Rohit Sharma the opener

These are those who have made centuries in both innings as an opener:

The only other Indian player here is Gavaskar (on 3 occasions). Others with multiple appearances are Warner (3) and Hayden and Sutcliffe with 2. Some well-known openers such as Graeme Smith, Fredericks, Boycott and Hutton did not achieve this mark.

No one achieved this feat on his Test debut, as Rohit became an opener after playing several Tests in the middle order. Wasti did so in his second Test, although he had opened in the second innings of his debut.

We also look at those who scored 300 runs in a match while opening. These are in order of runs scored. Some made their 300 in one innings:

Rohit is 19th on this list and 4th for India, with Gavaskar leading and followed by two instances by Sehwag. Others with two instances are Hayden and Gayle.

While LG Rowe scored 214 and 100* on debut, he was not an opener in that match. He later scored 302 as an opener.

Another curiosity is Sutcliffe and Rohit having the same combination of 176 and 127.

Here we look at those who scored centuries as opener for India. This is up to Nov 01, 2019:

Note that Rohit and Mayank Agarwal are side by side. Since Nov 1, the latter has moved ahead of Rohit as he now has 3 centuries AND three fifties.

Interestingly, Gavaskar and Sehwag have almost the same batting average.

Finally, we look at batting averages for all openers with 20+ innings and average of 45.00 and above. This is up to Nov 01, 2019 and does not include the ICC XI Test of 2005:

We see a rather close bunching just above an average of 50.00, with Gavaskar, Hayden, Sehwag, WA Brown and EAB Rowan.

 

 

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.

Test scores of 200+ by Indians and others

Information correct as on Oct 11, 2019.

First we look at those who have made 5 or more scores of 200 or more:

We can see that Kohli is now equal with Hammond and M Jayawardene in making 7 scores of 200+. The previous record of 6 for India was shared by him, Sehwag and Tendulkar. Kohli is also the only current player above.

The only other player with more than one triple century is CH Gayle, whose 4 scores of 200+ include 2 triples.

A total of 374 scores of 200+ have been made in Tests. This includes one quadruple century, 29 triples and 344 doubles.

All those who have made 200+ for India are tabulated below:

We also look at scores of 200+ in ODIs:

There are only 8 such scores.

RG Sharma has made 3, with a top score of 264 which is the ODI record.

Others who have made 200+ scores in ODIs are Fakhar Zaman, CH Gayle, MJ Guptill, V Sehwag and SR Tendulkar.

And for T20Is:

The highest score is 172 by AJ Finch. There are 2 other scores above 150, by AJ Finch again and H Zazai.

 

Review of India-West Indies Tests (2019)-1

After India won this away series 2-0, the series record was:

India won 22, West Indies won 30, 46 drawn in a total of 98 Tests.

In India: India won 13, WI 14, 20 drawn in a total of 47 Tests

In West Indies: India won 9, WI 16 and 26 drawn in a total of 51 Tests.

India got the full 120 points here. This is the WTC standing on September 3:

We can see that neither England nor Australia can catch up after their series concludes.

We now go on to individual records, starting with

Batting:

Most runs (750 or more):

Gavaskar has scored the most centuries (13) and the next is 8 by Richards and Sobers.

Gavaskar also has the most 50+ scores (20) followed by Lloyd with 19 and Dravid with 18.

Bravo and Kohli are the only current players here.

Highest innings (150 or more):

Both sides have not recorded a score above 150 since 2016 (200 by Kohli).

Best batting averages (Minimum 20 innings, 30.00):

Sobers is far above the others. Darren Bravo is the only current player here. He also became the second batsmen to warrant a concussion substitute in the second innings. Blackwood batted in this place, making this the first Test scorecard with 12 batsmen.

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

As in many of the older series, full details of balls faced are not available for matches before the 2000s. But it seems clear that no one would have surpassed Sehwag. Kohli and Ashwin (!) have the highest among current players.

To be continued

India at the World Cup over the years-2

With India finishing its commitments at the 2019 World Cup, we look at individual performances in all the World Cups from 1975 to 2019.

Batting:

Most runs (500+):

While Kohli is second, he still has less than half the runs scored by Tendulkar. RG Sharma and Dhoni are next among current players.

