Review of England-India Tests, 2021-2022 (Pt 2)

Hope you have seen Part 1.

We now continue with individual performances in

Fielding

Most dismissals (20 and above):

Led by Dhoni with 67 and Knott with 54. Dhoni has the most catches by a keeper with 63. The most stumpings are 11 by SMH Kirmani and the most catches by a fielder are 38 by AN Cook and 35 by SM Gavaskar.

Most innings dismissals (5 and above):

Led by RW Taylor whose 7 catches were then a world record (since shared by several others). Yajurvindra Singh has 5 catches as a fielder. This is still a record for a fielder making his debut.

Most match dismissals (7 and above):

Headed by RW Taylor whose 10 catches were then a world record (since surpassed).

The most by a fielder are 7 by Yajurvindra Singh (on debut, still a record) and KL Rahul. RR Pant took 7 catches on his debut in the same test in 2018

Highest dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.600):

The highest by a keeper is 2.000 by RR Pant, closely followed by RW Taylor. For fielders it is 1.047 by ED Solkar. Next is KL Rahul with 0.909

All-round performance:

Overall (see criteria in table):

Headed by R Ashwin, followed by Kapil Dev. The best for England is by MM Ali. Among current players, BA Stokes, SCJ Broad and Mohammed Shami are also here.

Match (50+ and 5wi):

Of special note is Botham ‘s performance in 1980. He was the first to score a century and take 10 wickets in a Test. MH Mankad and R Ashwin scored a century and 5wi, while JK Lever and RA Jadeja scored a fifty and 10-for. Lever remains the only one to do this on debut. In recent years we have B Kumar (twice) and HH Pandya.

Alex Carey’s records in the Brisbane Test

We now resume regular programming. Australia won at Brisbane, and England lost the first Test of an Ashes series. And “Goat” Lyon crossed 400 wickets. But it was the debutant wicket-keeper Alex Carey who wrote his name into the record books.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/player/alex-carey-326434

Here are the best innings fielding figures for those making their Test debut:

Carey was one of the few to make 5 dismissals in an innings on debut. Yajurvindra Singh is the only one to do so as a non-keeper. Also note Rishabh Pant’s 5 dismissals in an innings.

Now for match fielding figures on Test debut:

Here, Carey equaled the record of 8 dismissals in an match on debut, earlier held by HB Taber (Aus) and CMW Read (Eng). However, Carey is the only one with 8 catches, as the other two had 7 catches and 1 stumping.

Yajurvindra Singh also holds the record for the most catches (7) by a non-keeper on debut. Rishabh Pant is one of the keepers with 7 catches on debut.

Test Fielding Records-1

While batting and bowling records are well covered in most sources of cricket statistics, fielding receives lesser attention (as the data points are only for catches and stumpings). Here we take a closer look at this neglected field.

Most dismissals in an innings (6 and above):

The first keeper to take 6 catches/dismissals in an innings was Wally Grout in 1957-58.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/player/5449.html

The record was then shared by DT Lindsay, JT Murray and SMH Kirmani, the last instance being in 1975-76.

Wasim Bari then became the first to take 7 dismissals in an innings in 1978-79. He was followed by Bob Taylor (though that was overshadowed by Botham’s 13 wickets + century as well as a total eclipse) in 1979-80. Later Ian Smith and Ridley Jacobs joined the 7-catch club.

Most catches in an innings by a non-keeper (5 and above):

The first non-keeper to take 5 catches in an innings was Victor Richardson, who is nowadays better-known as the maternal grandfather of the Chappells. Some resemblance can be seen:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/player/7346.html

The second to do so was India’s Yajurvindra Singh on his debut in 1976-77. A total of 12 fielders have now reached the mark of 5 catches in an innings.

Now we look at match performances.

Most dismissals in a match (9 and above):

The first to make 9 dismissals was Australia’s Gilbert Langley in 1956 (Laker’s series).

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/player/6258.html

No one else took 9 in a match until 1979-80, when Bob Taylor took 10 (along with 7 in an innings in the match of Botham and the eclipse).

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/21494.html

Before anyone else could cross 10, the new record of 11 was set by RC Russell in 1995-96.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/19500.html

Subsequently several others have taken 10 dismissals (a total of 4 including WP Saha and Sarfaraz Ahmed) and 11 dismissals in a match (a total of 3 including AB de Villiers and Rishabh Pant).

And finally;

Most dismissals in a match by a non-keeper (7 and above):

The first to take 7 catches in a match was Greg Chappell in 1974-75. Unfortunately his grandfather did not see this as he had passed away a few years earlier, although he had lived long enough to see Ian Chappell make a good start in Tests.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/player/4558.html

And the second was Yajurvindra Singh on his debut in 1976-77.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/player/36072.html

Unfortunately he played only in 4 Tests.

Several others took 7 in a match. The next record of 8 catches was set by AM Rahane in 2015 (although India lost that Test).

