Rajneesh Gupta presents the numbers from the Indore Test.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin claimed career-best figures while Cheteshwar Pujara hit a century as India crushed New Zealand by 321 runs in the third Test in Indore to complete a 3-0 series whitewash.
Ashwin, who claimed 6/81 in the first innings, took 7/59 as New Zealand were bundled out for 159 after being set a huge 475 for victory at the Holkar stadium which was hosting its first Test match.
Rajneesh Gupta looks at the numbers in the Indore Test:
The Holkar stadium became the 22nd Indian ground to host a Test. Indore became the 16th Indian city to host a Test match. No other country has used so many grounds or cities to host Test matches.
Test match venues:
| Host Country | Centres | Grounds | Tests hosted |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | 16 | 22 | 251 |
| Pakistan | 12 | 17 | 151 |
| West Indies | 12 | 12 | 237 |
| England | 10 | 10 | 506 |
| Australia | 8 | 9 | 404 |
| South Africa | 8 | 11 | 217 |
| New Zealand | 6 | 8 | 197 |
| Bangladesh | 5 | 7 | 52 |
| Sri Lanka | 5 | 8 | 129 |
| UAE | 3 | 3 | 25 |
| Zimbabwe | 2 | 3 | 54 |
| TOTAL | 86 | 109 | 2,223 |
Notes:
Lord's and The Oval are considered as two different centres though they are in the same city, London.
One centre/ground -- Dacca (Dhaka)/Dacca Stadium (Bangabandhu Stadium) -- has been used by two countries (Pakistan and Bangladesh).
Virat Kohli, who had not scored a fifty in his last seven innings, got his form back and scored a magnificent 211 in India's first innings in the third Test in Indore.
Kohli became the first Indian captain to score two double tons in Test cricket -- both knocks coming this year. He scored 200 against the West Indies at North Sound in July.
Highest scores by Indian captains in Tests
| Captain | Runs | Opponent | Venue | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M S Dhoni | 224 | Australia | Chennai | 2012-2013 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 217 | New Zealand | Ahmedabad | 1999-2000 |
| Virat Kohli | 211 | New Zealand | Indore | 2016-2017 |
| Sunil Gavaskar | 205 | West Indies | Mumbai | 1978-1079 |
| Tiger Pataudi | 203* | England | Delhi | 1963-1964 |
| Virat Kohli | 200 | West Indies | North Sound | 2016 |
Ajinkya Rahane missed out on a double hundred, but like Kohli, he made his highest Test score, surpassing the 147 he made against Australia at Melbourne in 2014-2015.
On that occasion too, both Kohli and Rahane made their highest Test score in the same innings of the same Test!
Rahane has now played nine consecutive series in which he has made a score of at least 90.
Kohli and Rahane put on 365 runs, India's highest fourth wicket partnership in Test cricket against any country, obliterating the 353-run partnership between Sachin Tendulkar and V V S Laxman versus Australia at Sydney in 2003-2004.
India’s highest partnerships in Tests:
| Runs | Wkt | Batsmen | Opponent | Venue | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 413 | 1st | Vinoo Mankad & Pankaj Roy | New Zealand | Madras | 1955-1956 |
| 410 | 1st | Virender Sehwag & Rahul Dravid | Pakistan | Lahore | 2005-2006 |
| 376 | 5th | V V S Laxman & Rahul Dravid | Australia | Kolkata | 2000-2001 |
| 370 | 2nd | Murali Vijay & Cheteshwar Pujara | Australia | Hyderabad | 2012-2013 |
| 365 | 4th | Virat Kohli & Ajinkya Rahane | New Zealand | Indore | 2016-2017 |
| 353 | 4th | Sachin Tendulkar & V V S Laxman | Australia | Sydney | 2003-2004 |
India declared their first innings at 557/5.
This is the highest total posted by India in the match's first innings at a home ground hosting its first Test match.
Even though, the Feroz Shah Kotla (Delhi), the Brabourne Stadium and the Wankhede Stadium (Bombay, now Mumbai) saw higher totals being scored in the first-ever Tests hosted by these grounds, they were scored by the opposition.
