We now continue with Fielding records in Tests during the calendar year 2021.
Most dismissals (15 or more):
The most dismissals were 42 by JC Buttler, followed by 39 by RR Pant. The most catches by a keeper were 41, also by Buttler. The most stumpings were 6 by RR Pant. The most catches by a fielder were 21 by JE Root.
Most dismissals in an innings (5 and above):
This list includes 4 keepers (including AT Carey on debut) as well as a fielder (Thirimanne). Thirimanne became one of several fielders to take 5 catches in an innings. Unusually, all these catches came off a single bowler (L. Embuldeniya). This is probably a record in all Tests.
Most dismissals in a match (6 and above):
8 dismissals were made by several keepers, including AT Carey on debut. Fielders MM Ali and SPD Smith took 6 catches each.
RR Pant has by far the best dismissal rate of 1.695. No other keeper qualifies here. Among the fielders, JE Root is next with 0.750, followed by V Kohli and RG Sharma.
The W/L ratio is headed by Nepal (!) who won 2 of their 3 matches.
Among those who played 10 or more matches, the highest W/L ratios are by Sri Lanka (1.80), India (1.77) and South Africa (1.69). The 2021 finalists are a little lower: Australia (1.57) and New Zealand (1.33)
Now for individual performances in Batting:.
Most runs (500 and above):
Gayle might still be there in 2022 to overtake MJ’s record aggregate. The next highest among the current players are RG Sharma (847), V Kohli (845) and DA Warner (762).
Highest innings (90 and above):
Gayle is the only one with 2 centuries.
In 2021 there was one century (Buttler) and a 90 (van der Dussen).
Raina is the only Indian player who has made a score above 90.
The most 50+ scores are 10 by Kohli (no centuries), 9 by Gayle (including 2 centuries) and 8 by RG Sharma (no centuries).
Batting averages (Minimum 20 innings, all instances):
Buttler now heads this table. Next among current players are RG Sharma, Gayle and Shoaib Malik. Kohli is not here as he has played only 19 innings.
Strikerates (Minimum250 ballsfaced, 125.00 and above):
Afridi leads by a large margin over the runners-up Pietersen and Buttler. Other current players here are Gayle,Warner and RG Sharma.
Continuing with individual performances in Bowling:
Most wickets (40+):
Anderson has by far the most wickets. However, the most five-fors are by Chandrasekhar (8) followed by Ashwin and Botham with 6. Bedser is the only one with two ten-fors (which came in his first two Tests).
After Anderson and Ashwin, other current players include Broad, Ishant, Moeen and Jadeja.
Best innings bowling (including all case of 7wi or better):
The first few entries are from long ago, though Jadeja, Ishant and Broad are here. Ishant has the best figures for India in England (that too at Lord’s)
Best match bowling (including all cases of 10wm or better):
Interestingly, none of the two leading current Indian players (Ashwin and AR Patel) played in this series. Only Jadeja and Anderson represent the current players.
Best bowling averages (Minimum 2000 balls, maximum 35.00):
The best bowling averages are by Illingworth and Lever who played in relatively less matches. Anderson, Broad and Ashwin have the best averages among current players.
The best economy rates are by Illingworth and Nadkarni (who else?)
The best strike rates are by Lever and Willis.
Now for Fielding:
Most dismissals (30 or more):
Dhoni and Knott lead, although Kirmani has the most stumpings. Cook, Gavaskar and Dravid have the most catches by non-keepers.
Innings dismissals (5 or more):
Taylor and JT Murray lead, with current players Bairstow, Pant and Buttler bringing up the rear.
Yajurvindra has the most catches as a non-keeper, which came on his debut. He is still the only non-keeper to achieve this on debut.
Match dismissals (7 or more):
Led by RW Taylor, whose 10 was a Test record at that time.
There are Buttler (8). Bairstow, Pant and Rahul from among current players. Yajurvindra and Rahul have the best among non-keepers. Yajurvindra and Pant were making their debuts. Yajurvindra’s 7 catches are still the record by a fielder on debut.
Best dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.75):
Pant tops this list, with Buttler, Bairstow and Rahul among current players here.
Solkar and Rahul have the best dismissal rates among non-keepers.
Finally, all-round performances:
Overall (see criteria from table):
Ashwin has by far the best record here, with MM Ali and Jadeja the next among current players.
Unexpected names here include Borde and Shami.
Match performances (50 and 5wi):
Many outstanding feats here, notably Botham’s century and 13 wickets in 1980. There are also century/5wis by Mankad and Ashwin, and fifty/10wms by Lever and Jadeja. JK Lever remains the only one to achieve this on debut.
Botham, B Kumar and Ashwin appear here twice.
However, there was no such instance from this series.
After winning the Test series 3-1, India went on to win the T20I series 3-2. All 5 matches were played at the Narendra Modi Stadium (earlier Motera stadium) in Ahmedabad.
A summary of all T20Is between these teams is given below. At the start of the series the 14 matches were split 7-7. Now India leads 10-9.
We now look at individual records, starting with Batting.
Most runs (100 and more):
Kohli is far ahead of the second-placed Buttler.
While RG Sharma and Rahul have scored a century apiece, Kohli has the most fifty-plus scores (4) followed by Buttler and RG Sharma each with 3.
Highest innings (60 or more):
Buttler (83*) and Malan (68) surpassed the previous record for England in India which was 56 by AD Hales in 2012-13.
Kohli 80* after 77* and 73* surpassed the previous record for India in India which was 71 by KL Rahul in 2016-17.
Most wickets (6 and more):
Chahal (12) and Jordan (10) now have the most T20I wickets for their teams, followed by Pandya with 9.
Best innings bowling (3wi and better):
No major innings figures in this series
Most dismissals (5 and above):
Dhoni still holds the record for the most dismissals (12) followed by Kohli with 9 (as a non-keeper).
Most innings dismissals (3 and above):
While Dhoni has the most dismissals (5), the highest by a non-keeper is 4 by Rahane in 2014.
Best all-round performance (overall):
HH Pandya appears to have the best overall performance.
Best all-round match performance (20 runs and 2 wickets):
Pandya’s performance in 2018 appears to be the best here.
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.
And the ICC ranking tables at the end of the year:
Note that the rankings are quite different, as the ICC rankings cover a longer period and are supposed to take the opponent’s strength into account.
Note the close bunching for 2nd to 4th position by England, New Zealand and South Africa. Also 6th and 7th (Pakistan and Sri Lanka) and for 8th and 9th (West Indies and Bangladesh).
Now we go on to individual performances.
Batting:
Most runs: 500 and above:
Virat Kohli has the most centuries (5). He also has the most scores above 50 (10).
Highest innings (110 and above):
The top score of 264* by Tom Latham was the highest by anyone carrying his bat through an innings, surpassing the 244* by Alastair Cook less than a year earlier. Here is a live link of all those who carried their bat through an innings, in chronological order.
Curiously, it was the first instance of anyone scoring 264 or 264* in a Test. The lowest score which has never been made is 229/229*Â (but there is also an outlier at 140*).
KJ O’Brien is here for Ireland’s first Test century, while Afghanistan still has no score above 50.
Highest batting average (Minimum 20 innings, all instances):
Kohli and the hitherto unheralded Kusal Mendis are on top here, as in the listing of most runs. Others from India can also be seen here.
Highest strike rates (Minimum 1000 balls faced, all instances):
Here it is Buttler and Mominul who have the highest strike rates. Pujara is near the bottom as we may expect. Kohli and Rahane are also here.
I do not normally cover limited-over series where India is not involved. The just-concluded England-Australia series was the first one to be won by a 5-0 margin, so it was a good time to review all ODIs between these teams from 1971 to 2018. Remember that the first-ever ODI was played between these teams in 1971.
As on June 25, 2018, 147 ODIs had been played between these teams. Eng won 61, Aus 81 and there were 2 ties and 3 no-results.
In England: 68 ODIs, Eng 34, Aus 30, Tie 2, NR 2
In Australia: 71 ODIs, Eng 25, Aus 45, Tie 0, NR 1
Neutral: 8 ODIs, Eng 2, Aus 6, no tie or NR.
Now for batting records:
Most runs (750 and above):
Morgan is by far the highest scorer, with Ponting making the most for Australia. Finch, Buttler and Roy represent the current players besides Morgan.
The most centuries are 6 by Finch, 5 by Ponting and 4 by Gooch
The most 50+ scores are 16 by Morgan followed by 13 by Gooch and Ponting.
Highest innings (110 and above):
Jason Roy holds the record for the highest score, which was made earlier in 2018. From the current series we have 147 by Hales, 139 by Bairstow, 131 by SE Marsh, 120 by Roy and rounded up by Buttler’s 110* in the 5th match.
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