Racking up the runs in Australia

From Virat Kohli joining India's 1,000-run Test club in Australia to Rishabh Pant's wicketkeeping haul and more India vs Australia Test cricket records. Plus, your queries answered.

Rishabh Pant equalled a record in only his sixth Test match.

4

The number of batsmen to aggregate 1,000 Test runs for India on Australian soil. Virat Kohli is the latest entrant to this elite list, emulating Sachin Tendulkar, V. V. S. Laxman and Rahul Dravid. Kohli, at the end of the first Test in Adelaide, has 1,029 runs to his credit in Australia.

India’s 1,000-run Test club in Australia

Batsman	Runs	Matches	Innings	Not outs	Average	Highest score	Hundreds	Fifties
Sachin Tendulkar	1809	20	38	4	53.21	241*	6	7
V. V. S. Laxman	1236	15	29	1	44.14	178	4	4
Rahul Dravid	1143	15	30	4	43.96	233	1	6
Virat Kohli	1029	9	18		57.17	169	5	2

 

18

The number of innings Virat Kohli took to aggregate 1,000 Test runs in Australia. He is now the joint fifth quickest among visiting batsmen to reach this landmark, in a list dominated by Englishmen.

Fewest innings to reach 1,000 runs by visiting batsmen in Australia

Batsman	Innings	Matches	Country	Total runs at end of innings	Average	Highest score	Hundreds	Fifties	Achieved on	Final tally of runs
Wally Hammond	10	6	England	1,017	113	251	5		December 5, 1932	1,981
Herbert Sutcliffe	14	8	England	1,008	72	176	5	3	January 5, 1929	1,529
Alastair Cook	17	10	England	1,042	65.13	235*	4	2	January 5, 2011	1,664
Ken Barrington	17	10	England	1,014	67.60	132*	4	6	February 11, 1966	1,046
Jack Hobbs#	18	10	England	1,013	63.31	187	3	4	December 18, 1920	2,493
Virat Kohli	18	9	India	1,029	57.16	169	5	2	December 8, 2018	1,029

Note: For India, the previous quickest was V. V. S Laxman (19 innings, 10 matches on January 18, 2008), followed by Sachin Tendulkar (22 innings, 12 Tests on January 5, 2004) and Rahul Dravid (23 innings, 12 matches on December 27, 2011).

#Jack Hobbs, with 2,493 runs, remains the leading run-getter among visiting batsmen in Australia.

6

The number of catches by Rishabh Pant in the first innings of the Adelaide Test makes him the fourth Indian wicketkeeper to claim six dismissals in a Test innings and only the second after M. S. Dhoni to pouch six catches.

Most dismissals by an Indian wicketkeeper in a Test innings

Wicketkeeper	Dismissals	Catches	Stumpings	Opponent	Venue	Month, year	Result for India
Syed Kirmani	6	5	1	New Zealand	Christchurch	February 1976	Drawn
M. S. Dhoni	6	6		New Zealand	Wellington	April 2009	Drawn
Wriddhiman Saha	6	5	1	West Indies	North Sound	July 2016	Won
Rishabh Pant	6	6		Australia	Adelaide	December 2018	Won

 

8

The number of instances when wicketkeepers claimed six or more dismissals in a Test innings against Australia. Rishabh Pant in Adelaide became the latest entrant to the list and is the first Asian to do so.

Most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in a Test innings against Australia

Wicketkeeper	Dismissals	Catches	Stumpings	Country	Venue	Month, year	Result for team
Ridley Jacobs	7	7		West Indies	Melbourne	December 2000	Lost
Dennis Lindsay	6	6		South Africa	Johannesburg	December 1966	Won
Jack Russell	6	6		England	Melbourne	December 1990	Lost
Alec Stewart	6	6		England	Manchester	July 1997	Lost
Chris Read	6	6		England	Melbourne	December 2006	Lost
Chris Read	6	5	1	England	Sydney	January 2007	Lost
Matt Prior	6	6		England	Melbourne	December 2010	Won
Rishabh Pant	6	6		India	Adelaide	December 2018	Won

 

11

The most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in a single Test match. Rishabh Pant in Adelaide became the third to achieve this.

Most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in a Test match

Wicketkeeper	Dismissals			Catches	Stumpings	Country	Opponent	Month, year	Result for team
	Total	First innings	Second innings
Jack Russell	11	6	5	11		England	South Africa	January 1995	Drawn
A. B. de Villiers	11	6	5	11		South Africa	Pakistan	February 2013	Won
Rishabh Pant	11	6	5	11		India	Australia	December 2018	Won

Note: Pant is, in fact, the first keeper to claim six dismissals in a Test innings at Adelaide. Previously, Aussies Ian Healy had claimed five dismissals on three occasions and Matthew Wade once.

 

Queries Corner Referring to your last column, is Rohit Sharma the youngest to score a fifty in T20 International cricket. Also, could you also confirm who is the oldest to score a fifty in this format? – Ojas Trivedi, Ahmedabad. As indicated in my last column, Rohit Sharma at 20 years and 143 days was the youngest Indian to register a fifty in T20I cricket. The distinction of being the youngest to score a fifty in the format goes to Canada’s Hiral Patel (incidentally born in your city). He was 18 years and 177 days during his unbeaten knock of 88 against Ireland at Colombo SSC on February 3, 2010. Meanwhile, the oldest at 39 years and 345 days was Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya (81) against the West Indies at Nottingham on June 10, 2009. Pakistan’s Bilal Asif was wicketless when New Zealand’s fifth wicket fell in the recent Abu Dhabi Test and yet he managed to claim a five-wicket haul. Has this happened before in Test matches? – Ayaz Mansur, New Delhi. If you mean Test bowlers claiming the wickets of batsmen from positions seven to eleven in the same innings, then Asif is the seventh to do so and the second Pakistani after Saqlain Mushtaq (against Zimbabwe at Lahore in December 1998). The others are Garry Sobers and Andy Roberts of the West Indies, Aussie Jason Gillespie, Englishman Andy Caddick and India’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar. How many genuine batsmen have a strike rate of less than 100 in the Indian Premier League? – Suresh Nandi, Cuttack. Among batsmen with at least 250 runs or more in IPL cricket, only three have a batting strike rate of less than 100. They are Hanuma Vihari (280 runs at 89.46), Amit Mishra (341 runs at 93.42) and Cheteshwar Pujara (390 runs at 99.74). Interestingly, all three have appeared for India in international matches! Who has the most runs in each of the international  formats – Tests, One-Day Internationals and T20Is – without a single century? – R. Bharath, Coimbatore. Tests Shane Warne Australia 3,154 12 99 ODIs Misbah-ul-Haq Pakistan 5,122 42 96* T20Is Shoaib Malik Pakistan 2,190 7 75 For the record, Shane Warne, with 4,172 runs (13 fifties, highest 99), has the most runs in all international cricket without a century.

 

Note: All figures above are updated as on December 10, 2018.