5-2 (!) and 6-29. The match figures of 11-31 are the 4th most economical 10-wicket haul in all Tests.

India lost narrowly in 1977 against a weakened team led by RB Simpson, who was playing his first Test in 10 years. Gavaskar scored the first of his 3 second-innings centuries in this series.

The 2003 draw was significant as it was the first time that India had not lost the opening Test of a series in Australia. This was mainly due to captain Ganguly’s 144.

Australia has played 62 Tests at the Gabba. They have won 40, lost 8, drawn 13 and tied 1.

We look at their record since 1980:

Here we see that Australia has

won ALL 7 Tests in a row since Nov 2013.

and has not lost a test here since Nov 1988.

However, they had lost 3 Tests in a row from 1984 to 1986 before this.

So if India win (or even draw) this Test it would be a remarkable achievement-particularly as they may struggle to have 11 players fit in this match.

We also look at the Pant-Saha comparisons.

First, the dismissal rates for Indian players outside India since 2010 (when Saha made his debut).

Here we get Pant leading with 2.23 dis/innings, followed by Dhoni with 2.10 and Saha with 1.48

And batting averages for Indian players outside India for the same period:

First is Tendulkar with 57.03. Pant is 9th with 36.00 (2 centuries and one fifty), and Saha is 23rd with 27.28 (1 century and 3 fifties).

A pity that sloppy wicket-keeping is hidden by a higher career dismissal rate.

The Rishabh and Rahul show

(Figures as on August 23, 2018)

While Virat Kohli was Man of the Match, the twin fielding feats of Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul played a large part in India’s victory at Nottingham.

First we look at fielding performances on debut, with reference to Rishabh:

Innings fielding on debut:

Rishabh’s 5 dismissals is the best for India on debut by a wicketkeeper, though Yajurvindra had taken 5 as a non-keeper. A few Indian keepers had earlier taken 4 catches in an innings on their debut.

Match fielding on debut:

Here, both Rishabh and Yajurvindra made 7 dismissals on debut. Rishabh’s 7 is the best by any Indian keeper on debut. Some Indian keepers had made 5 dismissals on debut.

Note that Yajurvindra’s 5 in the innings and 7 in the match remain the best by any debutant non-keeper.

We look at fielding performances by non-keepers.

(This is for all matches, not merely on debut).

Innings fielding:

The world record is 5, shared by the fielders listed above. The first to achieve this was VY Richardson, maternal grandfather of the Chappell brothers. Several current and recent players can be seen. KL Rahul is one of many who took 4 catches (in the 4th innings, to add to the 3 he took in the first innings).

Match fielding:

While current player Rahane is the only one to take 8 catches in a match (which, by the way, India lost), KL Rahul is one of several to take 7 catches. Note that no one had taken 7 catches in a match until Greg Chappell in 1974.

 

 

Best innings fielding on Test debut

This is being written in the middle of the 3rd Eng v Ind Test.

These figures may have concerned the player’s first or second innings as  a fielder.

Note the only non-keeper Yajurvindra Singh, who took as many catches as Rishabh Pant.

He had a short career of 4 Tests, as did Maclean.

Emery played only one Test, as he had the misfortune to play in the Healy era.

Six off first ball on debut-and soon vanished

When Rishabh Pant hit his second ball on Test debut for six, the keepers of arcane statistics pointed out that this had only been surpassed by New Zealander Mark Craig, who had done this on his first ball while making his debut in 2014. More importantly, he took 8 wickets in the match and played a major role in one of New Zealand’s rare victories in the West Indies.

See: http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/497543.html

and this extract from Steven Lynch’s column:

“Has anyone hit his first ball in Test cricket for six? And how about his last ball? asked Julian Metcalfe from England
The only player so far to hit the first ball he received in Test cricket for six was the New Zealand offspinner Mark Craig, who cracked Sulieman Benn of West Indies over the long-off boundary in Kingston in June 2014. In the field that day, probably nodding approvingly, was Chris Gayle, who remains the only man to hit the very first ball of a Test match for six – from the debutant Sohag Gazi of Bangladesh in Mirpur in 2012. The only man known to have hit his last ball in Test cricket for six was another West Indian, Wayne Daniel, against Australia in Port-of-Spain in 1984.”

Craig seemed set for a long career, particularly as he soon became one of  the few to make the double of a fifty and ten wickets in a Test during his first year of international cricket.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;orderby=start;qualmin1=1;qualmin2=10;qualval1=fifty_plus;qualval2=wickets;template=results;type=allround;view=match

However, his Test career lasted little over two years and he is no longer in contention for the NZ team. Probably this was more because his bowling figures had declined, though he continued to score useful runs in the lower order.

He played 15 Tests and no ODIs and T20Is.

Here you can see his Test career (2014-2016):

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/497543.html?class=1;template=results;type=allround;view=match