Two cricketers from Bengal

While every possible career statistic is tabulated for prominent cricketers, there are sometimes ambiguities in their place of birth.

We start with Wriddhiman Saha (who spells his first name in an unusual way). Where was he born? Cricinfo gives this:

https://www.espncricinfo.com/player/wriddhiman-saha-279810

This says that he was born in Saktigarh in West Bengal.

Most people who travel a bit will know of this Saktigarh:

This is a little east of Barddhaman and is on the main line from Kolkata to northern India.

However, if we look at his Wikipedia article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wriddhiman_Saha

his birthplace is given as Siliguri in West Bengal. But there is no contradiction, as there is a lesser-known Saktigarh which is close to Siliguri. While it does not have a railway station, here is proof of its existence:

The cases of Mohammad Shami is more interesting.

First we see his cricinfo profile:

https://www.espncricinfo.com/player/mohammed-shami-481896

Here it is mentioned that his birthplace is Amroha in Uttar Pradesh. This is near Moradabad on the road to Delhi. Wikipedia also gives the same birthplace.

He started his cricketing career in Bengal and the Kolkata Knight Riders.

At that time, all the references mentioned his birthplace as “Jonagar, Bengal”.

There is no town in Bengal with this spelling. However, someone pointed out that this may have meant Joynagar, an outer suburb of Kolkata best known for the sweet “Joynagar er Moa”:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaynagarer_Moa

This place is served by this station, on the suburban line to Lakshmikantpur and Namkhana:

Even today some references like the Playfair Annual of 2022 still show his birthplace as “Jonagar, Bengal”.

While Mr Shami is one of the key members of India’s current team, he could not have possibly been born in two different places over a thousand km apart. Presumably someone connected with the Bengal cricket association (perhaps with the connivance of KKR) produced some document to show that he was born in Bengal.

If I am wrong, then why is his birthplace now listed in UP? Strange that none of the large tribe of cricket journalists commented on his moving birthplace.

Review of Tests between India and South Africa-2

Hope you have read part 1:

Review of Tests between India and South Africa-1

Continuing with individual performances in

Fielding:

Most dismissals (12 or more):

Boucher leads by a large margin (60) followed by de Villiers (40).

de Villiers has the most catches by a fielder (25) besides 15 catches as a keeper. Next among fielders is Kallis with 23. Note that K Verreyne has 14 in just 2 Tests.

Current players here include Saha, de Kock, Pujara and Rahane.

Most dismissals in an innings (5 or more):

Saha (twice), de Kock and newcomer Verreyne represent the current players.

Most dismissals in a match (7 or more):

Saha has the most, with 5 catches in each innings. Other current players are de Kock, Pant and Verreyne.

Most dismissals per innings (Minimum 20 innings, 0.60 or more):

Boucher leads by a large margin over Dhoni.

Apart from the “hybrid” de Villiers who played both as a keeper and fielder, GC Smith has the highest dismissal rate among fielders.

Rahane is the only current player here.

Finally: All-round performance:

Overall performance (see criteria in table):

Only SM Pollock can be called a genuine all-rounder. Kallis is not here as he bowled less than 2000 balls against India.

Match performance (at least 50+ and 5wi+):

The best of these match performances seems to be by N Boje.

Tail piece:

AK Markram has now played 29 Tests. 18 of them were won by SA and 11 were lost. None were drawn. He thus continues to hold the record for playing in the most Tests without a draw. Next is England’s GA Lohmann of long ago who played in 18 Tests (15 wins, 3 losses).

Ollie Pope’s fielding record

Ollie Pope is one of the regulars in England’s team, although he was dropped for the 4th Test at Sydney. However, he acted as a substitute wicket-keeper when both Buttler and Bairstow were injured. In doing so he had a share in two Test records in fielding:

Most catches in an innings by a substitute fielder:

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283627.html

Most catches in a match by a substitute fielder:

https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283623.html

It should be noted that dismissals by keepers and non-keepers have been mixed up here.

In the innings records, WP Saha and OJ Pope both took 4 dismissals in an innings as keepers, while Younis Khan was a fielder. Interestingly, Saha and Pope both achieved this at Sydney a year apart.

In the match records, Saha and Pope are the only keepers with 4 dismissals.

The fielders with 4 catches in a match are Gursharan Singh, Younis Khan, V Sehwag and JM Bird.

And KS Bharat (3 dismissals) is the only one in these two lists who is yet to play a Test.

It may be recalled that he is one of only 3 substitutes to make a stumping.

Stumped by a substitute-a rare occurrence.

Over to Fortress Brisbane

First we look at India’s performance at the Gabba ground in Brisbane, which has been holding Tests since 1931-32. India played its first Test here in 1947-48.

India has lost 6 of the 7 Tests here, with one being drawn.

