Review of England-India Tests, 2021-2022 (Pt 1)

The series was drawn 2-2 with 1 draw. India however retained the Pataudi trophy by virtue of their win in India in early 2021.

This is only the second drawn series for India in England, the first being 1-1 in 2002. They had won only in 1971, 1986 and 2007.

The jinx at Birmingham continued, as India have lost 7 and drawn 1 at this venue.

The overall summary:

Note England’s strong home advantage, although India is coming up.

Proceeding to individual performances, starting with

Batting:

Most runs (800 and more):

JE Root has come within a whisker of overtaking Tendulkar’s total of 2535, and has overtaken Gavaskar. Kohli and Pujara are next among current players.

Root has the most centuries (9) followed by Cook, Dravid and Tendulkar with 7.

Gavaskar and Tendulkar have the most 50+ scores (20), followed by Root with 19.

Highest innings scores (180 and more):

The highest score in recent years was 218 by Root in early 2021.

Spare a thought for KK Nair who made India’s highest against England but played only 6 Tests overall. This was his only Test score more than 50.

Highest batting averages (Min 20 innings, 35.00):

Root is in second place, after Barrington. Kohli and Pujara are next among current players.

Highest strike rates (Minimum 1000 balls faced, 45.00):

Pant has the best strike rate among current players, after Kapil and Sehwag. Buttler and Ashwin are a little below, followed by Bairstow. Many of the higher strike rates are from recent years.

Next we take up

Bowling:

Most wickets (40 and more):

Anderson leads by a large margin over Chandrashekhar. Ashwin and Broad are next among current players.

Chandra has the most 5-fors (8) followed by 6 by Anderson, Ashwin and Botham.

Bedser is the only one with 2 10-fors, which came in his first 2 Tests.

Best innings bowling (includes all 7wi and above):

Nothing much from recent years. The 3 best performances were 50 or more years ago.

Best match bowling (includes all 10wm and above):

While there a few from recent years, such as Ashwin’s 12-for in 2016, we can also note AR (Axar) Patel’s 11-for in 2021 which is the best in any pink-ball Test. Note Bedser’s twin 11-wicket hauls at the start of his career. And JK Lever’s 50 and 10-for on debut.

Best bowling average (Minimum 2000 balls bowled, maximum 35.00):

The bowling averages are headed by Illingworth and JK Lever,

The best economy rates are by Illingworth and Nadkarni

The best strike rates are by JK Lever and Willis.

To be continued.

The bowlers behind the low scores

We have heard a lot about low Test scores in the last few days. Here we list the bowlers who were responsible.

Here we see the Lowest Test scores (40 and below, 8 or more wickets lost):

While the 35/8 in 1953 was not an all-out score, it probably would have been quite low if the match had lasted a few more overs before time ran out. India’s 36 had one batsman retired hurt.

Listing all the bowlers in these innings:

NZ 26 (Tyson 2-10, Statham 3-9, Wardle 1-0, Appleyard 4-7)

SA 30 (1896): (Lohmann 8-7, Bromley-Davenport 1-23, Hayward 1-0)

SA 30 (1924): (AER Gilligan 6-7, M Tate 4-12)

SA 35 (Haigh 6-11, AE Trott 4-19)

Aus 35/8 (Bedser 2-14, Laker 2-11, Wardle 4-7)

Aus 36 (Hirst 3-15, Rhodes 7-17, Braund 0-1)

SA 36 (Nash 4-18, McCabe 1-4, Ironmonger 5-6)

Ind 36 (Starc 0-7, Cummins 4-21, Hazlewood 5-8)

Ire 38 (Broad 4-19, Woakes 6-17)

Note that in some cases only 2 bowlers bowled through the innings.

Now we look at India’s lowest Test scores (75 or less, 8 or more wickets lost):

36 (Starc 0-7, Cummins 4-21, Hazlewood 5-8)

42 (Arnold 4-19, Old 5-21, Hendrick 0-2)

58 (1947) (Lindwall 2-11, Johnston 2-17, Miller 1-26, Toshack 5-2)

58 (1952) (Bedser 2-19, Trueman 8-31, Laker 0-7)

66 (Donald 4-14, SM Pollock 3-25, Klusener 2-16, McMillan 0-9)

67 (Lindwall 1-9, L Johnson 3-8, Loxton 1-10, Johnston 2-15, Ring 3-17)

75 (Patterson 5-24, WW Davis 3-20, W Benjamin 1-17, Walsh 1-13)

As we can see, India had the misfortune to run into the leading attacks of Australia, England and South Africa at various times.

The scores of 36 had the No 11 batsman retired hurt, and the 42 had one batsman absent hurt (though he was also No 11, so it should not have mattered much).

Toshack’s 5-2 is the best analysis by any bowler with 5 or more wickets in an innings. The next best is 6-3 by J Lawson vs Bangladesh in 2002. However, CA Walsh has taken 5-1 in an ODI.

L Johnson (Aus, 1948) was playing in his only Test.

Trueman’s 8-31 came in his 3rd Test and it remained his career-best analysis.