Interestingly, India made 610/3 declared in the very first Test match in Mirpur, Bangladesh.
India's 557/5 declared was their third highest against New Zealand.
India's highest totals against New Zealand
| Total | Venue | Season | Result (for India) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 583/7d | Ahmedabad | 1999-2000 | Drawn |
| 566/8d | Nagpur | 2010-2011 | Won |
| 557/5d | Indore | 2016-17 | Won |
| 537/3d | Chennai | 1955-1956 | Won |
| 531/7d | Delhi | 1955-1956 | Drawn |
Ravichandran Ashwin, after an ordinary outing in the second Test in Kolkata, was back in his groove as he decimatedt he New Zealand batting by taking 6/81 in the first innings.
This was his 20th 5-wicket haul in Test cricket. He became only the 4th Indian to take 20 5-wicket hauls after Anil Kumble (35), Harbhajan Singh (25) and Kapil Dev (23).
What is more remarkable is that Ashwin has achieved this record at an astonishing pace.
In Test history only two bowlers have taken 20 5-wicket hauls in fewer Tests than Ashwin. And those two bowlers -- Syd Barnes and Clarrie Grimmett -- belonged to a different era altogether displaying their craft on uncovered pitches.
Ashwin is well ahead of the leader of modern times -- Waqar Younis. The fastest Indian to reach this mark previously was Harbhajan Singh (in 59 Tests).
Least Tests to take 20 5-wicket hauls
| Tests | Bowler |
|---|---|
| 25 | Syd Barnes (England) |
| 37 | Clarrie Grimmett (Australia) |
| 39 | Ravichandran Ashwin (India) |
| 51 | Waqar Younis (Pakistan) |
| 54 | Ian Botham (England) |
With a first innings lead of 258 runs, Kohli could have asked New Zealand to follow on, but he decided against it and preferred to bat instead.
This was the sixth instance of an Indian captain not enforcing the follow-on despite being entitled to do so. Kohli is the only one to have done so more than once.
Indian captains not enforcing the follow-on
| Opponent | Venue | Season | Lead | Captain | Result (for India) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | Ahmedabad | 1999-2000 | 275 | Sachin Tendulkar | Drawn |
| Australia | Sydney | 2003-2004 | 231 | Sourav Ganguly | Drawn |
| England | The Oval | 2007 | 319 | Rahul Dravid | Drawn |
| Australia | Mohali | 2008-2009 | 201 | M S Dhoni | Won |
| South Africa | Delhi | 2015-2016 | 213 | Virat Kohli | Won |
| New Zealand | Indore | 2016-2017 | 258 | Virat Kohli | Won |
India declared their second innings soon after Cheteshwar Pujara completed his eighth Test hundred.
Pujara averages a whopping 66.21 at home for a tally of 1,854 runs in 20 Tests.
Among all Indian batsmen, who have aggregated 1,000 or more runs in Tests at home, only one -- Vijay Hazare -- has a higher batting average than Pujara.
Most prolific Indian batsmen at home:
| Mts | Runs | Hs | Avg | 100 | 50 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vijay Hazare | 13 | 1,113 | 164* | 69.56 | 5 | 4 |
| Cheteshwar Pujara | 20 | 1,854 | 206* | 66.21 | 6 | 7 |
| Mohammad Azharuddin | 46 | 3,412 | 199 | 55.93 | 13 | 11 |
| Dilip Vengsarkar | 54 | 3,725 | 166 | 55.59 | 13 | 15 |
| Virender Sehwag | 52 | 4,656 | 319 | 54.13 | 13 | 19 |
| Navjot Singh Sidhu | 23 | 1,726 | 131 | 53.93 | 5 | 9 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 94 | 7,216 | 217 | 52.67 | 22 | 32 |
| V V S Laxman | 57 | 3,767 | 281 | 51.60 | 8 | 24 |
| Rahul Dravid | 70 | 5,598 | 222 | 51.35 | 15 | 27 |
| Sunil Gavaskar | 65 | 5,067 | 236* | 50.16 | 16 | 23 |
The Indore Test provided the 13th instance of an Indian captain declaring both innings of a Test.
