3rd Test, India v Australia, Statistical Highlights

It was the 1539th Test match in cricket history

Rajneesh Gupta26-Mar-2001

Loading ...

It was the 1539th Test match in cricket history.

It was India's 339th and Australia's 614th match.

It was the 60th Test between these two sides The record now reads: India 13, Australia 29, drawn 17 and tied one.

It was the 182nd Test on Indian soil - 32nd between these two sides. The record now reads: India 10, Australia 10, drawn 11 and tied one.

Umpires Arani Jayaprakash and Rudi Koertzen were officiating in their ninth and 24th match respectively.

Sairaj Bahutule and Sameer Dighe became 235th and 236th player to represent India in Test cricket. Dighe became 28th Indian (including Vijay Manjrekar's one appearance) to don gloves for India behind the stumps.

Michael Hayden (203) on 153, completed his 1000 Test runs. He was playing his 16th Test and 27th innings. He became 78th Australian and 362nd batsman in Test history to reach this landmark.

Hayden by hitting the six sixes in first innings set a new record of most sixes by an Australian in an innings. The previous record was of five sixes hed by Joe Darling (twice), Sam Loxton, Allan Border and Michael Slater. Incidentally Hayden became only the second batsman to hit six sixes in an innings against India after Viv Richards (192* at Delhi in 1974-75).

Hayden's innings represented 51.92 % of Australia's first innings total - the third highest by an Australian against India after Bob Cowper's 56.51 (165/292 at Sydney in 1967-68) and Allan Border's 52.92 (163/308 at Melbourne in 1985-86). Just for the record, Sri Lankan Asanka Gurusinha holds the record of highest contribution in an innings against India making 52 (not out) out of team's total of 82 at Chandigarh in 1990-91 - a percentage of 63.41 !

Steve Waugh became only the sixth batsman in Test annals to be dismissed `handled the ball'. Others to do so are: Russell Endean (South Africa) against England at Cape Town in 1956-57, Andrew Hilditch (Australia) against Pakistan at Perth in 1978-79, Mohsin Khan (Pakistan) against Australia at Karachi in 1982-83, Desmond Haynes (West Indies) against India at Mumbai in 1983-84 and Graham Gooch (England) against Australia at Manchester in 1993.

When Shane Warne failed to open his account in first innings, he achieved a dubious distinction for he has now made more ducks than any other Australian in Test cricket - 23 in 87 Tests. He went past Glenn McGrath who has a tally of 22 ducks from 70 appearances.

The duck was Warne's third in consecutive innings (he bagged a pair in Kolkata Test). Warne thus became only the second Australian batsman after Rodney Hogg (during the 1979-80 series) to do so against India.

Harbhajan Singh's 7 for 133 in first innings followed his figures of 7 for 123 and 6 for 73 in Kolkata Test. He became second Indian to capture six or more wickets in three consecutive innings after Laxman Sivaramakrishnan (6-64, 6-117 and 6-99 against England in 1984-85). He also became only the sixth bowler in all Tests to do so after England's George Lohmann (in 1895-96), Australia's Clarrie Grimmett (on two occasions (in 1931-32 and 1936-36) , England's Jim Laker (in 1956) and Pakistani Imran Khan (in 1981-82).

Sachin Tendulkar (126) scored his 25th Test hundred in his 82nd Test. He now joins Australian captain Steve Waugh to become the fifth batsman with maximum Test hundreds. Only India's Sunil Gavaskar (34 hundreds), Australians Don Bradman (29) and Allan Border (27) and West Indian Gary Sobers (26) have scored more hundreds than Waugh and Tendulkar in Test history.

The hundred was Tendulkar's fourth at this ground in five matches and seven innings. He now has the maximum Test hundreds by any batsman at Chepauk, going past Gavaskar's tally of three hundreds.

Rahul Dravid (81 on 78) became the tenth Indian to aggregate 2000 runs on Indian soil. His tally at the end of this match reads 2007 runs from 23 matches. For the record, Gavaskar has the maximum aggregate of 5067 runs in 65 matches.

The wicket of Sameer Dighe was 376th for Shane Warne in his 87th Test which puts him at level with West Indian Malcolm Marshall. Now only West Indian Courtney Walsh (504), Indian Kapil Dev (434), New Zealand's Richard Hadlee (431), Pakistani Wasim Akram (409), West Indian Curtly Ambrose (405) and England's Ian Botham (383) are ahead of Warne.

The 19 byes conceded by Adam Gilchrist in the first innings is the maximum by an Australian keeper against India. The previous "worst" performance was 18 each - by Don Tallon at Adelaide in 1947-48 and by Ian Healy at this same ground in 1997-98.

