Rising against the rivals - Part II

Before the one-day series between India and Pakistan began, the List had looked at players with the best averages in India-Pakistan one-day internationals. Salman Butt, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh all lived up to their excellent records, while Shoaib Malik failed to maintain his dominance against India. With the Test series starting on Thursday in Delhi, we look at the best performers in India-Pakistan Tests.

Younis Khan had a mediocre one-day record against India before this series - averaging 29 in 22 innings - but he's repaired that to a certain extent by scoring 231 runs at 57.75 in four games on this tour. However, it's the Tests he'll be looking forward to, for he has plundered the Indian attack in the longer format. He has scored 1061 runs in only 11 innings at an average of 106 and all of his three career-highest scores have come against India. On his last tour to India, in 2004-05, Younis scored 267 and 84 in Bangalore to set up Pakistan's series-levelling victory.

Pakistan will be relieved that the Indian selectors have not picked Virender Sehwag for the first and second Tests. Sehwag has an awesome record against them, and his 309 in Multan in 2003-04 remains the only triple-hundred by an Indian in Tests. Since then he has reeled off two more double-hundreds and averages 91.14 in 14 innings against them.

Biggest difference in batting average: overall and in India v Pakistan Tests (qualification: 200 runs)

Player	Span		Mat	Runs	Ave	100		IvP	Runs	Ave	100		Diff
VS Hazare (India)	1952-1952		30	2192	47.65	7		3	223	111.50	1		63.847
SV Manjrekar (India)	1989-1989		37	2043	37.14	4		4	569	94.83	2		57.687
Younis Khan (Pak)	2005-2006		55	4556	48.98	14		6	1061	106.10	4		57.110
Qasim Umar (Pak)	1983-1984		26	1502	36.63	3		3	271	90.33	1		53.699
CG Borde (India)	1960-1961		55	3061	35.59	5		5	330	82.50	1		46.907
Zaheer Abbas (Pak)	1978-1984		78	5062	44.79	12		19	1740	87.00	6		42.203
V Sehwag (India)	2004-2006		52	4155	49.46	12		9	1276	91.14	4		41.678
AD Gaekwad (India)	1983-1984		40	1985	30.07	2		5	451	64.42	1		34.352
Mudassar Nazar (Pak)	1978-1984		76	4114	38.09	10		18	1431	62.21	6		24.124
Yuvraj Singh (India)	2004-2006		19	830	33.20	2		6	401	57.28	2		24.085
NJ Contractor (India)	1960-1961		31	1611	31.58	1		5	319	53.16	0		21.578
Javed Burki (Pak)	1960-1961		25	1341	30.47	3		5	325	46.42	0		15.951
S Ramesh (India)	1999-1999		19	1367	37.97	2		3	323	53.83	0		15.861
Aamer Malik (Pak)	1989-1989		14	565	35.31	2		4	254	50.80	2		15.487
Javed Miandad (Pak)	1978-1989		124	8832	52.57	23		28	2228	67.51	5		14.943

Sachin Tendulkar had a below-par record against Pakistan in ODIs, averaging 38.58 before the recent series, but 259 runs at 51.80 have pushed it up to nearly 40. He has a poor Test record as well against Pakistan, with an average of 39.91 compared to his career figure of 54.92. It is his second lowest average against a particular country, after his 36.42 in 19 Tests against South Africa.

Two of India's other middle-order batsmen playing in the Tests, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, also have poor records against Pakistan. Both have never scored hundreds versus them; Ganguly has scored only 368 runs in 14 innings and averages only 17 in his last five games while Laxman has an average of 33.29 after 20 innings.

Biggest difference in batting average: overall and in India v Pakistan Tests (qualification: 200 runs)

Player	Span		Mat	Runs	Ave	100		IvP	Runs	Ave	100		Diff
SR Tendulkar (India)	1989-2006		140	11150	54.92	37		16	918	39.91	2		-15.013
Majid Khan (Pak)	1978-1983		63	3931	38.92	8		10	445	24.72	0		-14.198
GR Viswanath (India)	1978-1983		91	6080	41.93	14		15	611	27.77	1		-14.158
SC Ganguly (India)	1999-2006		96	5812	41.21	13		9	368	28.30	0		-12.912
SMH Kirmani (India)	1978-1984		88	2759	27.04	2		20	422	17.58	0		-9.465
VVS Laxman (India)	1999-2006		83	5083	42.71	10		12	566	33.29	0		-9.420
SM Patil (India)	1980-1984		29	1588	36.93	4		11	479	28.17	1		-8.753
Saleem Malik (Pak)	1982-1999		103	5768	43.69	15		22	846	35.25	3		-8.447
K Srikkanth (India)	1983-1989		43	2062	29.88	2		11	436	24.22	1		-5.661
Asif Iqbal (Pak)	1978-1980		58	3575	38.85	11		9	466	33.28	1		-5.572
M Azharuddin (India)	1987-1999		99	6215	45.03	22		12	769	40.47	3		-4.562
N Kapil Dev (India)	1978-1989		131	5248	31.05	8		29	1054	27.02	0		-4.027
P Roy (India)	1952-1960		43	2442	32.56	5		9	372	28.61	0		-3.944
NS Sidhu (India)	1989-1989		51	3202	42.13	9		4	269	38.42	0		-3.703
Hanif Mohammad (Pak)	1952-1961		55	3915	43.98	12		15	970	40.41	2		-3.572

Although Javagal Srinath played only three Tests against Pakistan, in 1998-99, he picked up 17 wickets at an average of 20.64, far lower than his career figure of 30.49. His career-best performance came in Kolkata, when a searing new-ball spell helped reduce Pakistan to 26 for 6 before Moin Khan's 70 took them to 185. Srinath finished the match with 13 for 132 but it wasn't enough to prevent India falling 46 runs short of the target.

Biggest difference in bowling average: overall and in India v Pakistan Tests (qualification: 600 balls)

Player	Span		Mat	Wkts	Ave	5		IvP	Wkts	Ave	5		Diff
GS Ramchand (India)	1952-1955		33	41	46.31	1		8	16	23.31	1		-23.004
Haseeb Ahsan (Pak)	1960-1961		12	27	49.25	2		5	15	32.66	2		-16.592
PR Umrigar (India)	1952-1961		59	35	42.08	2		15	14	30.35	1		-11.728
L Amarnath (India)	1952-1952		24	45	32.91	2		5	9	22.44	0		-10.466
J Srinath (India)	1999-1999		67	236	30.49	10		3	17	20.64	2		-9.844
DG Phadkar (India)	1952-1955		31	62	36.85	3		5	15	27.13	1		-9.721
AH Kardar (Pak)	1952-1955		26	21	45.42	0		10	8	37.00	0		-8.428
MH Mankad (India)	1952-1955		44	162	32.32	8		9	37	24.67	4		-7.645
RB Desai (India)	1960-1961		28	74	37.31	2		5	21	29.76	0		-7.548
Khan Mohammad (Pak)	1952-1955		13	54	23.92	4		5	24	16.75	2		-7.175
Azeem Hafeez (Pak)	1983-1984		18	63	34.98	4		5	21	29.00	1		-5.984
L Balaji (India)	2004-2005		8	27	37.18	1		6	26	31.57	1		-5.608
Mahmood Hussain (Pak)	1952-1961		27	68	38.64	2		14	39	33.15	2		-5.493
RG Nadkarni (India)	1960-1961		41	88	29.07	4		4	9	24.44	0		-4.635
SP Gupte (India)	1952-1961		36	149	29.55	12		10	34	25.05	3		-4.491

Despite a career spanning 14 years, Waqar Younis played only four of his 87 Tests against India. He made his debut in 1989 - along with Tendulkar - and took 4 for 80 in the first innings in Karachi. Waqar however, did not have much success after that, taking two wickets in the second Test in Sialkot. When Pakistan toured India ten years later, he struggled and took only two wickets in 49 overs over two Tests. His average of 48.75 and strike-rate of 80 against India are his poorest against a particular nation.

Harbhajan Singh had a torrid time during his last series in Pakistan, in 2005-06. He bowled 81 overs in the first two Tests, conceded 355 runs, and didn't take a single wicket before he was dropped for the final Test in Karachi. His bowling average against Pakistan before that series was 33.36 but after the first two Tests it shot up to 57.

Biggest difference in bowling average: overall and in India v Pakistan Tests (qualification: 600 balls)

Player	Span		Mat	Wkts	Ave	5		IvP	Wkts	Ave	5		Diff
Nasim-ul-Ghani (Pak)	1960-1961		29	52	37.67	2		4	3	114.33	0		76.660
M Amarnath (India)	1978-1987		69	32	55.68	0		18	6	109.00	0		53.312
BS Bedi (India)	1978-1978		67	266	28.71	14		3	6	74.83	0		46.122
Harbhajan Singh (India)	1999-2006		57	238	29.86	19		6	15	57.33	1		27.467
Waqar Younis (Pak)	1989-1999		87	373	23.56	22		4	8	48.75	0		25.189
Jalal-ud-Din (Pak)	1982-1984		6	11	48.81	0		4	5	71.20	0		22.381
NS Yadav (India)	1979-1987		35	102	35.09	3		10	17	55.23	0		20.137
Abdul Qadir (Pak)	1979-1989		67	236	32.80	15		16	27	51.51	0		18.713
Z Khan (India)	2004-2006		50	160	33.33	5		4	12	51.08	0		17.745
IK Pathan (India)	2004-2006		25	91	30.79	7		9	26	47.61	1		16.824
Tahir Naqqash (Pak)	1982-1983		15	34	41.11	2		5	10	54.20	1		13.082
Maninder Singh (India)	1982-1989		35	88	37.36	3		13	26	49.11	2		11.751
S Madan Lal (India)	1982-1984		39	71	40.08	4		7	12	51.75	0		11.665
Iqbal Qasim (Pak)	1978-1987		50	171	28.11	8		15	34	39.23	2		11.124
Mohammad Sami (Pak)	2004-2006		30	77	47.87	2		7	17	58.52	0		10.659