Most of these instances came at home as one would imagine, 11 to be precise and only two came outside India (Sydney, 2003-2004 and Chittagong, 2007).
This was only the second time when India went on to win after a double declaration.
The only other such instance had also been against New Zealand. At Bangalore in 1988-1989, Dilip Vengsarkar made the declarations in both innings and then went on to win the game by 172 runs.
Ashwin did not take long to cast his web around the New Zealand batsmen for the second time in the match. The visitors lost their way completely in the post-tea session on the fourth day, losing nine wickets.
Ashwin picked up seven of them giving away only 59 runs -- his best return in Test cricket.
Ashwin's match figures of 13/140 are his personal best (improving upon 12/85 also against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 2012) and the best by any Indian bowler against New Zealand.
There have been six instances of an Indian bowler taking 10 wickets in a match against New Zealand and Ashwin appears in three of them!
Best match figures for India versus New Zealand:
| Figures | Bowler | Venue | Season | 1st Innings | 2nd Innings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13/140 | Ravichandran Ashwin | Indore | 2016-2017 | 6/81 | 7/59 |
| 12/85 | Ravichandran Ashwin | Hyderabad | 2012 | 6/31 | 6/54 |
| 12/152 | S Venkataraghavan | Delhi | 1964-1965 | 8/72 | 4/80 |
| 11/140 | E A S Prasanna | Auckland | 1975-1976 | 3/64 | 8/76 |
| 10/134 | Anil Kumble | Kanpur | 1999-2000 | 4/67 | 6/67 |
| 10/225 | Ravichandran Ashwin | Kanpur | 2016-2017 | 4/93 | 6/132 |
Ashwin'S figures are the best by a spinner and the second best by any bowler against New Zealand.
Best match figures versus New Zealand:
| Figures | Bowler | Venue | Season | 1st Innings | 2nd Innings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13-55 | Courtney Walsh | Wellington | 1994-1995 | 7/37 | 6/18 |
| 13/140 | Ravichandran Ashwin | Indore | 2016-2017 | 6/81 | 7/59 |
| 12/85 | Ravichandran Ashwin | Hyderabad | 2012 | 6/31 | 6/54 |
| 12/97 | Derek Underwood | Christchurch | 1970-1971 | 6/12 | 6/85 |
| 12/101 | Derek Underwood | The Oval | 1969 | 6/41 | 6/60 |
| 12/130 | Waqar Younis | Faisalabad | 1990-1991 | 7/76 | 5/54 |
| 12/152 | S Venkataraghavan | Delhi | 1964/65 | 8/72 | 4/80 |
This was the sixth instance that Ashwin bagged ten wickets in a Test match.
Among the Indians only Anil Kumble is ahead of him with eight hauls. The frequency at which Ashwin has taken 10-wicket match hauls is simply astonishing.
Indians with most 10-wicket match hauls in Tests:
| 10WM | Matches | Match/10WM | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anil Kumble | 8 | 132 | 16.50 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 6 | 39 | 6.50 |
| Harbhajan Singh | 5 | 103 | 20.60 |
| Irfan Pathan | 2 | 29 | 14.50 |
| Maninder Singh | 2 | 35 | 17.50 |
| Vinoo Mankad | 2 | 44 | 22.00 |
| E A S Prasanna | 2 | 49 | 24.50 |
| Bhagwat Chandrasekhar | 2 | 58 | 29.00 |
| Kapil Dev | 2 | 131 | 65.50 |
Ashwin/s 10/225 at Kanpur and 13/140 at Indore made him only the second Indian to capture 10 wickets twice in the same series, after Harbhajan Singh who did so against Australia in 2000-2001.
Ashwin has also gone past Ishant Sharma (209 wickets) to become India's eighth highest wicket-taker of all time, a list headed by Anil Kumble (619 wickets).
And he enjoys the best average and best strike both!