The wicket of Shane Warne in first innings was 50th for Harbhajan Singh. He became the 27th Indian and the 262nd bowler in Test history to do so. By taking 11 Tests to complete his 50 wickets, Harbhajan became the second fastest amongst Indians after Anil Kumble who captured his 50th wicket in his only 10th Test. Another spinner Narendra Hirwani had also completed his 50 wickets in his 11th match.

Harbhajan's tally after this match stands as 53 wickets from 11 matches which equals Anil Kumble's Indian record of most wickets after 11 matches.

At 20 years 261 days Harbhajan became the fourth youngest bowler in Test history to capture 50 wickets after Pakistani pace bowler Waqar Younis (19 years 8 days in 1990-91), New Zealand's left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori (19 years 136 days in 1997-98) and India's Kapil Dev (20 years 17 days in 1979-80).

When he held the catch of Ponting, Rahul Dravid became the eight Indian and the 67th fieldsman to take 50 catches in a Test career. By doing do in his 43rd Test match, Dravid became the second quickest in least Tests, after Eknath Solkar among Indian fielders. Incidentally Solkar achieved his milestone in just 26 matches in 1975-76, which still remains a Test record.

Harbhajan's second innings figures of 8 for 84 are the second best by an Indian in an innings against Australia after Jasu Patel's 9 for 69 at Kanpur in 1959-60. He also became 11th Indian on 15th occasion to capture 8 wickets in an innings. Hirwani and Vinoo Mankad doing so on two occasions each and Kapil Dev on three occasions.

Harbhajan became the first Indian to take five wickets in four consecutive innings. Leg-spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan (in 1984-85) and pacer Javagal Srinath (in 1998-99 and 1999-00) have achieved this feat in three consecutive innings.

Harbhajan's match figures of 15 for 217 are the second best by an Indian in all Tests after Hirwani's 16 for 136 against West Indies at this same venue in 1987-88. Incidentally the previous best match figures for India against Australia was 14 for 124 by Jasu Patel in 1959-60. Harbhajan now holds the 12th position among by Test bowlers with maximum wickets in a Test match. Harbhajan's figures is the fifth best match figures by any bowler against Australia.

Harbhajan by capturing ten wickets in two successive matches (13-196 at Kolkata and 15-217 at Chennai) became the first Indian to bag ten or more wickets in two matches in succession. This feat has been achieved only by eight Englishmen (Syd Barnes, Alec Bedser, Johnny Briggs, Tich Freeman, Jim Laker, George Lohmann, Tom Richardson and Fred Trueman), six Australians (Clarrie Grimmett, Rodney Hogg, Dennis Lillee, Arthur Mailey, Hugh Trumble and Charlie Turner) and by four Pakistanis (Abdul Qadir, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis and Saqlain Mushtaq). Harbhajan now has a great chance to equal Grimmett's world record of ten wicket match hauls in three consecutive matches. Grimmett ended his Test career in 1935-36 with the figures of 10-88, 10-110 and 13-173 in three consecutive matches.

Harbhajan's 28 wickets in last two matches (13 at Kolkata and 15 at Chennai) puts him behind England's Jim Laker (11 at Leeds and 19 at Manchester - against Australia in 1956) in terms most wickets in two consecutive matches. Harbhajan displaced Englishman Syd Barnes (10 at Durban and 17 at Johannesburg - against South Africa in December 1913) to the third place in this category.

Harbhajan's 32 wickets in the series is the fourth best performance by any bowler in Test history in a three match series. England's George Lohmann with 35 wickets against South Africa in 1895-96 series holds the world record.The details:

Most wickets in a three match series

Bowler Wkts Runs For Vs Season Ave. 10WM 5WI SR ER GA Lohmann 35 203 Eng SA * 1895-96 5.80 2 4 14.86 39.04 SF Barnes 34 282 Eng* SA 1912 8.29 3 5 22.59 36.72 RJ Hadlee 33 401 NZ Aus* 1985-86 12.15 2 5 30.82 39.43 Harbhajan 32 545 Ind* Aus 2000-01 17.03 2 4 33.46 50.88 Abdul Qadir 30 437 Pak* Eng 1987-88 14.57 2 3 46.93 31.04

Harbhajan also became only the fifth Indian to take 30 or more wickets in a series. All others have done this in a series of atleast five matches.The previous best performance by an Indian in a three match series was on the name of Anil Kumble who took 23 wickets also against Australia in 1997-98.

