IND v SA Tests: All stats, trivia and facts from India vs South Africa two-match Test series

Rahul joins elite list

4 The number of visiting wicket-keepers who registered three-figure scores in South Africa since the country’s return to international cricket in 1992. K. L. Rahul has now become the latest entrant to join this elite group of wicket-keepers after his 101 in Centurion.

Three-figure scores by a visiting wicket-keeper in South Africa since 1992 (listed chronologically)

Runs	Keeper-Batter	For	Venue	Month, year	Result	Bat#	Match Inns
204*	Adam Gilchrist	Aus	Johannesburg	Feb 2002	Won	7	1
138*	Adam Gilchrist	Aus	Cape Town	Mar 2002	Won	7	2
150*	Jonny Bairstow	Eng	Cape Town	Jan 2016	Drawn	7	1
100*	Rishabh Pant	Ind	Cape Town	Jan 2022	Lost	6	3
101	K. L. Rahul	Ind	Centurion	Dec 2023	Lost	6	1

5 The number of Test centuries K. L. Rahul has in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) countries since he debuted nine years ago on 26 Dec 2014 in the Boxing Day Melbourne Test match. He reached this tally during his fighting knock of 101 in Centurion. Only Virat Kohli has hit more (six) among Asian players in these countries. Meanwhile, K. L. Rahul has become the first visiting batter to register more than one Test century at the Centurion Park. The second table chronologically lists all his five Test centuries in SENA countries.

Most Test centuries for India in SENA countries since 26 December 2014

100s	Batter	Tests	Inns	Runs	Ave.	HS
6	Virat Kohli	28	54	2395	44.35	169
5	K. L. Rahul	21	40	1170	29.25	149
4	Cheteshwar Pujara	28	55	1810	34.15	193
4	Rishabh Pant	21	39	1426	39.61	159*
2	Ajinkya Rahane	27	52	1580	31.60	147
1	Ravindra Jadeja	14	23	665	33.25	104
1	Rohit Sharma	15	30	955	35.37	127

Note:Among other Asian players, Pakistan’s Azhar Ali has three (in 41 innings), while Younis Khan (in 17 innings), Asad Shafiq (35), Sri Lankans Angelo Mathews (27) and Dimuth Karunaratne (40) have two centuries each in SENA countries.

K. L. Rahul’s five Test centuries in SENA countries(listed chronologically)

Runs	Against	Venue	Month, year	Result	Bat#
110	Australia	Sydney	Jan 2015	Drawn	2
149	England	The Oval	Sep 2018	Lost	1
129	England	Lord’s	Aug 2021	Won	2
123	South Africa	Centurion	Dec 2021	Won	1
101	South Africa	Centurion	Dec 2023	Lost	6

Note: K. L. Rahul is yet to appear in any Tests in New Zealand

6 The number of Indian bowlers (delivering at least 20 overs) while finishing with a high economy of four or more runs on their Test debut. The latest entrant to join this unenviable group is Prasidh Krishna in Centurion. His figures are the third most expensive by an Indian bowler and the second most costly by an Indian pacer.

Most expensive bowling figures by Indian Test bowlers

(delivering at least 20 overs in the innings)

Eco	Bowler	Bowling figures	Opponents	Venue	Month, year	Result
5.03	Irfan Pathan+	27-3-136-1	Australia	Adelaide	Dec 2003	Won
4.86	Harbhajan Singh	23-1-112-2	Australia	Bengaluru	Mar 1998	Lost
4.65	Prasidh Krishna+	20-2-93-1	South Africa	Centurion	Dec 2023	Lost
4.33	Karn Sharma	33-1-143-2	Australia	Adelaide	Dec 2014	Lost
4.30	T. A. Sekhar+	20-2-86-0	Pakistan	Lahore	Jan 1983	Drawn
4.00	Mantu Banerjee+	30-3-120-4	West Indies	Kolkata	Jan 1949	Drawn

+ Indian pace bowlers

6 The number of bowlers who claimed six or more wickets in the first session on the opening day of a Test match. India’s Mohd Siraj (6/15) now has the second-best bowling figures in Test cricket history for a bowler in the first session on the opening day of a Test match. England’s Stuart Broad ( 8/15) in the 2015 Ashes Test in Nottingham tops this select group. However, Siraj’s figures are the best by any such bowler in an away Test match. Incidentally, left-arm spinner Maninder Singh is the only other Indian bowler to claim a five-wicket haul before lunch on the opening day, which he did so against Pakistan in Bengaluru on 13 March 1987.