Most wickets in Tests for India:
| Matches | Wickets | Best | Averaeg | Strike R | 5WI | 10WM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anil Kumble | 132 | 619 | 10/74 | 29.65 | 65.99 | 35 | 8 |
| Kapil Dev | 131 | 434 | 9-/83 | 29.64 | 63.91 | 23 | 2 |
| Harbhajan Singh | 103 | 417 | 8/84 | 32.46 | 68.53 | 25 | 5 |
| Zaheer Khan | 92 | 311 | 7/87 | 32.94 | 60.40 | 11 | 1 |
| Bishen Singh Bedi | 67 | 266 | 7/98 | 28.71 | 80.31 | 14 | 1 |
| Bhagwat Chandrasekhar | 58 | 242 | 8/79 | 29.74 | 65.96 | 16 | 2 |
| Javagal Srinath | 67 | 236 | 8/86 | 30.49 | 64.00 | 10 | 1 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 39 | 220 | 7/59 | 24.29 | 49.49 | 21 | 6 |
| Ishant Sharma | 72 | 209 | 7/74 | 36.71 | 66.61 | 7 | 1 |
| E A S Prasanna | 49 | 189 | 8/76 | 30.38 | 75.94 | 10 | 2 |
Clarrie Grimmett could not play more than 37 Tests and Syd Barnes ended his career with 27 Test appearances, so we don't know how many wickets they would have ended with had they continued.
Among all greats who had a fairly long Test careers, no one, yes, no one had taken as many wickets as Ashwin has taken at this stage of his career. Take a look:
Most wickets after first 39 Tests:
| Wickets | Average | SR | 5WI | 10WM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 220 | 24.29 | 49.49 | 21 | 6 |
| Clarrie Grimmett | 216 | 24.22 | 67.19 | 21 | 7 |
| Waqar Younis | 208 | 20.56 | 38.59 | 19 | 4 |
| Dennis Lillee | 206 | 23.63 | 51.79 | 15 | 5 |
| Dale Steyn | 204 | 23.05 | 39.00 | 14 | 4 |
| Stuart MacGill | 191 | 27.35 | 52.07 | 12 | 2 |
| Syd Barnes | 189 | 16.43 | 41.66 | 24 | 7 |
Note: Harbhajan Singh held the previous Indian record with 172 wickets
Ashwin ended the series with 27 wickets against his name. He has now taken 25 wickets (or more) in a series on three occasions.
Among the Indians only one bowler -- Kapil Dev -- has done so more often.
Indians with most instances of 25 wickets in a series:
| Occasions | Bowler | Series played |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Kapil Dev | 38 |
| 3 | Ravichandran Ashwin | 14 |
| 3 | Bishen Singh Bedi | 19 |
The series saw umpires giving batsmen out leg before wicket on as many as 33 occasions, with New Zealand batsmen at the receiving end 22 times and Indians 11 times.
There has been only one three match series where more LBWs were given, which was the Pakistan versus England series in the UAE in 2011-2012 in which 43 LBWs were registered.
New Zealand's 22 LBWs are the joint-most suffered by a side in a three-match, along with England.
Most LBWs in a three-match series:
| LBWs | Teams | Venue | Season |
|---|---|---|---|
| 43 | Pak (21) vs England (22) | UAE | 2011-2012 |
| 33 | West Indies (16) vs Pakistan (17) | West Indies | 1992-1993 |
| 33 | India (11) vs New Zealand (22) | India | 2016-2017 |
| 31 | Pakistan (14) vs West Indies (17) | Pakistan | 1986-1987 |
| 31 | Australia (11) vs Pakistan (20) | Sri Lanka/UAE | 2002-2003 |
| 30 | England (18) vs India (12) | England | 2007 |
The match ended on the fourth day with India registering its second biggest win in terms of runs.
The biggest ever win had come against South Africa only last season, with Kohli captaining the side on both occasions.