Most wickets by Indians in a series

Bowler Wkts R M For v. Series Ave 10WM 5WI SR ER BS Chandrasekhar 35 662 5 Ind* Eng 1972-73 18.91 0 4 49.91 37.89 MH Mankad 34 571 5 Ind* Eng 1951-52 16.79 1 1 65.44 25.66 SP Gupte 34 669 5 Ind* NZ 1955-56 19.68 0 4 62.94 31.26 N Kapil Dev 32 566 6 Ind* Pak 1979-80 17.69 1 3 39.72 44.53 Harbhajan Singh 32 545 3 Ind* Aus 2000-01 17.03 2 4 33.46 50.88 BS Bedi 31 740 5 Ind Aus*1977-78 23.87 1 3 56.74 42.07

Harbhajan's 32 wickets out of the 50 Australian wickets represents a whopping 64 % of the total wickets taken by Indian bowlers. This is Test cricket's most dominating performance by an individual bowler in a series. He bettered the previous best such performances by New Zealand's Richard Hadlee (33/56 - 58.93%) in Australia in 1985-86 and England's George Lohmann (35/60 - 58.33%) in South Africa in 1895-96.

Matthew Hayden ended the series with 549 runs keeping an average of 109.80. His aggregate is the maximum by any visiting batsman in India in a series of three-or-less matches. He bettered the previous highest tally of 540 runs by Zimbabwean batsman Andy Flower in just two matches in November last year.For the record, the only other batsmen to aggregate more than Hayden in a three-or-less match Test series against India are: Graham Gooch - 752 runs (in England in 1990); Zaheer Abbas - 583 runs (in Pakistan in 1978-79) and Sanath Jayasuriya - 571 runs (in Sri Lanka in 1997-98). Incidentally Gooch's aggregate is a Test record for a three-match Test series, while Jayasuriya's tally came in a two-match Test series, which is also a Test record.

Hayden also became the second Australia after Kim Hughes (594 runs in six matches in 1979-80) to aggregate over 500 runs in a series in India. Hayden, meanwhile also became the only second Australian batsman to aggregate over 500 runs in a three-match Test series. Former captain and opener Mark Taylor had made 513 runs in Pakistan during the 1998-99 series.

The 13 ducks in the series by Australian batsmen is the joint second worst performance by Australia in a three match series. The record is of 18 ducks recorded way back in 1888 against England. Interestingly Australia had also made 13 ducks against India in 1964-65 series.

VVS Laxman during his second innings score of 66 became the first Indian batsman to aggregate over 500 runs in a three-match Test series. His series aggregate reads as 503 at 83.83. He bettered the previous best of 447 runs by Sunil Gavaskar in 1978-79 in Pakistan. However, Laxman failed to surpass the 557 runs made by Pakistani batsman Salim Malik in Pakistan in 1994-95 - which still remains the maximum runs scored by a batsman in a three-match Test series against Australia.

The catch of Ganguly was Mark Waugh's 150th in his 111th match. He became only the third fielder in Test history to do so. Waugh later extended his tally to 152. Now only Mark Taylor (157 catches in 104 matches) and Allan Border (156 catches in 156 matches) are ahead of him.

Mark Waugh's six catches in the match (two in the first and four in the second) equals Dave Whatmore's record for Australia against India. Whatmore had taken his six catches at Kanpur in 1979-80.

Waugh's four catches in second innings equals the record of most catches by an Australian against India in an innings. Alan Davidson at Delhi in 1959-60 , Dave Whatmore as above and Mark Waugh at Melbourne in 1999-00 are the others to do so.

The win by two wickets equalled India's narrowest in terms of wickets. India had beaten the Aussies by the identical margin at Mumbai (Brabourne) in 1964-65.

India became only the sixth team to win a three match series after losing the first Test. The first such instance had taken place way back in August 1888 in England when WG Grace took over the captaincy to lead England to victory in the second Test at the Oval and the third Test at Old Trafford after the first Test at Lord's under the captaincy of AG Steel had been lost to Australia. The other teams being: South Africa v New Zealand in 1994-95; Pakistan v Zimbabwe in 1994-95; Sri Lanka in Pakistan in 1995-96, Sri Lanka v New Zealand in 1997-98 and England v Sri Lanka in 2000-01.

Australia was losing two consecutive Tests for the first time since March 1999 when the West Indies won two in a row at Kingston (by 10 wickets) and at Bridgetown (by 1 wicket). Interestingly the last occasion India won two consecutive matches in the same series was when it beat Australia at Chennai and Calcutta in March 1998.

At the end of the series:

India's overall Test record: P 339, W 65, L 113, D 160 and T 1.
Sourav Ganguly's captaincy record: P 6, W 4, L 1, D 1
Australia's overall Test record: P 614, W 266, L 170, D 176 and T 2.
Steve Waugh's captaincy record: P 24, W 17, L 5, D 2.

3rd Test, India v Australia, Statistical Highlights

Read in App