Statistical highlights (3rd day) at Mohali
by Mohandas Menon
-- Sachin Tendulkar (88, when on 35) became the ninth Indian batsman to
aggregate 15,000 first-class career runs. Playing in his 175th first-class
match since his debut in 1988-89, he now has 15053 runs (avg 61.90). The
other Indian batsmen with over 15,000 first-class runs are: Sunil Gavaskar -
25834 runs; Vijay Hazare 18740; Gundappa Viswanath 17970; Dilip Vengsarkar
17868; Polly Umrigar 16155; Mohammad Azharuddin 15855; Mansur Ali Khan
Pataudi 15425; Ajit Wadekar 15380.
-- The dismissal of Rahul Dravid on 86, was his 11th score between 80 and
99, and his 8th score between 85 and 99. For the record, England's Mike
Atherton has the maximum 16 scores between 80 and 99; while Australian Steve
Waugh has 11 scores between 85 and 99. Dravid is now well on his way to
better Atherton's and Waugh's records. Dravid meanwhile equals the Indian
records of Gavaskar who had 11 scores between 80 and 99, and also eight
scores between 85 and 99.
-- The wicket of Tendulkar was Matthew Hoggard's 200th first-class wicket in
55 matches since 1996.
-- The partnership of 80 runs between Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly was the
best at this venue for the fifth wicket. The pair just went ahead of the
previous best of 79 runs between Mohammad Azharuddin and Ganguly against Sri
Lanka in November 1997.
-- In the last nine Test matches (including this one) since November 2000,
VVS Laxman (28) has reached double figures in 15 innings in a row. During
this period he has just one hundred (a big 281) and four other scores in the
fifties. However he has ten other scores between 12 and 38. Interestingly he
also had double-figure scores of 14 and 23 in the controversial Centurion
Test match, which is not considered at this moment as an official Test
match. Laxman, meanwhile, it seems is in hot pursuit of the record of 25
"double-figure Test innings" in a row by England's Len Hutton from February
1951 to June 1953.
-- Iqbal Siddiqui's 24 at number ten was the third highest score by an
Indian debutant. Only Paras Mhambrey (28) and Kiran More (25) - also against
England at Birmingham (1996) and Lord's (1986) respectively have higher
scores than Siddiqui on debut while batting at number ten.
-- Off-spinner Richard Dawson's 4-134 was the best performance by an English
debutant bowler since the 4-89 by pace bowler Alex Tudor against Australia
at Perth in November 1998. The last English spinner to take four or more
wickets on debut was Peter Such (also an off-spinner) when he claimed 6-67
against Australia at Manchester in 1993. Incidentally, Dawson's bowling
figures are the second best by an English spinner making his Test debut
against India. The best however remains as the 4-36 by left-armer Tony Lock
at Manchester in 1952. For the record, the best bowling performance by an
English debutant against India is the 7-46 by left-arm pace bowler John
Lever at Delhi in 1976. He is followed by medium pacer Alec Bedser who had
figures of 7-49 at Lord's in 1946.
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Statistical Highlights - Day 2
Statistical Highlights - Day 1
England's tour of India : Complete coverage