Review of Tests in 2020-Part 2

Hope you have read Part 1.

We continue with individual performances

Fielding – 8 or more dismissals:

Led by Buttler and Watling. The most catches by a fielder are 14 by Root and Stokes.

From India, Pant has 12 catches as a keeper.

The most stumpings is 3 by Dickwella.

Innings dismissals – 4 and above:

5 dismissals by 4 players, including a non-keeper in Stokes. He also gets a share in the world record of 5 catches held by several players. Pant has 4 catches in an innings.

Match dismissals – 5 and above:

Dominated by de Kock and Watling. Among non-keepers, Stokes and Pope have 6 catches each.

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

Broad achieved the rare double of a fifty and 10wm. The next best performance was by Sikander Raza with 100+ runs and 8 wickets.

In Part 3, we will look at the performances of debutants in 2020.

A quick update from Brisbane

As you know, India won the series 2-1 after making 329/7 in the 4th innings (Gill 91, Pujara 56, Pant 89*, Hazlewood 4-55).

India thus won two consecutive Test series against Australia, both times in away series.

This was India’s first win at Brisbane in 7 attempts. Earlier they had lost 5 and drawn only once (in 2003-04).

It was Australia’s first loss at Brisbane since 1988-89. It also ended their streak of 7 successive wins at this venue.

India at Brisbane:

Australia at Brisbane since 1988. After that loss to the West Indies, Australia were unbeaten in 31 Tests across over 32 years, with 24 wins and 7 draws.

Totals in Aus-Ind Tests at Brisbane over the years:

Now we take a closer look at all 4th-innings totals at Brisbane:

While the top score in the 4th innings is 450 by Pakistan in 2016-2017, we can see that:

India’s 329/7 is the highest 4th innings score to win, surpassing Australia’s 236/7 against WI in 1951-52.

The highest score which any visiting team has made to win here was a mere 170/3 by England in 1978-79-and that was against a deplenished Australian team unlike in the present match.

We also look at Aus v Ind Tests at this venue:

Highest individual scores (60+)

Labuschagne made the only century in this Test although Gill and Pant came close.

Toohey (82) and Sundar (62) made the highest scores by Test debutants here.

Best innings bowling (4wi and above):

Siraj and Hazlewood took fivers in this Test. Also remember that Toshack’s 5-2 in the first Test between these countries has the most economical 5wi in all Tests. WM Clark took 4-46 and 4-101 on Test debut.

And finally

Best match bowling (6wm and above):

Toshack’s 11-31 is the only tenner here. It has the 4th lowest runs conceded in all Tests, surpassed only by Ironmonger’s 11-24, McGrath’s 10-27 and Briggs’s 15-28.

The best match bowling in this Test was 7-155 by the unheralded SN Thakur.

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 best catchers in Tests

Here we look at the Test players with the highest dismissal rates, subject to a minimum of 20 innings fielded. These are correct as of Aug 31, 2020 and do not include the ICC XI Test of 2005.

Naturally, this will be headed by wicket-keepers who invariably get more catches than other fielders. But you would not have guessed that the highest average is by Rishabh Pant, who is generally not considered to be India’s best keeper at the moment.

The #2 is also not what you would expect. While Tim Paine did a good job as stopgap captain of Australia, you would not expect him to be so high up.

At #3 there is another current player in Quintun de Kock, who is likely to be SA’s next Test captain.

Going further down, we see NZ’s BJ Watling with 241 dismissals including 231 catches as a keeper, 10 catches as a keeper and 8 stumpings. But there is no non-keeper in the above list which goes down to a dismissal rate of 1.500.

Going still further down, the highest dismissal rate by a non-keeper is 1.060 by India’s ED Solkar (53 catches at 1.060). He is just ahead of AB de Villiers at 1.046, with 121 as a fielder and 106 as a keeper.

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.

The Test debutants of 2018

The last of a series of reviews of Test cricket in 2018. Here we identify the good performances on Test debut.

Batting:

40 runs or more in an innings:

3 centuries headed by PP Shaw, and numerous other 50s.

There are several instances of 40+ in both innings, with Fakhar Zaman with 50+ in both innings. This will be seen more clearly here:

80 runs or more in match:

Fakhar Zaman’s 160 shares the second place among those who made two scores between 50 and 99 on debut.

