Rajneesh Gupta gives us all the numbers.
The last time India played a one-off Test, it was against Bangladesh in Fatullah.
That game was marred by rain and ended in a draw.
On Thursday, February 9, India face Bangladesh in another one-off Test at Hyderabad.
It is rare for India to play a one Test 'series'.
The last time India played a one-off Test in India was 20 years ago!
In India's 84-year-old Test cricket history there were only 3 such instances in the first 50 years.
Since 1990, India have played 8 such Tests including the two inaugural Tests for the latest entrants to Test cricket -- Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.
Vinod Kambli -- who is the 2nd highest run-scorer in one-off Tests for India) -- scored a double century (227) against Zimbabwe in Delhi in 1992-1993.
Shikhar Dhawan scored a fabulous 173 against Bangladesh in the Fatullah Test in 2015.
In that same drawn contest at Fatullah, Ravichandran Ashwin picked up a fifer (5/87).
The history of one-off Tests involving India is packed with interesting stats.
India's one-off Tests
Season | Dates | Vs | Host | Venue | Winner |
1932 | June 25-28, 1932 | England | England | Lord's | England won by 158 runs |
1980 | February 15-19, 1980 | England | India | Mumbai | England won by 10 wickets |
1982 | September 17-22, 1982 | Sri Lanka | India | Chennai | Drawn |
1990 | November 23-27, 1990 | Sri Lanka | India | Chandigarh | India won by an inning and 8 runs |
1992 | October 18-22, 1992 | Zimbabwe | Zimbabwe | Harare | Drawn |
1993 | March 13-17, 1993 | Zimbabwe | India | Delhi | India won by an innings and 13 runs |
1994 | March 19-23, 1994 | New Zealand | New Zealand | Hamilton | Drawn |
1996 | October 10-13, 1996 | Australia | India | Delhi | India won by 7 wickets |
1998 | October 7-10, 1998 | Zimbabwe | Zimbabwe | Harare | Zimbabwe won by 61 runs |
2000 | November 10-13, 2000 | Bangladesh | Bangladesh | Dhaka | India won by 9 wickets |
2015 | June 10-14, 2015 | Bangladesh | Bangladesh | Fatullah | Drawn |
Only those matches have been taken into account, which were held as one-off Test.
In 1998-1999 India played one Test against Pakistan and one against Sri Lanka as part of the Asian Test Championship. The same has not been included in the above list.
Summary of results
Matches | Won | Lost | Drawn | |
v Australia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
v Bangladesh | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
v England | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
v New Zealand | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
v Sri Lanka | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
v Zimbabwe | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Summary of results (home or away)
Matches | Won | Lost | Drawn | |
At home | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
Abroad | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Total | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
Highest totals
For India:
Total | Vs | Venue | Season |
566/6 declared | Sri Lanka | Chennai | 1983 |
536/7d | Zimbabwe | Delhi | 1992 |
462/6d | Bangladesh | Fatullah | 2015 |
429 | Bangladesh | Dhaka | 2000 |
Vs India:
Total | For | Venue | Season |
456 | Zimbabwe | Harare | 1992 |
400 | Bangladesh | Dhaka | 2000 |
394 | Sri Lanka | Chennai | 1982 |
368/7d | New Zealand | Hamilton | 1993 |
Lowest totals
For India:
Total | Vs | Venue | Season |
149 | England | Mumbai | 1980 |
173 | Zimbabwe | Harare | 1999 |
187 | England | Lord's | 1932 |
189 | England | Lord's | 1932 |
Vs India:
Total | For | Venue | Season |
82 | Sri Lanka | Chandigarh | 1990 |
91 | Bangladesh | Dhaka | 2000 |
182 | Australia | Delhi | 1996 |
187 | New Zealand | Hamilton | 1993 |
Individual hundreds
For India: 8
Vs India: 6
Highest individual innings
For India:
Runs | Vs | Venue | Season | |
Vinod Kambli | 227 | Zimbabwe | Delhi | 1992 |
Shikhar Dhawan | 173 | Bangladesh | Fatullah | 2015 |
Sunil Gavaskar | 155 | Sri Lanka | Chennai | 1982 |
Nayan Mongia | 152 | Australia | Delhi | 1996 |
Murali Vijay | 150 | Bangladesh | Fatullah | 2015 |
