From workhorse to hero

Statistical highlights, 1st Test, Nagpur

01-Mar-2006

Day 3

Matthew Hoggard has often been relegated to playing the workhorse in the England bowling attack, but over the last few years, he has repeatedly showcased his striking abilities. In his last 16 Tests - starting with the tour to South Africa in 2004-05, and including this one - Hoggard has a haul of 72 wickets at 24.74. That's a huge improvement on his first 33 Tests, which fetched him 117 wickets at 32.55 apiece.

Hoggard's success against the Indian top order isn't entirely surprising either. The last time he toured India, Hoggard claimed nine wickets at an average of 31.22. As the list below shows, Hoggard has had plenty of success against the Indian top order.

Indian batsmen against Hoggard
Batsman	Runs/ Balls	Dismissals	Average
Jaffer	42/ 71	3	14.00
Sehwag	73/ 146	4	18.25
Dravid	171/ 386	5	34.20
Tendulkar	182/ 276	3	60.67

Hoggard joins Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Muttiah Muralitharan as bowlers who have dismissed Dravid five times. Shane Warne leads the way with eight. Click here for a breakup of Dravid's dismissals by all bowlers prior to the Nagpur Test.

Hoggard's five-wicket haul is the fifth occasion of an England fast bowler picking up five or more wickets in the first Test of a series in India, as the table below indicates.

Figures	Bowler	Venue	Series
5-55	Morris Nichols	Bombay	1933-34
6-45	Geoff Arnold	New Delhi	1972-73
7-46	John Lever	New Delhi	1976-77
6-58 & 7-48	Ian Botham	Bombay	1979-80
6-57	Matthew Hoggard	Nagpur	2005-06

Overall, there have been 14 instances of English fast bowlers picking up five-wicket hauls in India.

Monty Panesar conceded only 72 in 41.4 overs, making it one of the most economical spells (at least 20 overs) by an overseas spinner in India since 1985. Daniel Vettori's 2 for 84 from 56 overs at Mohali in 2003-04 is the most economical, while Ashley Giles (5 for 67 in 43.3 at Ahmedabad in 2001-02), Iqbal Qasim (5 for 48 off 30 at Bangalore in 1986-87) and Viv Richards (1 for 39 in 24 at Calcutta in 1987-88) are the only ones with a better economy rate.

The 47 maidens bowled in the Indian innings so far is the second-highest by any team against them since 2000. Only New Zealand, who bowled 50 at Mohali in 2003-04, have managed more.

The 128-run eighth-wicket stand between Anil Kumble and Mohammad Kaif is the joint third-highest for India in Tests, equalling the partnership between Ravi Shastri and Syed Kirmani against England at New Delhi in 1981-82. Mohammad Azharuddin and Anil Kumble take the top spot with the 161 they added against South Africa at Calcutta while the second highest is 143 between Faroukh Engineer and Bapu Nadkarni against New Zealand at Madras in 1964-65.

Day 2

Paul Collingwood, who had a modest beginning in Test cricket after starting out as a one-day specialist, is now in a rich vein of form. Prior to the third Test against Pakistan at Lahore last December, he averaged only 14.87. Two half centuries and an undefeated century later, his average has leapfrogged to 42.9.

Collingwood is the first Durham cricketer to score a Test century. Durham was recognized by the England Cricket Board (ECB) as a county only in 1992.

The contributions by the last five England batsmen in the first innings at Nagpur is a significant improvement from the tour of Pakistan last year. In the three Tests in Pakistan, the average runs per wicket by the last five was 21.04 (in five innings). In this innings, the last five added 190 at an average of 38 runs per wicket.

Steve Harmison's 39 is the highest score by a No.10 batsman at Nagpur, beating the previous best of 32 not out by Rumesh Ratnayeke, the former Sri Lankan medium pacer, in 1986-87. Harmison also fell three runs short of his highest score in Tests - 42 against South Africa at Cape Town in 2004-05. His 39 is also the 12th-highest score by an England No.10 batsman in an overseas Test, the highest being 69 not out by Alan Smith against New Zealand at Wellington in 1962-63.

The 60-run partnership between Paul Collingwood and Steve Harmison is the highest for the ninth wicket at Nagpur, edging past the previous highest by a solitary run - 59 between the Zimbabwean duo of Travis Friend and Raymond Price in 2001-02. The overall highest ninth-wicket partnership for England is the undefeated stand of 163 between Alan Smith and Colin Cowdrey against New Zealand at Wellington in 1962-63.

The 66-run partnership between Paul Collingwood and Monty Panesar is the highest for the tenth wicket at Nagpur, going past the previous best of 52 between Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar against Australia in 2004-05.

Day 1

Dogged by fitness and health concerns, England were forced to field three debutants - Cook, Ian Blackwell, and Monty Panesar. The last time England played so many new faces was in 1999-2000, against South Africa at Johannesburg , when Michael Vaughan, Gavin Hamilton, and Chris Adams made their debuts.

Alastair Cook became the 36th opener from England to score a half-century on debut. However, since 1990, only two others have managed the feat, and both are left-handers - Marcus Trescothick made 66 against West Indies in Manchester in 2000, while Andrew Strauss struck a memorable 112 against New Zealand at Lord's in 2004.

When Rahul Dravid dived to his left to bring off a magnificent catch at slip to dismiss Ian Bell, it didn't just give India their second wicket of the morning session, it also broke a long barren spell for Harbhajan Singh. Before that strike, Harbhajan had gone wicketless for 544 deliveries, including two Tests in Pakistan.

Andrew Flintoff's struggle to unravel the mystery called Anil Kumble continues. From the 62 balls that Kumble has bowled to him in Test cricket, Flintoff has scored just 35 and been dismissed four times - that's a miserable average of 8.75.

Anil Kumble Harbhajan Singh Andrew Flintoff Alastair Cook Paul Collingwood India England India vs England England tour of India

S Rajesh is stats editor of Cricinfo. Kanishkaa Balachandran is editorial assistant of Cricinfo. For some stats they were helped by Arun Gopalakrishnan