Stats Analysis

Stats - Turnaround by India's opening pair overseas

Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul put on 126 runs together for the first wicket

Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul put India in control  •  PA Photos/Getty Images

Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul put India in control  •  PA Photos/Getty Images

126 Partnership runs for the first wicket between KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma, the first century opening stand for India outside Asia in Tests since the start of 2011. The last India opening pair to share a century stand overseas was Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, who put on 137 in India's second innings at Centurion in 2010.
1 Rahul and Sharma are also the first visiting pair with a century stand in England since August 2016. The 126-run stand is also the highest opening partnership in England in this period, alongside Alastair Cook and Alex Hales against Pakistan in Birmingham in 2016.
126 The partnership of 126 between Rahul and Sharma is the second-highest by a visiting team in England after being put in to bat. Michael Slater and Mark Taylor shared a 128-run stand in 1993 at Old Trafford.
20.4 Overs per innings before the fall of the first wicket for India overseas in 2021. Between 2011 and 2020, the Indian opening pair lasted only 6.4 overs on an average in Tests outside Asia.
43.4 Overs batted by India's opening pair of Rahul and Sharma on Thursday, the second-longest opening stand for India outside Asia since 1998. Wasim Jaffer and Dinesh Karthik take the top place as they batted out 56.1 overs for a 153-run stand in Cape Town in 2007.
5 Instances of India's opening partnership lasting 20 or more overs in Tests outside Asia since the start of 2011. All the five instances came in 2021, including twice in the ongoing series against England.
247.5 Balls per dismissal for Sharma during the first 20 overs of innings away from home this year. Across nine away innings in 2021, Sharma got out just twice before the end of 20 overs.
4 Hundreds by Indian openers in Test cricket outside Asia since the start of 2015. All those four are by Rahul - twice in England and one each in Australia and West Indies.

Sampath Bandarupalli is a statistician at ESPNcricinfo