The most is by the lesser-known BM Laird with 167 (Aus v WI, 1979-80) followed by CH Lloyd with 160 (WI v Ind, 1966-67).

Bowling:

3 or more wickets in an innings:

5 instances of fivers, led by Bilal Asif and L Ngidi. Vihari and Bumrah took 3-fors for India. Ireland has TJ Murtagh and SR Thompson in their debut Test, while Yamin Ahmadzai represents Afghanistan on their debut.

6 or more wickets in match:

Dananjaya’s 8-44 is the best for Sri Lanka on debut. The previous record was 8-132 by BAW Mendis (SL v Ind, 2008). Ireland has TJ Murtagh in their debut Test. Bilal Asif took 6 in the first innings and none in the second.

Fielding:

2 or more dismissals in an innings:

RR Pant leads here. His 5 dismissals equaled the record for India, though Yajurvindra Singh was a non-keeper. 3 Indian keepers made 4 dismissals in an innings on debut, all in the 1950s.

3 or more dismissals in a match:

RR Pant leads again with 7 dismissals. No one else has more than 3. MA Agarwal is one of those who took 3 as a non-keeper

Pant’s 7 dismissals equaled the Indian record with non-keeper Yajurvindra Singh. Several Indian keepers took 5 on debut, along with non-keepers RR Singh (only Test) and SS Das.

All-round performances:

30 runs and 3 wickets in match:

3 instances, with probably SR Thompson’s being the best.

30 runs and 3 dismissals:

3 instances, with Foakes being the only keeper and MA Agarwal having the best by a non-keeper. Also note MS Harris’s 26 and 26.

Test statistics for 2018-2

Now for bowling:

Most wickets in 2018 (25 or more):

JJ Bumrah took 48 wickets in the calendar year of his debut, coming 3rd after Alderman (54 in 1981) and Ambrose (49 in 1988). The previous record for India was 40 by Doshi in 1979. A Dananjaya took 27 wickets in his debut calendar year.

The most fivers were 4 by Taijul and Miraz of Bangladesh and Holder of the West Indies. No one took more than one tenner.

Best innings bowling (including all instances of 6wi and above):

The best effort by Maharaj was in a losing cause.

Best match bowling (including all instances of 9wm and above):

Maharaj also figures here with a 12-wicket haul when his side lost. Yasir Shah’s 14-wicket haul was the best in the UAE. He and Imran Khan are the only Pakistani bowlers to have taken 14 wickets in a match.

Bowling averages (Minimum 2000 balls, all instances):

Bumrah has the best average and strike rate, while Anderson has the best economy.

Fielding:

Most dismissals (15 or more):

de Kock and Paine lead, although Dickwella has the most stumpings. Kusal Mendis has the most catches by a non-keeper.

Most innings dismissals (5 or more):

Newcomer Pant is the only one with 6 dismissals. SPD Smith has the most catches by a non-fielder, making him one of several to share this record in all Tests. Saha took 5 catches in each innings of a match.

Most match dismissals (6 or more):

Pant with 11 dismissals shared the world record with Russell and de Villiers. Earlier in the year Saha had an Indian record with 10 dismissals.

The most by a non-keeper was 7 by Rahul, in the only Test which India won on that series. Smith made 6 catches before being disgraced.

Dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.500):

de Kock and Paine at the top, leading the others by a large margin. Kusal Mendis has the best by a non-keeper.

All-round performance:

Overall (see criteria in table):

Not a good year for all-rounders, as Cummins is the only one to make the cut with these relatively modest standards.

Match (50 and 5wi):

More good performances, with Cummins’ last-gasp performance at the end. Holder also has two entries here.

 

Highlights of the Adelaide Test-1

First, the wicket-keeping records:

RR Pant now has a share in the most dismissals in a match.

Incidentally, AM Rahane has the record for most dismissals by a non-keeper in a match:

Also note Yajurvindra and Rahul here.

de Villiers actually took 8 catches as a keeper as the specified keeper (de Kock) was unfit.

Pant took 6 catches in the first innings and 5 in the second. The innings record is 7, shared by 4 keepers.