Some points of interest:

The Test in 1947 was India’s first ever against Australia. India was dismissed for 58 and 98, thanks to left-arm paceman Ernie Toshack who took 5-2 (!) and 6-29. The match figures of 11-31 are the 4th most economical 10-wicket haul in all Tests.

India lost narrowly in 1977 against a weakened team led by RB Simpson, who was playing his first Test in 10 years. Gavaskar scored the first of his 3 second-innings centuries in this series.

The 2003 draw was significant as it was the first time that India had not lost the opening Test of a series in Australia. This was mainly due to captain Ganguly’s 144.

Australia has played 62 Tests at the Gabba. They have won 40, lost 8, drawn 13 and tied 1.

We look at their record since 1980:

Here we see that Australia has

won ALL 7 Tests in a row since Nov 2013.

and has not lost a test here since Nov 1988.

However, they had lost 3 Tests in a row from 1984 to 1986 before this.

So if India win (or even draw) this Test it would be a remarkable achievement-particularly as they may struggle to have 11 players fit in this match.

We also look at the Pant-Saha comparisons.

First, the dismissal rates for Indian players outside India since 2010 (when Saha made his debut).

Here we get Pant leading with 2.23 dis/innings, followed by Dhoni with 2.10 and Saha with 1.48

And batting averages for Indian players outside India for the same period:

First is Tendulkar with 57.03. Pant is 9th with 36.00 (2 centuries and one fifty), and Saha is 23rd with 27.28 (1 century and 3 fifties).

A pity that sloppy wicket-keeping is hidden by a higher career dismissal rate.

Comparing Indian wicketkeepers

There is a lot of debate about who is better suited to be India’s wicketkeeper. Let us compare the keeping and batting averages for all those who have kept for India.

Test keepers – dismissal rate (min 20 innings fielded):

See the 1st position (Pant) and 6th (Saha).

Now see the batting figures:

Test keepers – batting average (min 20 innings):

Here, coincidentally, Pant is still first and Saha 6th.

Now for ODIs:

ODI keepers – dismissal rate (min 20 innings fielded):

Neither Pant nor Saha have played enough to appear on this table, although Karthik and Dhoni are near the top.

ODI keepers – batting average (min 20 innings):

They don’t appear here either, although the table is headed by Dhoni, Dravid and Karthik.

For T20Is, Dhoni is the only one to have batted and fielded enough.

Coming back to Test fielding figures, the best match figures for all Test players are:

Note that Pant has a share in the world record, while Saha has a share in the runners-up record.

The Indian tail also wags

Data as of 14 Oct 2019:

Having seen how batsmen of no 8 and below have fared against India, we see how India’s tailend batsmen have done in Tests:

Innings of 90 and above by Indian batsmen at No 8 and below:

Dhoni and Ashwin are among the main contributors here. It is often forgotten that Saha has scored centuries (also two more while batting at 7 or higher).

There are relatively few newcomers here. RH Shodhan is the only debutant here, while Ratra, Ashwin and Pandya made their centuries at the start of their career. J Yadav soon dropped out of the Test reckoning. Kumble and Harbhajan made their centuries at a late stage of their careers.

It should be noted that Kapil usually batted at 7 or higher.

We now look at averages of those batting at 8 and below, subject to a minimum of 10 innings:

Dhoni expectedly has the highest average, while Saha is surprisingly second and Prabhakar third. Prabhakar also played many of his matches higher in the order.

Sandhu seems to have been better as a batsman than a bowler during his brief career. He still holds the record of the highest score by a debutant (71) at no 9.

Dhoni, Kapil, Ashwin and Harbhajan all have two centuries here. The most 50+ scores are by Kapil (15), Harbhajan (11) and Jadeja (10). Harbhajan did make rapid progress as a batsman since his debut.

Kumble has over 2000 runs here, while Kapil and several others have over a thousand. Saha, Ashwin and Jadeja are among the current players here.

Finally we look at century partnerships for the 8th to 10th wicket:

There are some large partnerships here, some of which were in a losing cause (such as the one between Azhar and Kumble). One which was significant was the 122 by Prasanna and Sardesai, which helped India to impose the follow-on on the West Indies and gain a psychological advantage which lasted till the end of the series.

The partnership between Tendulkar (248*) and Zaheer Khan (75) was then the record for the 10th wicket, until Root and Anderson overtook it against India. Both Tendulkar and Zaheer made their highest scores here. Another useful 10th-wicket partnership was the one between B Kumar and Shami, in which both scored fifties.

Review of India-West Indies Tests (2019)-2

Bowling:

Most wickets (25 or more):

Kapil has the highest tally here, while Ashwin and I Sharma have the highest among current players.

Best innings bowling (All instances of 6wi or more):

While Kapil has the best performance here, spare a thought for JM Noreiga who played only in 4 tests but still had the best innings performance for the West Indies in all Tests.

