Review of NZ-India Test series-1

After NZ’s 2-0 win, the record of Tests between these teams stands at:

A strong home advantage on both sides.

It is also worthwhile to see the WTC points table as on 03 March, where NZ has gained 120 points and India none:

We now look at individual performances, starting with

Batting records:

Most runs, (700 and above):

Taylor and Kohli have the highest totals among current players. Pujara and Williamson are further down.

The most centuries are by Dravid (6), and the most 50+ scores are 12 by Dravid and Tendulkar.

Highest innings scores (150 and above):

While there have been many high scores in the past, this was a low-scoring series. See the scores of Kohli, Rahane and other current players in recent years.

Mankad’s 231 was India’s highest Test score until Gavaskar crossed it with 236* in 1984.

Best batting averages (Min 20 innings, all instances):

Dravid has by far the highest average, followed by Dowling of the 1960s. Williamson and Taylor are further down.

Best strike rates (Min 1000 balls faced, all instances):

Sehwag is the fastest scorer by a large margin. Taylor and Kohli are the fastest among current players, followed by Rahane and Williamson.

To be continued

Review of NZ-India ODIs-1

New Zealand won the series 3-0, the first such whitewash for India in ODIs for a long time.

We start with a listing of match results since the beginning of 2019:

India did win 4-1 in New Zealand just over a year ago. Then they lost to them in the World cup semi-final, and then the 3 matches in Feb 2020.

Here is the overall record of ODIs between these teams:

India still has an overall lead of 55-49 and 26-8 at home, while NZ leads 25-14 at home and marginally leads 16-15 at neutral venues. Certainly a strong home advantage on both sides. But India had won there in 2019.

Now for individual records, starting with

Batting:

Most runs (750 and above):

Taylor and Kohli are now in 2nd and 3rd place, though well below the first-placed Tendulkar. Williamson and Guptill are the other current players here.

Sehwag has the most centuries (6) followed by Tendulkar, Kohli and Astle with 5 apiece. The most scores of 50+ are 13 by Kohli and Tendulkar,  followed by 11 by R Taylor.

Highest innings (110 and above):

Tendulkar has the two highest scores made a decade apart. Kohli’s 154* is the highest score by current players. But this series had fewer large individual scores, the highest being 112 by KL Rahul.

Highest batting averages (Min 20 innings, 30.00):

Kohli has the highest average here, with Dhoni (?) and Taylor the next highest among current players. Williamson and Rohit Sharma are also here.

Highest batting strike rate (Min 500 balls faced, 75.00):

The first two, Sehwag and Kapil, are at some distance from the next few. Kohli, Latham and Taylor lead among current players. Guptill and other current players are also seen here.

To be continued.

 

Review of India-Australia ODI series-2

Continuing with our study of individual performances. Now for bowling.

Most wickets (20 or more):

Jadeja and Shami have the most wickets among current players. Cummins has the most among current Australian players.

Best innings bowling (includes all instances of 5wi):

The first two places are occupied by now-forgotten players. There is nothing from this series, although YS Chahal took 6-42 early in 2019. Cummins also had a fiver in 2019.

Best bowling averages (Min 1000 balls, all instances):

Brett Lee has a much better average than the second-placed Johnson. However Jadeja at 17th place has the best average among current players.

Kapil and McDermott have the best economy rates, and Lee and Agarkar (!) the best strike rates.

Now for fielding:

Most dismissals (15 or more):

Gilchrist and Dhoni are far ahead of the others, including Tendulkar who has the most catches by a non-keeper. Dhoni has the most stumpings. Kohli and Maxwell are the only current players here.

Most innings dismissals (4 or more):

Gilchrist and Dhoni again. Clarke is the only non-keeper with 4 catches.

Best dismissal rate (Min 20 innings, 0.500):

Gilchrist and Dhoni, with Maxwell having the best average for a non-keeper.

All-round performance (overall)-see criteria in table):

The first two (or three) would not generally be considered leading all-rounders, although they have done well in these contests.

All-round match performances (30 runs and 3 wickets):

The best performance here would be by Tendulkar, followed by Kapil and Watson (5 Nov 2009).

 

 

Review of India-Australia ODI series-1

As you know, India won the series of January 2020 by a 2-1 margin.

Here are the results of ODIs between these teams since January 2019:

India won 2-1 in Australia in Jan 2019

Aus won 3-2 in Ind in Mar 2019

Ind won 1-0 in the World Cup in Jun 2019

Ind won 2-1 in Ind in Jan 2020

On the whole India has done better in the past year.

We also look at the results of all ODIs between these teams:

Australia still leads 78-51 overall but only 30-29 in India.

We now look at the individual performances in batting:

Most runs (750 and above):

RG Sharma and Kohli continue to move up though they have some distance to go to reach Tendulkar’s record. Finch and Dhawan are among the other current players here.

