print icon
Stats Analysis

A record-breaking year for India's fast bowlers

Ishant, Shami and Umesh have all picked up 20-plus wickets in 2019 at averages of less than 20

Bharath Seervi
24-Nov-2019
4 - India have become the first team to win four successive Tests by an innings. They won the last two Tests against South Africa by an innings, as well as both Tests in this series.
7 - Successive Test wins for India, which is now their longest winning streak. The previous longest streak was of six wins in 2013: four against Australia and two against West Indies. The current winning streak began during the West Indies tour. All seven wins have been either by innings or by more than 200 runs.
19 - Wickets taken by India's fast bowlers in this Test, which is the most by them in a home Test. The previous highest was 17 wickets, also at Eden Gardens, against Sri Lanka in 2017. This was the third time India's seamers have taken 19 or more wickets in a Test, and all have come in the last two years.
0 - Wickets taken by spinners in this Test. This is the first home Test win for India, and second overall, without a wicket going to the spinners. Ishant Sharma got nine wickets, Umesh Yadav eight, and Mohammed Shami two. The spinners bowled just seven overs in this Test.
1 - This was the first time two India fast bowlers had picked up eight or more wickets in the same Test, with Ishant and Umesh creating history. The last such instance for any team was when Ryan Harris and Mitchell Johnson got nine wickets each in the Ashes Test of 2010-11 in Perth. This is also the first time two different India fast bowlers took five-wicket hauls in different innings of a Test.
15.16 - Average of India's fast bowlers in 2019, which is the second-best ever for a team's quicks in a calendar year while picking up 50-plus wickets. Their strike rate this year is 31.06, which is in fact the best for a side's fast bowlers in a year with those same criteria.
3 - India fast bowlers with 20-plus wickets at an average of less than 20 this year - Umesh, Ishant and Shami. The only previous time three fast bowlers from the same team achieved this was for England in 1978, when Ian Botham, Chris Old and Bob Willis shared the honors. In fact, before this year, there has never been any instance of any India fast bowler picking up 20-plus wickets in a year at an average of less than 20.
13.48 - Average of India's fast bowlers in this series - the best in any home series of two or more Tests. The pace trio picked up 33 wickets at a strike rate of 26.3. The previous best was against West Indies last year.

Bharath Seervi is stats sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo @SeerviBharath