Ashwin (2016) and Bumrah in this series have the best figures among current players.

Best match bowling (All instances of 9wm or more):

Hirwani’s match figures are the best for India in all Test. UT Yadav (2018) and I Sharma (2019) have the best figures among current players.

Best bowling average (Minimum 2000 balls, all instances):

Hall and Walsh have the best bowling averages, while Ashwin and I Sharma have the best among current players. It can also be seen that GE Gomez and Gibbs have the best economy rates, and that Hall and Roberts have the best strike rate.

Fielding:

Most dismissals (15 or more):

Dujon has the most dismissals and catches, Dhoni the most stumpings and Richards the most catches by a non-keeper.

Most dismissals in an innings (4 and more):

WP Saha is the only one with 6 dismissals in an innings.  SD Hope made 5 dismissals in this series. DJG Sammy has the most catches by a non-keeper with 5 in 2013, which is a share in the world record. Also note KS More’s 5 stumpings which is a world record.

Most dismissals in a match (6 and more):

Dhoni has the most dismissals here (8) while More’s 6 stumpings is a world record. Both his records came in Hirwani’s record bowling performance. The most catches by a non-keeper are 6 by ED Solkar, in India’s first victory against WI in 1971.

Best dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.500):

Dhoni has the best rate here followed by Dujon. While CL Walcott played some of his Tests as a keeper, the best rate by a non-keeper is 0.800 by Azharuddin.

All-round performances:

Overall (see criteria in table):

Sobers has by far the best record here, followed by Ashwin who is again far ahead of Kapil. JO Holder and Chase have the best record among current players, while Mankad had a relatively poor record against WI.

Match performance (50 and 5wi):

This includes the century/5wi double by OG Smith, Umrigar, Sobers, Ashwin (twice) and Chase.

 

Test statistics for 2018-2

Now for bowling:

Most wickets in 2018 (25 or more):

JJ Bumrah took 48 wickets in the calendar year of his debut, coming 3rd after Alderman (54 in 1981) and Ambrose (49 in 1988). The previous record for India was 40 by Doshi in 1979. A Dananjaya took 27 wickets in his debut calendar year.

The most fivers were 4 by Taijul and Miraz of Bangladesh and Holder of the West Indies. No one took more than one tenner.

Best innings bowling (including all instances of 6wi and above):

The best effort by Maharaj was in a losing cause.

Best match bowling (including all instances of 9wm and above):

Maharaj also figures here with a 12-wicket haul when his side lost. Yasir Shah’s 14-wicket haul was the best in the UAE. He and Imran Khan are the only Pakistani bowlers to have taken 14 wickets in a match.

Bowling averages (Minimum 2000 balls, all instances):

Bumrah has the best average and strike rate, while Anderson has the best economy.

Fielding:

Most dismissals (15 or more):

de Kock and Paine lead, although Dickwella has the most stumpings. Kusal Mendis has the most catches by a non-keeper.

Most innings dismissals (5 or more):

Newcomer Pant is the only one with 6 dismissals. SPD Smith has the most catches by a non-fielder, making him one of several to share this record in all Tests. Saha took 5 catches in each innings of a match.

Most match dismissals (6 or more):

Pant with 11 dismissals shared the world record with Russell and de Villiers. Earlier in the year Saha had an Indian record with 10 dismissals.

The most by a non-keeper was 7 by Rahul, in the only Test which India won on that series. Smith made 6 catches before being disgraced.

Dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.500):

de Kock and Paine at the top, leading the others by a large margin. Kusal Mendis has the best by a non-keeper.

All-round performance:

Overall (see criteria in table):

Not a good year for all-rounders, as Cummins is the only one to make the cut with these relatively modest standards.

Match (50 and 5wi):

More good performances, with Cummins’ last-gasp performance at the end. Holder also has two entries here.

 

Test fielding performances of 2017

Hope you have read the earlier posts on Test batting and bowling performances of 2017. Now we move to fielding.

Most dismissals-15 and above:

de Kock with 50 dismissals is far ahead of the next two, Bairstow and Saha who each played 11 Tests and dismissed 37. The most stumpings were 9 by Dickwella, while SPD Smith had the most catches (21) by a non-keeper. Rahane was close behind him with 20.

Most innings dismissals-4 and above:

The top position is shared by Kayes and de Kock, while several non-keepers took 4 catches. None of the keepers here took more than one stumping.

Most match dismissals-6 and above:

de Villiers leads with 8 while several others made 7 dismissals. The most stumpings were 3 by Wade, while no fielder took 6 catches.

Best dismissal rate (minimum 20 innings and 0.500):

As in the first table, de Kock is far ahead of the runners-up Bairstow and Saha. Smith and Rahane have the best rate among non-keepers.