India-England Test stats
The biggest talking point surrounding last week’s third Test Match between India and England in Ahmedabad was the state of the pitch, although, let’s be truthful, a good worker should never blame his tool (a batsman in this case with a piece of wood). And I must say there were some horrible performances during the game, several by recognised batters.
Former England captain Michaell Vaughan said: “The match was entertaining but this was an awful pitch for Test cricket – it was a complete lottery on day two.”
And ex-Indian star Sunil Gavaskar bluntly admitted that he could easily have bagged two ducks on what he said was one of the worst surfaces he’d ever seen for a Test Match. But surely, some of the shots played by recognised batsmen – especially from England - were atrocious!
India eventually won the game by ten wickets, scoring 145 and 49-0 against England’s 112 and 81 with virtually seven sessions remaining. And 81 was England’s lowest-ever innings score against India, and their second lowest in Asia.
Here are some interesting facts:
■ For only the third time in cricket history this latest Test ended inside two days with only 140.2 overs being bowled.
■ Of the 30 wickets to fall, 19 saw the batsman fail to reach double figures.
■ England were dismissed twice in under 80 overs - only the fifth time in their history they have lasted less than 80 overs in two innings… and is the only second time since 1904.
■ All but two batsmen – England’s Zac Crawley (53) and Rohit Sharma (66 and 25 n.o.) – coped with the pink ball on a dusty, uneven pitch.
■ India's spinners took 19 wickets between them for just 145 runs - an average of 7.6 per wicket.
■ Axar Patel returned match figures of 11-70 in 36.4 overs (6-38 and 5-32) while his spin partner Ravi Ashwin claimed his 400th Test wicket (in only his 77th match). He’s the second fastest to reach this milestone behind Muralitharan and is now 4th in the list of his country’s top wicket-takers, behind, Kumble, Kapil Devi and Harbaran Singh.
■ Joe Root returned his best bowling figures ever. He took 5-8 in India’s second innings, becoming the first England captain since Bob Willis in 1983 to claim a ‘fifer.’
■ England’s quickest, Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson, who have played in 121 Tests together, bowled only 19 overs between them - the fewest ever. And they failed to get a single wicket!
■ Jonny Bairstow bagged a ‘pair’; Anderson also failed to score a single run; Dominic Sibley was out for a duck and seven; Jofra Archer fell for nought and 11, while three Indians, Pujara, Sundar and Patel all bagged first innings ducks.