Test captains compared-all round performance

Records up to May 15, 2021 (after Zim-Pak series).

Overall records (see criteria below):

Imra, Sobers and Pollock lead here. Most would be called genuine all-rounders (during their tenure as captain) except for the last 3.

Kapil and L Amarnath represent India. Shakib and JO Holder are the current players, though they are not likely to captain in future.

Match performances (50 and 5wi):

This is in chronological order.

The only double century (219) here is by the long-forgotten DS Atkinson. That was in the context of a match-saving 7th-wicket partnership of 347 with CC Depeiaza.

There is another 150+ score by Sobers in 1966.

There are several others with a century and 5wi, led by Imran with a century and 11 wickets. Even Border has a fifty and 11 wickets with his occasional bowling. More recently Rashid Khan made a fifty and took 11 wickets for Afghanistan.

Afghanistan-the first 5 Tests

Afghanistan has now played 6 Tests, neatly divided into 3 losses and 3 wins.

Here we compare the performances in the first 5 Tests for all teams (except Ireland who have played only 3 Tests).

(1 point for a win, 0.5 for a draw)

We see that Australia and England have the best performance in their first 5 Tests, followed by Afghanistan, New Zealand and Pakistan.

Australia is the only team to win their first Test, and Zimbabwe the only one to draw their first Test. Zimbabwe in fact drew their first 2 Tests.

Bangladesh and South Africa lost their first 5 Tests in a row.

We now look at individual performances by Afghan players in the 6 Tests played so far.

Most runs (100 and more):

Note the consistency of Asghar Afghan and Rahmat Shah who each made four 50+ scores.

Highest scores (75 and above):

While H Shahidi has the only double century here, others have been more consistent.

Bowling (5 or more wickets overall):

Rashid Khan has more than twice the next (Amir Hamza)

Innings bowling (4 or more wickets):

Note the dominance of Rashid Khan here. He and Amir Hamza are the only ones to have taken 4wi. Hamza’s 5-74 against WI was on debut.

Match bowling (5 or more wickets):

The top three places are by Rashid Khan, and the next two by Amir Hamza. He took 6-79 on debut.

Most dismissals (4 or more):

While wicketkeeper A Zazai has 10 dismissals, I Zadran has the most (6) by a non-keeper.

All-round overall:

Rashid Khan is the only one who can be called an all-rounder.

All-round match (fifty and 5wi):

Here, too, the only standout performer is Rashid Khan. He was captaining his side, and scored a fifty and took over 10 wickets. The only other Test captains who did this are Imran Khan (v Ind 1982-83) and AR Border (v WI 1988-89).

Test matches of 2019: All-round performance

Finally we look at all-round performances. For overall performances we have this (see the criteria):

Even by these modest standards we only get two who meet the criteria of all-rounders. Jadeja has clearly done better than Stokes, although the latter is more likely to make an impact.

Then we have

Match performances: Fifty and fiver in the same match:

Here we have two contrasting performances. While Chase was largely responsible for an unexpected WI win, Rashid Khan’s criteria was the best all-round performance from Afghanistan in a Test. He was also the captain.

Test matches of 2019-Bowling

Now for individual bowling performances in Tests in the calendar year 2019.

Most wickets (12 or more):

The two top positions are for Australian players Cummins and Lyon. Cummings has a large lead. The best of the newcomers appear to be Archer, Rashid Khan, Embuldeniya and SS Afridi, while Cornwall had a 10-wicket haul in his 2nd Test

Wagner and Starc had the most 5-wicket hauls (4). No one took more than one 10-for.

Best innings performances (including all 6wi and above):

Chase’s 8-wicket haul was largely responsible for England’s defeat. Next is another WI spinner who was playing in his 2nd Test. Other good performances were by newcomers JC Archer, TJ Murtagh and Rashid Khan.

Murtagh was the first Irish player to get his name on the Lord’s honours boards.

Here we add the only hat-trick this year:

JJ Bumrah took a hat-trick with the wickets of 2-13 (Bravo, 8.2 ov), 3-13 (Brooks, 8.3 ov), and 4-13 (Chase, 8.4 ov). He finished with innings figures of 6-27 and match figures of 7-58.

Best match bowling (including all cases of 8wm and above):

Rashid Khan scored a fifty along with his 11 wickets. Other newcomers here are Cornwall and Archer.

Best bowling averages (Minimum 1500 balls, all instances):

Wagner and Cummins lead here, with Archer the best of the newcomers.

The best economy rates are by Cummins and Hazlewood. The best strike rates are by Starc and Wagner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afghanistan’s performance so far

Afghanistan has won 2 and lost 2 of its first 4 Tests. This makes it the best performer along with Australia and England:

(Here we have taken 1.0 for a win and 0.5 for a draw).

Now we look at individual performances:

Most runs (100 and above):

Rahmat Shah is the only one with a century. He and Asghar Afghan each have three fifties.

Highest innings (50 and above):

Ibrahim Zadran and Ihsanullah made fifties on debut.

Most wickets (5 and above):

Rashid Khan is the only one with a 10wm, and he also has the most 5wis (3).

Best innings bowling (3wi and above):

The two best figures are by Rashid Khan in the course of his 11-for. He also scored a fifty.

Amir Hamza took 5-74 on debut.

Best match bowling:

Apart for Rashid Khan’s dominance, there is Amir Hamza’s 6-wicket haul on debut.

Most dismissals (4 and above):

Note that Ibrahim Zadran and Ihsanullah have the most by non-keepers.

All-round match performance (50 and 5wi):

Once again Rashid Khan stands alone. In fact he has the rare double of a fifty and 10wm, which has happened only 29 times in all Tests.

 

 

Afghanistan and Ireland in Tests-2

More highlights from their short Test history:

Fielding:

Most dismissals (3 and above):

The most by a non-keeper is 4 by Stirling.

Most innings dismissals (3 and above):

Most match dismissals (3 and above):

Wilson has the most dismissals here, while the best by non-keepers are 3 by Strling and I. Zadran.

All-round performances:

Overall (see criteria):

These two players have made an encouraging start.

Match performance (50 and 5wi):

Only one instance here, but it is the relatively rare combination of a fifty and 10 wickets. This has been achieved 29 times in all Tests.

Rashid is only the third Test caption to achieve this:

He is in august company, though it may be a while before he becomes PM of his country.

 

Afghanistan and Ireland in Tests-1

Afghanistan and Ireland have each played 3 Tests, including one between themselves. Here is the record of these matches:

Afghanistan have made rapid progress, starting with a two-day defeat in their first Test followed by two wins, the latest against the higher-rated Bangladesh. Ireland have lost all three Tests, putting up a good fight in the first two but abjectly collapsing to 38 all out in the third. They did however dismiss England for 85 in that Test.

We now look at individual performances, starting with

Batting:

Most runs (100 and above):

Rahmat Shah, KJ O’Brien and Asghar Afghan (former Stanikzai) have the most runs. The only centuries are by Rahmat and O’Brien, the latter on debut. Rahmat and Asghar have 3 scores of 50+.

At the other end of the scale, Murtagh became the first No 11 batsman in any Test to score 25+ in each innings during Ireland’s second Test.

Highest innings (75 and above):

Bowling:

Most wickets (8 and above):

Rashid Khan has by far the best total here. He has 3 fivers and the only tenner here. Murtagh is the only other with a fiver.

Best innings bowling (4wi or more):

Note Rashid’s two fivers in the same match, while Murtagh’s 2018 figure is the best on debut from either side. Murtagh also became the first Irish player to appear on the Lord’s honours board.

Best match bowling (6wi and above):

Rashid Khan has the two best performances here.

To be continued

 

 

ODIs of 2018-2

Continuing with the individual performances of the year:

Bowling:

20 or more wickets:

Innings bowling including all instances of 5wi:

Bowling averages: (all instances for 1000 or more balls bowled):

Rashid Khan has the best average and strike rate, while his teammmate Mujeeb has the best economy rate.

Fielding:

Most dismissals:

While Buttler has the most dismissals overall, his teammate Roy has the most catches as a non-keeper. Dhoni has the most stumpings.

Dismissal rate (20 innings or more):

Buttler and Roy again head these lists.

All-round performances (overall, see criteria in table):

All-round performances (match): 30 runs and 3 wickets:

While there are multiple instances by Shakib and Sikandar, they did not play enough to get into the above table.

The T20Is of 2017

The T20I matches of 2018 have already started. So we now look back at the matches of 2017. Not too many as there was no world championship, though there is now an increasing trend of 3-match series rather than a single match grudgingly tagged on at the end of the season.

First, the ICC ranking table at the end of the year:

This has a close bunching at the top, with 3 points separating Pakistan, New Zealand and India.

Now we look at win-loss ratios in 2017:

Pakistan and Scotland (!) at the top, with Bangladesh just above bottom-ranked PNG. Although Pakistan does top both lists, it should be remembered that the ICC rankings cover a longer period.