Bowlers with six or more wickets in the first session on the opening day of a Test match

(listed chronologically)

Bowling	Bowler	For	Against (lunch score)	Venue	Achieved on	Result
11.3-3-39-6 +	Tom Richardson	Eng	Aus (53/10 in 22.3 overs)	Lord’s	22 Jun 1896	Won
11-2-34-6 #	Graham McKenzie	Aus	Ind (59/6 in 21 overs)	Melbourne	30 Dec 1967	Won
9.3-5-15-8	Stuart Broad	Eng	Aus (60/10 in 18.3 overs)	Nottingham	6 Aug 2015	Won
10.4-3-32-6	Trent Boult	NZ	Eng (58/10 in 20.4 overs)	Auckland	$ 22 Mar 2018	Won
9-3-15-6	Mohd Siraj	Ind	SAf (55/10 in 23.2 overs)	Cape Town	3 Jan 2024	Won

+ 5-ball overs # 8-ball overs; the rest 6-ball overs

$The Auckland Test was a day-night match!

5 The number of Indian bowlers who have claimed a five-plus wicket haul while conceding less than 20 runs in Test cricket. The latest entrant is Mohd Siraj during his dream spell on the opening day of the Cape Town Test match. Among bowlers who have claimed six or more wickets, Siraj’s figures are now the second-best and also the third-best by an Asian bowler. The second and third tables have the details.

Five-plus wicket hauls by Indian bowlers while conceding less than 20 runs in Test cricket

Wkts/Runs	Bowler	Against	Venue	Month, Year	Result
5/7	Jasprit Bumrah	West Indies	North Sound	Aug 2019	Won
6/12	Venkatapathy Raju	Sri Lanka	Chandigarh	Nov 1990	Won
5/13	Harbhajan Singh	West Indies	Kingston	July 2006	Won
6/15	Mohd Siraj	South Africa	Cape Town	Jan 2024	Won
5/18	Subash Gupte	Pakistan	Dacca	Jan 1955	Drawn

Six-plus wicket hauls by Indian bowlers while conceding fewest runs in Test cricket

Wkts/Runs	Bowler	Against	Venue	Month, Year	Result
6/12	Venkatapathy Raju	Sri Lanka	Chandigarh	Nov 1990	Won
6/15	Mohd Siraj	South Africa	Cape Town	Jan 2024	Won
6/21	Javagal Srinath	South Africa	Ahmedabad	Nov 1996	Won

Six-plus wicket hauls by Asian bowlers while conceding fewest runs in Test cricket

Wkts/Runs	Bowler	For	Opp	Venue	Month, Year	Result
6/11	Shoaib Akhtar	Pak	NZ	Lahore	May 2002	Won
6/12	Venkatapathy Raju	Ind	SL	Chandigarh	Nov 1990	Won
6/15	Mohd Siraj	Ind	SAf	Cape Town	Jan 2024	Won
6/16	Abdul Qadir	Pak	WI	Faisalabad	Oct 1986	Won
6/18	M. Muralitharan	SL	Ban	Colombo RPS	Sep 2005	Won
6/21	Khan Mohammad	Pak	NZ	Dacca	Nov 1955	Drawn
6/21	Javagal Srinath	Ind	SAf	Ahmedabad	Nov 1996	Won

55 The total by the South African batters after the Indian bowlers restricted them at Cape Town on the first day. This total is now the lowest by any opponent side against India. Also, by dismissing South Africa in just 23.2 overs, this is the fewest number overs taken by Indian bowlers to dismiss any opponent. The two tables below have all the details.

Lowest totals by opponent teams against India in Tests

Total	Overs	Opponent	Venue	Month, year	Result for India
55/10	23.2	South Africa	Cape Town	Jan 2024	Won
62/10	28.1	New Zealand	Mumbai WS	Dec 2021	Won
79/10	33.1	South Africa	Nagpur	Nov 2015	Won
81/10	30.4	England	Ahmedabad	Feb 2021	Won
82/10	51.5	Sri Lanka	Chandigarh	Nov 1990	Won

Fewest number of overs for Indian bowlers to dismiss an opponent in Tests

Overs	Opponent (Total)	Venue	Month, year	Result for India
23.2	South Africa (55/10)	Cape Town	Jan 2024	Won
25.1	South Africa (84/10)	Johannesburg	Dec 2006	Won
26.2	England (102/10)	Mumbai WS	Nov 1981	Won
26.4	Bangladesh (124/10)	Chittagong	Dec 2004	Won
26.5	West Indies (100/10)	North Sound	Aug 2019	Won

642 The number of balls needed to achieve a result in the recent Cape Town Test match. This match is now the shortest-ever Test in history that produced a result.

Shortest Test match that had a result

Balls	Overs	Team1	Team2	Venue	Dates	Won by
642	107	South Africa (55 & 176)	India (153 & 80/3)	Cape Town	3-4 Jan 2024	Ind
656	109.2	South Africa (36 & 45)	Australia (153)	Melbourne	12-15 Feb 1932	Aus
672	112.0	West Indies (102 & 51/6d)	England (81/7d & 75/6)	Bridgetown	8-10 Jan 135	Eng
788	197+	England (172)	Australia (81 & 70)	Manchester	30-31 Aug 1888	Eng
792	198+	Australia (116 & 60)	England (53 & 62)	Lord’s	16-17 Jul 1888	Aus