India vs South Africa Tests in numbers: Shardul Thakur in elite club

The seven wickets claimed by Shardul Thakur in South Africa's first innings of the second Test match in Johannesburg are now the best bowling figures by an Indian bowler in South Africa.

Shardul Thakur ripped through the South African line-up in the Johannesburg Test.

7 The number of wickets claimed by Shardul Thakur in South Africa's first innings of the second Test match in Johannesburg are now the best bowling figures by an Indian bowler in South Africa. (A) Thakur's figures are now the second-best figures by an Indian bowler on African soil after Irfan Pathan's 7/59 in Harare in 2005. Incidentally, Thakur's performance is now the joint-fourth best by any visiting bowler on South African soil and the joint-second best by any visiting pacer since WW1. (B) Also, his 7/61 is the fourth-best by an Indian paceman on foreign soil. (C) and overall, the seventh-best figures by an Indian paceman in Test cricket. It is also the-third best figures against South Africa. (D) and the third-best bowling by an Indian paceman. (E) — both in a losing cause.

 

Best innings bowling figures in each Test playing country for India (A)

Country	Best	Bowler	Venue	Month, Year	Result
India	10/74	Anil Kumble	Delhi	February 1999	W
New Zealand	8/76	Erapalli Prasanna	Auckland	January 1976	W
Pakistan	8/85	Kapil Dev	Lahore	January 1983	D
Australia	8/106	Kapil Dev	Adelaide	December 1985	D
Zimbabwe	7/59	Irfan Pathan	Harare	September 2005	W
South Africa	7/61	Shardul Thakur	Johannesburg	January 2022	L
England	7/74	Ishant Sharma	Lord’s	July 2014	W
West Indies	7/83	R. Ashwin	North Sound	July 2016	W
Bangladesh	7/87	Zaheer Khan	Mirpur	January 2010	W
Sri Lanka	6/46	R. Ashwin	Galle	August 2015	L

Note:

** Kumble's figures were against Pakistan

** Prasanna is the only bowler to claim an eight or more wicket haul in New Zealand

 

Best bowling by visiting bowlers in South Africa since WW1 (B)

Bowling	Bowler	For	Venue	Month, Year	Result
7/36	Johnny Wardle	England	Cape Town	January 1957	W
7/40	Clarrie Grimmett	Australia	Johannesburg (Old)	February 1936	W
7/46	Andrew Caddick	England	Durban	December 1999	D
7/61	Matthew Hoggard	England	Johannesburg (New)	January 2005	W
7/61	Shardul Thakur	India	Johannesburg (New)	January 2022	L

Note:the last three mentioned bowlers are all pacemen

 

Best bowling by an Indian paceman on foreign soil (C)

Bowling	Bowler	Against	Venue	Month, Year	Result
8/85	Kapil Dev	Pakistan	Lahore	January 1983	D
8/106	Kapil Dev	Australia	Adelaide	December 1985	D
7/59	Irfan Pathan	Zimbabwe	Harare	September 2005	W
7/61	Shardul Thakur	South Africa	Johannesburg (New)	January 2022	L
7/74	Ishant Sharma	England	Lord’s	July 2014	W

 

Best bowling against South Africa in a lost cause (D)

Bowling	Bowler	For	Venue	Month, Year
8/61	Mitchell Johnson	Australia	Perth	December 2008
7/56	Shane Warne	Australia	Sydney	January 1994
7/61	Shardul Thakur	India	Johannesburg (New)	January 2022
7/84	Franklyn Rose	West Indies	Durban	December 1998
6/27	Shahadat Hossain	Bangladesh	Mirpur	February 2008

 

Best bowling by Indian pacemen in a lost cause (E)

Bowling	Bowler	Against	Venue	Month, Year
9/83	Kapil Dev	West Indies	Ahmedabad	November 1983
8/86	J. Srinath	Pakistan	Kolkata	February 1999
7/61	Shardul Thakur	South Africa	Johannesburg (New)	January 2022
8/86	Amar Singh	England	Chennai	February 1934
7/159	Dattu Phadkar	West Indies	Chennai	January 1949
7/220	Kapil Dev	Pakistan	Faisalabad	January 1983

 

 

7 The number of Test sides to successfully chase targets of 200+ against India. South Africa, by winning in Johannesburg and Cape Town has become the first side to do so this on three separate occasions, when no one (England, Australia, West Indies and New Zealand) else has done it more than once against India.

Highest successful run chases of 200-plus against India in Test cricket

Total	Overs	Target	Winning side	Venue	Achieved on date
342/8	116.2+	339	Australia	Perth	December 21, 1977
276/5	85.3	276	West Indies	Delhi	November 29, 1987
243/3	67.4	240	South Africa	Johannesburg (New)	January 6, 2022
215/6	60.3	213	New Zealand	Wellington	December 30, 1998
212/3	63.3	212	South Africa	Cape Town	January 14, 2022
211/5	64.1	211	South Africa	Cape Town	January 6, 2007
208/4	88.5	207	England	Delhi	December 25, 1972

+ converted to six ball overs. In the Perth Test Indian bowlers delivered 87.2 eight-ball overs.

 

10 The number of consecutive tosses won by India across all formats in international cricket, when it won the toss in the Cape Town Test match. This equals its best of maximum tosses it has won consecutively in international cricket. The last time India lost a toss in an international game was against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi on Nov 3, 2021 in the T20 World Cup. Since then, the side has won 10 tosses in a row.

Consecutive toss wins across all formats for India

                                                          FORMAT                              RESULT

Mts	From	To	Tests	ODIs	T20Is	Won	Lost	Drawn/NR
10	Jul 7, 1988	7 Oct 1988	1	9		4	6
10	Dec 18, 2013	26 Feb 2014	4	6		1	6	+3
10*	Nov 5, 2021	*Jan 11, 2022	5		5	7	2	1
8	Dec 8, 1991	Jan 14, 1992	2	6		2	5	1
8	Aug 27, 2016	Oct 23, 2016	3	3	2	5	2	1
7	Oct 29, 1983	Dec 10, 1983	4	3			5	2
7	Oct 21, 1988	Nov 12, 1988	1	6		4	3
7	Apr 12, 2006	May 23, 2006		7		3	4
7	Jul 27, 2007	Aug 30, 2007	2	5		3	3	1

* in progress + also one tie

 

1 The number of occasions when 20 batters from a side were dismissed ‘caught’ in a Test match. First time in Test cricket history a side (India) lost all its 20 wickets in a single Test match to catches! In the recent Cape Town Test 20 Indian batters were dismissed caught in both the innings of the match.

Most batters dismissed ‘caught’ from one side in a Test match

Catches	Batting side	Fielding side	Venue	Month, Year	Won by	The lone dismissal other than a catch
20	India	South Africa	Cape Town	January 2022	SA	—
19	England	Australia	Brisbane	Nov-Dec 1982	Aus	Bowled
19	Pakistan	Australia	Sydney	January 2010	Aus	LBW
19	India	South Africa	Durban	December 2010	Ind	Bowled
19	England	Australia	Brisbane	November 2013	Aus	Bowled
19	England	South Africa	Cape Town	January 2020	Eng	LBW

Note:In a Test match at the MCG all 20 South African wickets fell to 18 catches and two stumpings against Australia in February 1932!

 

55 The number of times Indian batters were dismissed ‘caught’ in this series. This is the first time in a three match Test series over 50 batters were dismissed in this manner.

Summary of Indian batters dismissed ‘caught’ in the series.

Tests	Total	1st innings	2nd innings	Other dismissals
First Test in Centurion	18	9	9	1 LBW, 1 Bowled
Second Test in Johannesburg	17	10	7	2 LBWs, 1 Bowled
Third Test in Cape Town	20	10	10	—
Total	55	29	26

 

Most batsmen dismissed ‘caught’ from one side in a Test match (in a three match series)

Catches	(Fielder+WK+C&B)	Batting side	Fielding side	Series played in	Played in	Series result
55	(33+21+1)	India	South Africa	Dec 2021/Jan 2022	SA	SA won 2-1
48	(27+15+6)	Pakistan	New Zealand	Nov-Dec 2009	NZ	Drawn 1-1
47	(30+15+2)	India	South Africa	Dec 2006/Jan 2007	SA	SA won 2-1
47	(27+17+3)	Sri Lanka	South Africa	Dec 2011/Jan 2012	SA	SA won 2-1

 

All records are correct and updated until the end of the Cape Town Test on Jan 14, 2022