Now we look at individual performances. With a relatively small sample size there is not much point in finding averages and strike rates. The matches involving the World XI are not counted, even though the ICC and Cricinfo regards them as official T20Is

Batting: Most runs (150 and above):

So Evin Lewis of the West Indies leads, leaving established stars like ABD and Kohli behind. C Munro is the only one with 2 centuries, while several have three 50+ scores.

Highest innings (75 and above):

Evin Lewis leads the next in line RG Sharma by a large margin (by T20I standards).

Bowling: Most wickets (10 and above):

YS Chahal emerged with a bang, while Williams and Rashid also emerged from the fringes. Chahal is the only one with three 4wis, no one else had more than 1.

Best innings bowling (all instances of 5wi and above):

Chahal and Rashid Khan again.

Fielding: Most dismissals (8 and more):

Dhoni heads this list, although surprisingly Ireland’s GH Dockrell has the most catches as a non-keeper. In fact he has more catches than Dhoni or any other keeper!

Best innings fielding (3 or more dismissals):

While Chandimal, Dhoni and GD Philips have 4 dismissals apiece, several non-keepers have taken 3 catches.

All-round performance-overall:

See criteria below:

Seekuge Prasanna emerges as the only to one to have bowled and batted enough with some pretensions to being an all-rounder.

All-round match performances (20+ runs and 2+ wickets).

The best performances here are by Anshuman Rath (HK) and Shakib Al Hasan.

 

 

The ODIs of 2017

With the conclusion of ODIs on Dec 26, these were the ICC rankings for this date:

We see that South Africa leads with India just a point behind. As they are to play a 6-match ODI series in January 2018, the top position may well change hands.

We now survey ODI performances in 2017, starting with overall win-loss rations for all ODIs from starting between Jan 1 and Dec 31. All later tables are also in this time frame.

Win-Loss ratios:

This cannot be expected to tally exactly with the ICC rankings since the latter takes into account a longer time span. And this table cannot be taken too seriously as it has Hong Kong in 2nd position, as it mainly plays with the lower-ranked teams. Among the regulars, we have England followed by India, South Africa and Pakistan. And the West Indies is at the very bottom, with its fellow wooden – spooners Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea.

We now move on to individual performances, starting with batting.

Most runs (500 and above):

Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Tharanga scored the most runs. The two Indians also have the most centuries (6 apiece) and most 50+ scores (13 and 11 respectively).

Among those who batted for 20 innings and above, the highest averages are for Kohli (76.84) followed by Rohit Sharma.

Among those who faced at least 500 balls, the highest strike rates are by de Villiers (116.94) followed by KM Jadhav (!) and Ben Stokes.

Now for the highest innings (115 and above):

RG Sharma has the only double century (208*) while du Plessis and Guptill are some distance behind.

Now for bowling:

Most wickets (15 and above):

The table is led by rising stars Hasan Ali and Rashid Khan, with Bumrah and Plunkett a little behind. Hasan Ali is the only one with three fivers, while Rashid Khan and Plunkett each have four 4+s.

Best innings bowling (including all 5wis):

Rashid Khan and TA Boult were the only ones with 7-wicket hauls. An interesting feature here is A Dananjaya (SL) with a 6-wicket haul besides 18 wickets overall. A year ago, he was an interesting oddity as his ODI career of 1 match saw him neither batting, bowling nor fielding.

To save space, there is no table for bowling averages. Taking a minimum of 1000 balls bowled, we see:

JJ Bumrah has the best bowling average of 26.25, followed distantly by B Kumar.

B Kumar has the best economy rate of 5.05, followed closely by JJ Bumrah.

And JJ Bumrah has the best strike rate (30.6) followed by HH Pandya .

An Indian monopoly-as Indian players are practically the only ones who have bowled enough overs. JO Holder is the only other one to have crossed 1000 balls.

Now for fielding:

Most dismissals (10 and above):

Dhoni is far ahead of the second-placed Buttler. They do have the same number of catches though Dhoni has more stumpings. Several non-keepers have 12 catches.

Most innings dismissals (4 and above):

Latham is the only one with 5 dismissals. GJ Maxwell is the only non-keeper with 4 catches.

Dismissals per innings (minimum 20 innings):

Dhoni (1.392) is followed closely by SD Hope with 1.238.

Among non-keepers Kusal Mendis has the highest with 0.571.

All-round performance (overall, see criteria in table):

Ironically, only Rashid Khan has respectable figures here- as he can bat a bit to go along his excellent bowling average.

All-round match performance (minimum 40 runs and 4 wickets):

Dominated by players from the lesser-ranked teams, with Stirling and Mustafa having the best performances.