How often have India been whitewashed in a Test series at home?

New Zealand have just won a Test series in India. Have they ever done that before, and how often have India been whitewashed at home? asked Michael O'Sullivan from New Zealand
New Zealand had never previously won any of their 12 Test series in India, and indeed had won only two previous Tests there - in Nagpur in October 1969, and in Mumbai in November 1988. That first win enabled them to draw the series 1-1, and a two-match rubber in 2003-04 was drawn 0-0; India won the other ten. New Zealand have done much better at home, winning six series (and ten Tests overall).

India might have lost the series after their defeat in Pune, but there's still another Test to come so it's too early to talk about a whitewash. The only time they have ever lost every match of a series (more than one Test) at home was in 1999-2000, when South Africa won both matches. They did lose three-match series 2-0 to England in 1933-34 (the first Tests in India), Australia in 1956-57 and West Indies in 1966-67. As this list shows, India have lost three matches in five longer series at home, which included 3-0 defeats to West Indies in 1958-59 (five Tests) and 1983-84 (six).

I saw that Kagiso Rabada was the fastest to reach 300 Test wickets in terms of balls bowled, but who got there fastest by time? asked Andy Johnson from England
You're right that Kagiso Rabada was the fastest to reach 300 Test wickets by balls bowled - he got there when he dismissed Mushfiqur Rahim during South Africa's recent Test against Bangladesh in Mirpur. That wicket came with Rabada's 11,817th legal delivery in a Test, 132.3 overs quicker than Waqar Younis (12,602), who himself was three balls quicker than Dale Steyn.

The fastest in terms of time was Shane Warne, who got there in six years and three days from his debut against India in Sydney in January 1992. R Ashwin ran Warne close, reaching 300 in November 2017, six years and 21 days after his debut. Rabada played his first Test in November 2015, so is well down this particular list, in 15th place.

Was Zimbabwe's 344 the other day a T20 international record? asked Burton Mugambwa from Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe ran up 344 for 4 in their match against Gambia in Nairobi last week, during the African qualifying tournament for the next T20 World Cup. It was not only the highest in a T20 international, but the biggest in any senior men's T20 match, beating Nepal's 314 for 3 against Mongolia in the Asian Games in Hangzhou (China) in September 2023. As mentioned two weeks ago in this column, there have been higher totals in women's T20 internationals.

Zimbabwe won by 290 runs, another record for men's T20s, beating Nepal's 273 in the match mentioned above. Argentina's women won successive games against Chile in October 2023 by 364, 281 and 311 runs.

Sikandar Raza reached his century - Zimbabwe's first in T20s - against Gambia in just 33 balls, putting him joint-second in men's T20 internationals behind Sahil Chauhan's 27-ball onslaught for Estonia against Cyprus in Episkopi in June 2024. That's also the fastest in all men's T20 matches.

Prabath Jayasuriya currently has 97 wickets in 16 Tests - that's more than six a match. Has anyone else had a higher average? asked Nishantha de Silva from Sri Lanka
Slow left-armer Prabath Jayasuriya currently averages 6.06 wickets per Test, a rate he'll have to sustain for a long time to stay ahead of Muthiah Muralidaran, who took 800 wickets in his 133-Test career, at the rate of 6.01 per match.

Leading the way is the great England bowler Sydney Barnes, who took 189 wickets in just 27 Tests, an average of exactly seven per match. Among those who took 50 or more Test wickets, the only others above six are three 19th-century bowlers in Jack Ferris (6.77 wickets per Test), Tom Richardson (6.28) and George Lohmann (6.22). Lohmann is the only man to have more wickets after 16 Tests (101) than Jayasuriya's 97.

The only other current bowler who averages more than five wickets per Test is R Ashwin, who stood at 5.12 per match after the second Test against New Zealand in Pune.

Saim Ayub opened the batting and the bowling in Rawalpindi. How often has this happened in a Test? asked Abdul Hameed Majeed from Pakistan
Offspinner Saim Ayub took the new ball for Pakistan in the third Test against England in Rawalpindi - a one-over spell before Noman Ali returned! He'd earlier opened the batting, and became the 70th man to do both in the same Test. There are now 154 instances in all, and two Indian allrounders lead the way: Manoj Prabhakar did it no fewer than 22 times, and ML Jaisimha 13. Next come Pakistan's Mudassar Nazar (nine times) and Abid Ali of India (six).

The most recent instance before Saim Ayub was by Solomon Mire, for Zimbabwe against West Indies in Bulawayo late in 2017; the previous year Dilruwan Perera did it for Sri Lanka against Australia in Colombo. Perhaps the most surprising name on the list is another Indian, Budhi Kunderan, against England at Edgbaston in July 1967 - he was usually a wicketkeeper!