Rahul Dravid | 118 | Zimbabwe | Harare | 1999 |
Sandeep Patil | 114* | Sri Lanka | Chennai | 1982 |
Sanjay Manjrekar | 104 | Zimbabwe | Harare | 1992 |
Navjot Sidhu | 98 | New Zealand | Hamilton | 1993 |
Ajinkya Rahane | 98 | Bangladesh | Fatullah | 2015 |
Sunil Joshi | 92 | Bangladesh | Dhaka | 2000 |
Dilip Vengsarkar | 90 | Sri Lanka | Chennai | 1982 |
Vs India:
Runs | For | Venue | Season | |
Aminul Islam | 145 | Bangladesh | Dhaka | 2000 |
Dave Houghton | 121 | Zimbabwe | Harare | 1992 |
Andy Flower | 115 | Zimbabwe | Delhi | 1992 |
Ian Botham | 114 | England | Mumbai | 1980 |
Duleep Mendis | 105 | Sri Lanka | Chennai | 1982 |
Duleep Mendis | 105 | Sri Lanka | Chennai | 1982 |
Roy Dias | 97 | Sri Lanka | Chennai | 1982 |
Grant Flower | 96 | Zimbabwe | Delhi | 1992 |
Stephen Fleming | 92 | New Zealand | Hamilton | 1994 |
5 wickets in an innings
For India: 9
Vs India: 6
Best bowling in an innings
For India:
Figures | Vs | Venue | Season | |
Venkatapathy Raju | 6/12 | Sri Lanka | Chandigarh | 1990 |
Karsan Ghavri | 5/52 | England | Mumbai | 1980 |
Anil Kumble | 5/67 | Australia | Delhi | 1996 |
Anil Kumble | 5/70 | Zimbabwe | Delhi | 1992 |
Dilip Doshi | 5/85 | Sri Lanka | Chennai | 1982 |
Ravichandran Ashwin | 5/87 | Bangladesh | Fatullah | 2015 |
Mohammad Nissar | 5/93 | England | Lord's | 1932 |
Kapil Dev | 5/110 | Sri Lanka | Chennai | 1982 |
Sunil Joshi | 5/142 | Bangladesh | Dhaka | 2000 |
Vs India:
Figures | For | Venue | Season | |
Ian Botham | 7/48 | England | Mumbai | 1980 |
Ian Botham | 6/58 | England | Mumbai | 1980 |
Naimur Rahman | 6/132 | Bangladesh | Dhaka | 2000 |
Ashantha de Mel | 5/68 | Sri Lanka | Chennai | 1982 |
Henry Olonga | 5/70 | Zimbabwe | Harare | 1998 |
John Traicos | 5/86 | v India | Harare | 1992 |
Best bowling in a match
For India:
Figures | Vs | Venue | Season | |
Anil Kumble | 9/130 | Australia | Delhi | 1996 |
Venkatapathy Raju | 8/37 | Sri Lanka | Chandigarh | 1990 |
Anil Kumble | 8/160 | Zimbabwe | Delhi | 1992 |
Sunil Joshi | 8/169 | Bangladesh | Dhaka | 2000 |
Kapil Dev | 8/207 | Sri Lanka | Chennai | 1982 |
Dilip Doshi | 8/232 | Sri Lanka | Chennai | 1982 |
Anil Kumble | 7/129 | Zimbabwe | Harare | 1999 |
Maninder Singh | 7/145 | Zimbabwe | Delhi | 1992 |
Mohammad Nissar | 6/135 | England | Lord's | 1932 |
Vs India:
Figures | For | Venue | Season | |
Ian Botham | 13/106 | England | Mumbai | 1980 |
Ashantha de Mel | 7/201 | Sri Lanka | Chennai | 1982 |
Bill Bowes | 6/79 | England | Lord's | 1932 |
Henry Olonga | 6/110 | Zimbabwe | Harare | 1998-99 |
Naimur Rahman | 6/154 | Bangladesh | Dhaka | 2000 |
Leading run-scorers (for India)
Matches | Innings | Not Out | Runs | Highest Score | Average | 100 | 50 | |
Rahul Dravid | 3 | 5 | 1 | 271 | 118 | 67.75 | 1 | 0 |
Vinod Kambli | 2 | 3 | 0 | 255 | 227 | 85.00 | 1 | 0 |
Sourav Ganguly | 3 | 5 | 1 | 254 | 84 | 63.50 | 0 | 2 |
Nayan Mongia | 3 | 6 | 0 | 236 | 152 | 39.33 | 1 | 0 |
Sunil Gavaskar | 2 | 4 | 1 | 232 | 155 | 77.33 | 1 | 0 |
Kapil Dev | 6 | 8 | 1 | 204 | 60 | 29.14 | 0 | 1 |
Sachin Tendulkar | 7 | 10 | 1 | 196 | 62 | 21.77 | 0 | 1 |
Sandeep Patil | 2 | 4 | 1 | 190 | 114* | 63.33 | 1 | 0 |
Leading wicket-takers (for India)
Matches | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Best | Average | 5WI | 10WM | |
Anil Kumble | 5 | 294.5 | 80 | 615 | 29 | 5/67 | 21.20 | 2 | 0 |
Kapil Dev | 6 | 218 | 59 | 548 | 22 | 5/110 | 24.90 | 1 | 0 |
Javagal Srinath | 4 | 185.3 | 47 | 436 | 16 | 4/60 | 27.25 | 0 | 0 |
Venkatapathy Raju | 3 | 137.1 | 66 | 200 | 11 | 6/12 | 18.18 | 1 | 0 |
Sunil Joshi | 2 | 106.3 | 27 | 257 | 10 | 5/142 | 25.70 | 1 | 0 |
Dilip Doshi | 2 | 97 | 19 | 301 | 9 | 5/85 | 33.44 | 1 | 0 |
Manoj Prabhakar | 3 | 101 | 30 | 187 | 9 | 3/44 | 20.77 | 0 | 0 |
Harbhajan Singh | 2 | 57.5 | 11 | 181 | 8 | 3/64 | 22.62 | 0 | 0 |
Rajesh Chauhan | 2 | 92.1 | 20 | 236 | 7 | 3/97 | 33.71 | 0 | 0 |
Maninder Singh | 1 | 67 | 12 | 145 | 7 | 4/66 | 20.71 | 0 | 0 |
Most appearances
Matches | |
Sachin Tendulkar | 7 |
Kapil Dev | 6 |
Mohammad Azharuddin | 6 |
Anil Kumble | 5 |
Javagal Srinath | 4 |