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/player/277916.html

He continues to have that record to himself, although you will see ABD with 8 catches as a fielder. However, he took these 8 catches as a keeper substituting for the injured Q de Kock. He is listed as a non-keeper here as he was not the nominated keeper for this Test.

de Villiers was also the captain in this Test. This was a day-night Test against Zimbabwe which got over in 2 days.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/18067/scorecard/1122310/south-africa-vs-zimbabwe-only-test-zim-in-sa-dec-2017-2017-18

Meanwhile, several others took 7 catches in a match. The last was KL Rahul in 2018.

 

 

The Rishabh and Rahul show

(Figures as on August 23, 2018)

While Virat Kohli was Man of the Match, the twin fielding feats of Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul played a large part in India’s victory at Nottingham.

First we look at fielding performances on debut, with reference to Rishabh:

Innings fielding on debut:

Rishabh’s 5 dismissals is the best for India on debut by a wicketkeeper, though Yajurvindra had taken 5 as a non-keeper. A few Indian keepers had earlier taken 4 catches in an innings on their debut.

Match fielding on debut:

Here, both Rishabh and Yajurvindra made 7 dismissals on debut. Rishabh’s 7 is the best by any Indian keeper on debut. Some Indian keepers had made 5 dismissals on debut.

Note that Yajurvindra’s 5 in the innings and 7 in the match remain the best by any debutant non-keeper.

We look at fielding performances by non-keepers.

(This is for all matches, not merely on debut).

Innings fielding:

The world record is 5, shared by the fielders listed above. The first to achieve this was VY Richardson, maternal grandfather of the Chappell brothers. Several current and recent players can be seen. KL Rahul is one of many who took 4 catches (in the 4th innings, to add to the 3 he took in the first innings).

Match fielding:

While current player Rahane is the only one to take 8 catches in a match (which, by the way, India lost), KL Rahul is one of several to take 7 catches. Note that no one had taken 7 catches in a match until Greg Chappell in 1974.

 

 

Best innings fielding on Test debut

This is being written in the middle of the 3rd Eng v Ind Test.

These figures may have concerned the player’s first or second innings as  a fielder.

Note the only non-keeper Yajurvindra Singh, who took as many catches as Rishabh Pant.

He had a short career of 4 Tests, as did Maclean.

Emery played only one Test, as he had the misfortune to play in the Healy era.

Catching records in Tests

Note: This was written in August 2015 and has not been updated.

Fielding statistics do not get as much prominence as batting and bowling statistics. Even then, usually the wicketkeeper’s figures are usually given more prominence than that of ordinary fielders.

The present record for catches in the field in an innings is 5 (shared by several, starting with VY Richardson) and in a match it is 8 (where AM Rahane stands alone, followed by several with 7).

Here is a chronological list of all those who have taken 5 catches in an innings:

And a chronological list of all those who have taken 7 or more catches in a match:

VY Richardson had  reasonable success at a batsman for Australia in the 1920s and 1930s, including the Bodyline series. He became the first of several to take 5 catches in an innings in his final Test at Durban. He took one catch in the first innings and 5 in the second.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/7346.html

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/62637.html

Later generations would know him better as the maternal grandfather of the Chappell brothers. One can see some family resemblance.

When he passed away in 1969, he had seen Ian well set in the Australian team although Greg and Trevor were yet to play for their country.

In 1974, Greg Chappell became the first to take 7 catches in a match. This came in the series which some called “Reverse Bodyline” where Lillee and Thomson swept all before them in a 4-1 win. He took 3 catches in the first innings and 4 in the second.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63137.html

Thus both the records remained within the family until early 1977, when Yajuvendra Singh made his debut.

It had been a traumatic series for India with England winning three Tests in a row, thus sealing the fate of the series before the 4th Test started. India batted first, but YS did not do much, scoring 8 and 15 in the match. He equalled the innings record in the first innings with 5 catches, and added 2 more in the second to equal the record. India won this Test and the final result was an England win at 3-1.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63177.html

After this, the feat of taking 5 in an innings and 7 in a match became common. But Yajurvindra Singh remains the only one to achieve these on his debut, a small consolation for a disappointing 4-Test career though he did well enough in first-class cricket. He was distantly related to Ranjitsinhji and Duleepsinhji.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/36072.html

We finally move on to the anti-climactic Test at Galle in 2015 where India failed to chase 176-but this was on a ground where the highest winning fourth-innings chase was 99. AM Rahane took 3 catches in the first innings an 5 in the second, thus getting a share in the innings record and becoming the only one to take 8 catches as a fielder in Tests.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/sri-lanka-v-india-2015/engine/match/895773.html

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/277916.html

In all first-class cricket, the record is 7 catches in an innings. There are several with 6 catches:

While the record for a match is 10 by Hammond. Rahane just gets into the top part of the first-class record: