May 20, 2003

Name: Anand
Question: Is there any batsman who was 'Timed Out' ever? (Not getting to the batting crease before the prescribed time)?

Answer1: Prior to 1980, if a batsman took longer than the statutory two minutes to come in, an appeal could be made by the fielding side and the innings could be regarded as completed on the grounds that the side was refusing to play. However, the 1980 MCC Code (Law 31) provided a new means of dismissal: the incoming batsman, whose delay (which must be 'wilful') is declared 'out' and it does not jeopardise the whole side. Since 1980, only one batsman in cricket history has been dismissed 'timed-out' in a first-class cricket match. This dubious distinction goes to Tripura's number eleven batsman, Hemulal Yadav, who was declared 'timed-out' by the umpires.

This incident took place at the Barabatti stadium, Cuttack on the last day of the Ranji Trophy match between hosts Orissa and Tripura on December 20, 1997. When Tripura's Vijay Bhatnagar became the ninth batsman to be dismissed at 10:28 a.m., drinks were called. After the three-minute drinks break, Tripura's number eleven batsman Yadav had still not come out to the field. According to reports, he alongwith his team-manager were sitting outside the boundary line, without making any attempt to come to the wicket. On an appeal from the Orissa fielders, the umpires Dr K N Raghvan and S Dendapani, both from the Kerala Cricket Association, had no other option but to "time-out" Yadav at 10:33 a.m.

Whatever may be the reasons for Hemulal Yadav's delay in coming out to bat, he has now acquired a unique place in the record books as the first ever to be dismissed 'timed-out' in a first-class match.

There is another recent dubious distinction of Nottinghamshire's Andrew Harris (against Durham at Trent Bridge on 13-4-2003), who became the only second player (since 1980) after Tripura's Hemulal Yadav to be "timed out" in first-class cricket.

Name: Darshan
Question: Tell me Sourav Ganguly's batting average in Test cricket in countries other than the subcontinent. You can count Australia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, England and West Indies. Thanks for your time, Darshan

Answer2:

Ganguly's Test record in:

Country	M	Inn	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	100	50	0
Australia	3	6	0	177	60	29.50	0	1	0
South Africa	5	10	1	292	73	32.44	0	2	1
Zimbabwe	3	5	0	97	47	19.40	0	0	1
England	6	9	0	666	136	74.00	3	3	1
West Indies	9	12	2	400	75*	40.00	0	2	0
Total	26	42	3	1632	136	41.85	3	8	3

Name: Vishy
Question: What is the maximum number of runs scored in a single over in a World Cup match? Who was the bowler and batsman?

Answer3: In the recent World Cup, Australian Darren Lehmann had taken 28 runs (444646) off the bowling of Namibian Rudi van Vuuren at Potchefstroom on 27-2-2003 -- the most runs taken in an over by any batsman in World Cup history.

Name: Sathish
Question: Which batsman has scored the most runs against the West Indies in a Test series in the West Indies?

Answer4: India's Sunil Gavaskar's 774 runs (avg. 154.80) in four matches during the 1970-71 series still remains the highest run aggregate made by any visiting batman in the Caribbean in a Test series.

Name: Raghu
Question: Can a batsman be given run-out if he first taps the ball into the ground with the bat and then deliberately pushes the ball not going onto the stumps with his feet and then sets off for a single. Consider two cases: a fielder trying to field the ball and no fielder trying to field the ball... We had a situation in a recent match and the batsman was adjudged 'not out' according to law 37 of cricket.

Answer5: If the batsman has wilfully kicked the ball with his feet after first tapping the ball with his bat to the ground, then no run will be allowed by the umpire. However, while doing so, if the batsman is out of his crease, and is run-out, he will be declared OUT by the umpire, if an appeal is made by the fielding side.

Name: Rajeev Ragunathan
Question: Hi Mr Menon, could you please give me Sachin Tendulkar's statistic(Runs, Average, Hundreds)against Australia in matches(ODIs & Tests) where Glen McGrath also played? Could you also please compare this with Sachin's overall statistics against Australia? Thanks. I very much appreciate it. Rajeev.

Answer6:

Tendulkar's Test record versus Australia and in Test matches involving Glenn McGrath

Test	M	Ins	No	Runs	Avg	HS	100	50	0s
Overall v Aus	15	28	2	1406	54.08	177	6	5	2
In Mts with McGrath	7	14	-	592	42.29	126	2	4	2

Tendulkar's ODI record versus Australia and in ODI matches involving Glenn McGrath

ODI	M	Ins	No	Runs	Avg	HS	100	50	0s
Overall v Aus	35	35	-	1666	47.60	141	6	7	1
In Mts with McGrath	20	20	-	802	40.10	139	2	4	1

Name: Parameswaran B
Question: Who has clean bowled batsmen the maximum number of times in Test cricket. Can you give the list of the top five such bowlers?

Answer7:

The top five:

Bowler	For	Wkts	Bowled
M Muralitharan	SL	450	112
FS Trueman	Eng	307	103
JB Statham	Eng	252	102
Wasim Akram	Pak	414	102
Waqar Younis	Pak	373	101

Name: Devika
Question: We know of records of highest totals successfully chased, what is the record for the lowest total successfully defended?

Answer8: Australia successfully defended the target of 85 runs against England (who were dismissed for 77) in the fourth innings, to win by 7 runs at The Oval, London, on August 29, 1882.

Name: Venkat
Question: Could you tell the number of times Steve Waugh and Sachin have scored centuries in the second innings and the outcome of those matches...W/D/L ... and who has the highest number of such centuries?

Answer9: Tendulkar has nine hundreds out of 31 while batting second in a Test match (India has won 2 & lost three), while Steve Waugh has just two out of 30 (Australia won both the matches). India's Sunil Gavaskar and Australia's Allan Border have the maximum hundreds -- 11 each -- in the second innings of a Test match.

Name: Vinay Advani
Question: Dear Mr Menon, I was keen on the statistics regarding run-outs: 1. Who are the top 10 batsmen for Tests and ODI's as far as run-outs are concerned? 2. What are the positions of Inzamam, Dravid and Manjrekar on this list?

Answer10:

Batsmen dismissed 'run-out' on most occasions in Tests

Batsman	R/o	Inns	%
AR Border	12	221	5.43
GA Sobers	10	139	7.19
CL Hooper	10	158	6.33
MA Taylor	9	173	5.20
DC Boon	8	170	4.71
AC Parore	8	109	7.34
SP Fleming	8	121	6.61
Javed Miandad	8	168	4.76
A Ranatunga	8	143	5.59

Note: R Dravid (6), Sanjay Manjrekar(2) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (2)

Batsmen dismissed 'run-out' on most occasions in ODI's

Batsman	R/o	Inns	%
Wasim Akram	38	225	16.89
Inzamam-ul-Haq	35	234	14.96
ME Waugh	32	216	14.81
M Azharuddin	32	254	12.60
A Ranatunga	30	208	14.42
MS Atapattu	29	169	17.16
AR Border	28	213	13.15
SR Waugh	27	230	11.74
PA de Silva	27	266	10.15
AP Gurusinha	27	138	19.57
SR Tendulkar	25	275	9.09

Note: R Dravid (23) & Sanjay Manjrekar(14)