Tendulkar and RG Sharma each have 6 centuries. Tendulkar also has the most 50+ scores (21), followed by Sharma with 9. Note Sharma’s conversion rate; he scored a century on 6 of the 9 occasions when he crossed 50. And Dhawan did the same on 3 of the 4 occasions!

Highest innings (95+):

This lists all the centuries and near-centuries. No one had scored an ODI century for India until Kapil did so in 1983. Note Gambhir’s 97 in the 2011 final. No one from either India or WI crossed 40 in the 1983 final.

Batting averages (Minimum 20 innings, all instances):

Some like RG Sharma, Gavaskar and Dhawan miss out as they did not play enough WC matches. Dhoni is in the middle of this table.

Strike rates (Minimum 500 balls faced, all instances):

The names at the top are predictable. And that Dhoni and Kohli (?) are in the middle, with Gavaskar and M Amarnath bringing up the rear.

Bowling:

Most wickets (10+):

The top position of 44 wickets is shared by Zaheer Khan and Srinath, with the former bowling significantly less overs. M Shami has the highest among current players.

No one has more than one fiver. M Shami is the only one with 4 four-fors, followed by Srinath and UT Yadav with 2 each.

Best innings bowling (including all instances of 4+ wickets):

The best figures here are by A Nehra (the only 6-for). The highest among current players is 4-16 by M Shami. His 4-40 including a hat-trick is further down.

Bowling averages (Minimum 1000 balls bowled, all instances):

Zaheer Khan has the best average and best strike-rate, while Kapil Dev has the best economy rate. None of the current bowlers have played enough.

Fielding:

Most dismissals (10+):

Dhoni has more than twice the dismissals of the next man Dravid, while regular keeper KS More has the same number of dismissals.

Dhoni has the most dismissals (42), stumpings (8), and catches by a keeper (34). Kohli and Kumble have the most catches by non-keepers (14).

Most dismissals in an innings (3+):

The most dismissals are by Kirmani and Mongia (5 apiece). M Kaif has the most (4) by a non-keeper. He held this World Cup record from 2003 to 2015, when others also took 4 catches in an innings.

Best dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, all instances):

Dhoni is the highest, followed by Dravid who kept in most of his WC matches. Kohli and Sehwag have the most among non-keepers.

All-round performance:

Overall (see criteria in table):

Kapil is the only one from India to reach this standard. Imran and Kallis also reached this, although Botham and Hadlee did not.

Match performance (30 runs and 3 wickets):

Yuvraj is here in his purple patch leading to the Man of the Series award in 2011. He and Shakib are the only ones with 50/5 in the World Cup. Next best is Kapil’s in 1983, although it ended in a defeat.

 

 

 

ODIs between India and Pakistan-1

It seems unlikely that there will be any bilateral series between India and Pakistan for quite some time. It has already been decided that India will not play Pakistan in the group stages of the World Test Championship.

So this seems to be a good time to look back at the records of ODIs between India and Pakistan (not just in the World Cup).

Of a total of 132 ODIs between the sides, India has won 55, Pakistan 73, no ties and No Result 4.

In India: 30 matches; Ind 11, Pak 19.

In Pakistan: 27 matches; Ind 11, Pak 14, NR 2.

In Neutral venues: 75 matches; Ind 33, Pak 40, NR 2.

Looking at individual figures:

Batting:

500 or more runs:

Headed by the older players who had more opportunities to play these matches. Among current players there is Shoaib Malik (1782) and MS Dhoni (1231).

The most centuries are 5 by Tendulkar, followed by 4 by several others.

The most 50+ scores are also led by Tendulkar with 21. Next is 16 by Inzamam and Dravid.

Highest innings: 110 and more:

Saeed Anwar’s 194 was a record in all ODIs for several years. The highest score in recent years is RG Sharma’s 140 in the current World Cup.

Highest Averages (Minimum 20 innings, 30.00 and above):

A number of current players such as Kohli are not here as they have not played 20 innings. Dhoni and Shoaib Malik have the highest averages among current players.

Highest Strike Rates (Minimum 500 balls faced, 80.00 and above):

Shahid Afridi and Sehwag lead as one would expect. Kohli, Dhoni  and RG Sharma have the highest strike rates among current players.

To be continued: