Krejza's eight and Harbhajan's 300

The two offspinners, Jason Krejza and Harbhajan Singh, had a day to remember in Nagpur. Cricinfo looks at a few statistical highlights for the two

Cricinfo staff

07-Nov-2008

The two offspinners, Jason Krejza and Harbhajan Singh, had a day to remember in Nagpur. Cricinfo looks at a few statistical highlights for the two:

In one innings, Jason Krejza took more wickets than what all his team-mates, bar Mitchell Johnson, had managed so far in the series © AFP

After his poor showing in Australia's tour game - he took 0 for 199 in 31 overs - Krejza was overlooked for the first three Tests, but he finally got his chance in Nagpur. After taking 3 for 138 on the first day, a devastating spell of five wickets in 26 deliveries restricted India to 441. He finished the innings with 8 for 215, the eighth-best figures in an innings for a bowler on debut - the fourth-best by an Australian bowler, after Albert Trott's 8 for 43 and Bob Massie's 8 for 53 and 8 for 84.

Harbhajan became the third Indian bowler, after Kapil Dev and Anil Kumble, to take 300 Test wickets. He's the fifth spinner - Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Kumble top the list of wicket-takers for all bowlers, and Lance Gibbs is the only other spinner in the list of 22.

Krejza's eight wickets cost 215 runs, the most conceded by a bowler on debut. He's only the third Australian bowler to go for more than 200 runs in an innings - his team-mate Brett Lee was the second, against India in Sydney in 2004.

Harbhajan's 300th Test wicket was also his 200th at home. He fares far better in India than away: in 40 home Tests, he averages 26.74, while his 100 wickets away have come at 39.69 apiece.

Krejza's is the most expensive eighth-wicket haul in an innings - Saqlain Mushtaq had previously taken figures of 8 for 164. Among bowlers who have taken more than five wickets in an innings, only two bowlers - Bishan Bedi and Kapil - have conceded more runs.

Harbhajan's 300th victim was Ricky Ponting, fitting perhaps given their rivalry. Ponting is the batsman Harbhajan has dismissed the most - no other bowler has been as successful, in terms of dismissals, against Ponting. It was the tenth time Harbhajan got Ponting out, and to cap it off, he bowled Ponting for the first time. His 73 wickets against Australia is his best against any team. Thirty-two of those wickets came in the three Tests at home in 2001. (Click here for Harbhajan's career bowling summary.)

Krejza's figures were the third-best by a visiting bowler in India - Lance Klusener's 8 for 64, also in his debut Test, being the best - and the best for an away spinner in the country. Krejza, Klusener and Stuart MacGill, who took 8 for 108 against Bangladesh in Fatullah, are the only non-subcontinent bowlers to take eight wickets or more in an innings in Asia.

With Anil Kumble's retirement, Harbhajan now takes over as India's leading spinner. Of his 300, 220 have come in Tests where he has played alongside Kumble. While Kumble averages 28.36 in those games, Harbhajan's wickets have come at 32.60 apiece. In 18 Tests not involving Kumble, Harbhajan's average improves to 26.81. His strike-rate is 56.6 for those 80 wickets; in matches with Kumble, it's 69.1. The two had become only the second spin pair to play 50 Tests (among bowlers who have bowled at least 90 balls per Test on an average) in April this year.

Harbhajan Singh Jason Krejza India Australia India vs Australia Australia tour of India