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.

Making the most of limited chances-bowling

Today we take up the cases of those who got to bowl in only one match or innings. First we consider Tests, followed by ODIs and T20Is.

5 wickets or more in their only Test:

Only one ten-for by CS Marriott, though the best innings bowling here is 7/95 by WH Ashley in the 19th century. All instances of fivers in their only Test are included above.

Also note the 1-Test careers of PJ Cummins and JP Faulkner who probably will play again. There is also CA Smith who spent most of his life in Hollywood and was known as Aubrey Smith

Also note the strange case of the two unrelated Banerjees who bowled well in the only Tests they played in the 1948-49 series against the West Indies. We will meet another 1-Test Banerjee in a moment.

3 wickets or more in their only Test innings:

WH Ashley is the only one with a five-for in this category. Hill, Lyttelton and Nazir Ali bowled in only one innings in their multi-Test careers. Lyttelton’s 4-19 is the best innings bowling by any designated wicket-keeper. A few others such as Boucher and Kirmani have taken 1 wicket in an innings.

A few more players from India here, including ST Banerjee. All 3 players with this surname played exactly one Test each, despite getting reasonable returns.

Now for ODIs:

Three or more wickets in their only ODI:

While an unknown player from PNG tops this list,the only well-known player here is BS Chandrashekhar who was one of India’s leading bowlers of the 70s. Stott played his only ODI during the 1979 World Cup. DV Lawrence played a few Tests with some success.

Three or more wickets in their only ODI innings:

The only addition is England’s veteran Test player Fred Titmus who, like Colin Cowdrey, earned a recall to the ill-starred England tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1974-75.

Now for T20Is:

2 or more wickets in their only T20I:

The best performances here are by little-known players such as Mansoor Amjad and CG Burnett. The better-known Test players here are MS Panesar and CT Tremlett.

2 or more wickets in their only T20I innings:

Here we have several instances of those who bowled only once in a relatively long T20I career (notably Younis Khan in 25 matches, Sarwan and AR White in 18 matches). There are also AC Voges and AJ Redmond (primarily  batsmen).

Next we will take up the best fielding performances by those playing in their only matches and innings.