Tendulkar has the most centuries (9) followed by Kohli and Sharma with 8.

Tendulkar also has the most scores of 50-plus (24) and is predictably followed by Kohli and Sharma with 16.

Highest innings (125 or more):

Note that RG Sharma has the highest overall score in this series (209) as well as India’s highest in Australia (171*).

However, Smith (131) and Warner (128*) made the highest scores in this series.

Highest batting average (Min 20 innings, 35.00):

Sharma and Kohli are the top two. Dhawan and Finch are among the other current players here. Smith and Warner have not played enough to qualify.

Highest strike rate (Minimum 500 balls faced, 80.00):

Now you can see why Australian fans want Maxwell back in the team.

Dhawan and SPD Smith have the best strike rates among those who played in 2020.

To be continued:

 

 

Test captaincy updates-1

It is easy enough to get updated tables like this:

(All these tables are updated to Dec 3, 2019):

Most Tests (120 and above)

Current players with the most Tests are Anderson (149), Broad (134) and Amla (124).

Another table which is easy to create:

Most Tests as Captain (40 and above):

Kohli is the only current player here. He has captained in 53 Tests and has still to overtake Dhoni (60). He overtook Ganguly (49), Gavaskar and Azharuddin (47) not long ago.

But this one needs a little more work with Excel:

Most Tests NOT as Captain (105 and above):

Current players here are Anderson (149), Broad (134) besides recent retirees de Villiers (111) and Amla (110). Note that some, like Tendulkar and Kallis, have captained for a few Tests but others such as Anderson and Broad have never captained. More about these cases shortly.

 

 

Review of India-Bangladesh Test series-Nov 2019.

The short history of Tests between these teams:

India has won 9 of the 11 Tests listed here; all 3 in India and 6 out of 8 in Bangladesh.

India now has 7 wins in a row and 4 in a row with innings wins.

After this series, India continued to lead the WTC by  large margin:

Bangladesh is one of the 4 teams with no points.

Moving to individual performances, starting with

Batting:

Most runs (250 and above):

Tendulkar still leads, with Mushfiqur and Kohli the highest scorers among current players.

Highest innings (90 and above):

Kohli and Agarwal recorded centuries in this series, with Agarwal making the highest score against BD in India.

Bowling

Most wickets (8 and above):

Ishant Sharma is now in second place. Ashwin, UT Yadav and M Shami are also here

Best innings bowling (5wi and above):

Ishant’s 5-22 is the best for India in India (though only 3 of the 11 Tests have been played in India). Umesh also had a 5-for in the same Test.

Best match bowling (including all instances of 8wm and above):

Note Ishant and Umesh here, besides Shami.

Fielding:

Most dismissals (8 and above):

Dhoni leads, with Saha and Mushfiqur catching up. Dravid has the most as a non-keeper.

Most innings dismissals (3 and above):

Nothing special in this series.

Most match dismissals (5 and above):

Again, nothing special in this series.

All-round performances (match):

50+ and 5+wi:

Only one instance, which was in the first-ever Test between these teams. It was the high point of SB Joshi’s career.

If we stretch the criteria to include 50 + runs and 5+ wickets in a Test, we get a longer list:

 

 

 

 

Review of India-South Africa Tests (2019)-1

While on the topic of clean sweeps in Test series, see this: https://abn397.wordpress.com/2017/08/14/clean-sweeps-in-test-series/

At the end of this series, 39 Tests had been played between these countries.

The World Test Championship results are now:

with India having more points than all other teams put together.

Result Summary:

In India: India won 11, SA 5 and 3 drawn (Total 19)

In SA: India won 3, SA 10 and 7 drawn (Total 20)

Total: India won 14, SA 15 and 10 drawn.

Strong home advantage on both sides.

We now look at individual performances:

Batting: Most runs (750 or more):

Also note: Most centuries 7 by Tendulkar and Kallis.

Most 50+ scores: 12 by the same pair and Amla.

The most runs by current players are 1075 (Kohli) and 758 (Pujara).

Highest innings (125 and more):

In this series we have Kohli’s 254* , MA Agarwal’s 215 and RG Sharma’s 212. For SA Elgar made 160 but hardly anyone from SA did anything after that.

Also remember that Sharma became the first to score two centuries on debut while opening-a feat which eluded the greats of the past such as Hobbs, Sutcliffe, Hutton and many others.

Batting averages (Minimum 20 innings, all instances):

Kallis leads, followed by Kohli at some distance. RG Sharma has not played enough yet.

Batting strike rates (Minimum 1000 balls faced, all instances):

The leader is not hard to guess, with current players Sharma and Kohli close behind. From SA the current players Elgar and du Plessis are considerably below..

Also note UT Yadav’s 10-ball blitz for 31 (310.00), which is the highest strike rate for any innings above 25.

To be continued: