Review of Bangladesh-India ODIs.

Bangladesh won the series 2-1. However the first two matches were won by the narrow margins of 1 wicket and 5 runs, while India won the 3rd match by a massive margin of 227 runs.

Bangladesh had also won 2-1 against India in 2015.

Here we review the main statistical highlights of ODIs between these teams.

Overall results:

While Bangladesh has done relatively well on its home soil, it has not yet won an ODI against India in India. They have won only one match on neutral grounds, but that was enough to prevent India proceeding further in the 2007 World Cup.

We now look at individual records, starting with Batting:

Most runs (250 or more):

Ishan Kishan is not here as his 210 was scored in his only ODI against Bangladesh.

Kohli and RG Sharma head this list, with Shakib in third place.

Highest innings (100 or more):

Ishan Kishan has the highest score here. Among other things, this is the highest maiden century in any ODI.

It is far ahead of the earlier mark of 175 by V Sehwag during the 2011 World Cup. The best by Bangladesh is

121 by Litton Das in 2018.

The records set by Ishan Kishan are summarised here:

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/stats-ishan-kishan-double-century-ban-vs-ind-2022-23-3rd-odi-1348968

Highest batting averages (Minimum 20 innings):

Only two batsmen have played sufficient innings.

Highest strike rates (Minimum 500 balls faced):

Kohli is followed closely by RG Sharma.

Now for Bowling:

Most wickets (10 or more):

This list is led by 4 Bangladeshi bowlers, starting with Shakib with 28. Agarkar has the most for India with 18.

Best innings bowling (including all 5wi):

Headed by the startling 6 for 4 by STR Binny. The next best is 6-43 by Mustafizur. Also note Sehwag’s 4 for 6.

Best bowling averages (Minimum 1000 balls bowled):

Shakib heads this list which has only one other member in Mortaza.

Now for Fielding:

Most dismissals (6 and above):

Dhoni (32) is followed by Mushfiqur with 29.Dhoni has the most stumpings with 10, while Mushfiqur has the most catches as a keeper (25). The most catches by a fielder are 8 by S Dhawan.

Most dismissals in an innings (4 and more):

Led by MS Dhoni and Mushfiqur Rahim with 5. Dhoni has 2 stumpings, while the most by a fielder is 4 by S Dhawan.

Highest dismissal rates (Minimum 20 innings):

Led by Dhoni and Mushfiqur again. Mortaza and Shakib have the best figures for fielders.

All-round performances:

Overall (see criteria from table):

Only Shakib has batted and bowled enough.

Match figures (Minimum of a fifty and a 5wi):

Only 3 instances here. Tendulkar’s 47 and 4-54 would appear to be the best.

Analyzing Test captaincies – 2

Today we look at those who captained their sides in only one Test.

There are 46 such cases.

First, the 10 who won that Test:

CA Smith is the only one here whose Test career ended with a win. He did take 5 wickets in an innings and seven in the match, which was the first Test ever played in South Africa. But this Test status of this series was decided several years later.

He finally ended up in Hollywood: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Aubrey_Smith

He was unfit for the second Test, and another player MP Bowden captained for his only Test. He died in Rhodesia in 1892, and Wisden’s obituary did not mention that he had played in Tests.

This list includes many prominent players, notably Harvey, Bill Brown and Shastri. Shastri was fortunate in having ND Hirwani take 16 wickets on debut.

Mashrafe Mortaza was also fortunate in that he was injured early in the Test and still gets credit for the win where Tamim Iqbal captained for most of the Test. It was Bangladesh’s first Test win abroad and second overall – though the West Indies was effectively fielding a third XI due to boycotts by many players.

Next, the 20 who lost that Test:

This includes Craig Ervine, Tom Latham and Ben Stokes from 2020, and two prominent players from India in Chandu Borde and Pankaj Roy. Also 3 who were playing their only Tests – two South Africans and one West Indian from the early days of their teams.

Other prominent players here are Gordon Greenidge, John Edrich, Mohammed Hafeez, Shahid Afridi, Shane Watson and Tamim Iqbal.

DB Carr is lesser known and played only 2 Tests. His captaincy saw India winning their first Test. He was vice-captain of that England team, while the captain was the equally undistinguished ND Howard who played his only 4 Tests during that series.

Finally, the 16 who drew that Test:

None from recent years. HR Adhikari is the only one from India, who was credited with ending a sequence of 3 successive losses (although India came close to losing that Test as well).

There are a number of well-known players here, such as Deryck Murray, Gary Kirsten, George Headley, Mark Butcher, Ray Lindwall and Tom Graveney. Also note another early South African playing in his only Test.

George Headley would have captained the West Indies earlier and in more than one Test, but for the policy of only having captains of European ancestry.

When Test captains are sacked

The ill-starred Test at Cape Town might well be the first one in which a captain was dismissed in the middle of a match and a replacement named immediately. Statisticians will record Smith as captain  since he was “appointed captain” for the match even if he did not end the match as captain. There have been numerous cases when a captain was absent from part of the match due to injury or illness and someone else acted as captain for the remainder-perhaps as much as 4 days out of 5.

One such Test was this one in 2009: http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/13604/scorecard/401071/west-indies-vs-bangladesh-1st-test-bangladesh-tour-of-west-indies-2009

The appointed captain Mashrafe Mortaza missed over half the match due to injury, and Shakib al Hasan substituted for him. Admittedly this was a third XI of the West Indies, but this was still a landmark for Bangladesh as it was only their second Test win (and the first away from home). Shakib was the appointed captain for the second Test, which led to Bangladesh gaining their third Test victory as well as their first series win abroad.

Mortaza never captained Bangladesh in a Test again, and thus the tables show him with one Test as captain and a 100% success rate. Similar examples include Shastri and Rahane, though Rahane may again captain India soon if Kohli is absent for the proposed Test against Afghanistan. And one cannot help wondering if India’s Test performance in the late 80s and early 90s would have been better if Shastri had been the regular captain rather than his contemporaries Vengsarkar, Srikkanth and Azharuddin.

There have been captains sacked in the middle of a series (Gatting in 1988 for off-field activities, and Denness in 1975 for generally poor results capped by an alleged wrong decision after winning the toss at Birmingham). He was replaced by Greig who seemed to have done a better job in ensuring three draws in the next three Tests against Lillee and Thomson in their prime. Later, when Greig was firmly in place as captain he lost his position in early 1977 following the advent of World Series Cricket.

The 1988 home series against the West Indies saw England with four captains in five Tests (Gatting, Emburey, Emburey, Chris Cowdrey and Gooch). So did India in the 1958-59 home series against the West Indies although that story is more complicated.