India's biggest Test wins (by run-margin):
| Margin | Opponent | Venue | Season |
|---|---|---|---|
| 337 runs | South Africa | Delhi | 2015-2016 |
| 321 runs | New Zealand | Indore | 2016-2017 |
| 320 runs | Australia | Mohali | 2008-2009 |
| 280 runs | South Africa | Kanpur | 1996-1997 |
| 279 runs | England | Leeds | 1986 |
| 278 runs | Sri Lanka | Colombo PSS | 2015 |
| 272 runs | New Zealand | Auckland | 1967-1968 |
| 259 runs | Sri Lanka | Ahmedabad | 2005-2006 |
| 255 runs | West Indies | Madras | 1987-1988 |
The mammoth win also gave India only their fourth clean sweep in a series of three matches or more.
India making a clean-sweep in a series (minimum 3 Tests)
| Score | Series | Season | Captain |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4-0 | vs Australia in India | 2012-2013 | M S Dhoni |
| 3-0 | vs England in India | 1992-1993 | M Azharuddin |
| 3-0 | vs Sri Lanka in India | 1993-1994 | M Azharuddin |
| 3-0 | vs New Zealand in India | 2016-2017 | Virat Kohli |
India have now won four consecutive series -- vs Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka in 2015 (2-1), vs South Africa at home in 2015-16 (3-0), vs the West Indies in the West Indies (2-0) and now vs New Zealand at home.
There has been only one longer streak of consecutive series wins in India's entire Test history.
Between 2009 and 2010 India won five series in a row. They had also won four on the trot under Mohammad Azharuddin between 1993 and 1994.
Most consecutive series wins for India:
| # | Season | Series | Score | Mts | Captain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5+ | 2008-2009 | vs Australia in India | 2-0 | 4 | A Kumble/M S Dhoni |
| 2008-2009 | vs England in India | 1-0 | 2 | M S Dhoni | |
| 2008-2009 | vs New Zealand in New Zealand | 1-0 | 3 | M S Dhoni/V Sehwag | |
| 2009-2010 | vs Sri Lanka in India | 2-0 | 3 | M S Dhoni | |
| 2009-2010 | vs Bangladesh in Bangladesh | 2-0 | 2 | V Sehwag/M S Dhoni | |
| 1992-1993 | vs England in India | 3-0 | 3 | M Azharuddin | |
| 1992-1993 | vs Zimbabwe in India | 1-0 | 1 | M Azharuddin | |
| 1993-94 | vs Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka | 1-0 | 3 | M Azharuddin | |
| 1993-94 | vs Sri Lanka in India | 3-0 | 3 | M Azharuddin | |
| 4* | 2015 | vs Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka | 2-1 | 3 | Virat Kohli |
| 2015-16 | vs South Africa in India | 3-0 | 4 | Virat Kohli | |
| 2016 | vs West Indies in the West Indies | 2-0 | 4 | Virat Kohli | |
| 2016-17 | vs New Zealand in India | 3-0 | 3 | Virat Kohli |
Note:
+India had a sequence of 11 undefeated series-W,W,W,W,W,D,D,W,W,D,W
++India had a sequence of 7 undefeated series: W,W,W,W,D,D,W
There was hardly any challenge to Ashwin winning yet another player of the series award -- his seventh in Test cricket.
Ashwin's seven player of series awards are the most by an Indian (Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar won five each).
There are only five players who have won more awards than Ashwin. The frequency at which Ashwin is winning his awards is simply mindblowing -- an award every two series on an average!
Ashwin has won player of the series awards in four consecutive series -- vs Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka (2015), vs South Africa in India (2015-16), vs the West Indies in West Indies (2016) and vs New Zealand in India (2016-17).
He now shares the world record of winning the most consecutive player of the series awards.
Most player of series awards in Tests:
| Match of the Series awards | Player | Series played | Average Series/MoS award |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 |
Muttiah Muralitharan |
62 | 5.64 |
| 9 |
Jacques Kallis |
62 | 6.89 |
| 8 |
Richard Hadlee |
33 | 4.13 |
| 8 |
Imran Khan |
28 | 3.50 |
| 8 |
Shane Warne |
46 | 5.75 |
| 7 |
Ravichandran Ashwin |
14 | 2.00 |
| 7 |
Wasim Akram |
43 | 6.14 |
| 7 |
S Chanderpaul |
60 | 8.57 |
India's Test record at the end of the New Zealand series makes interesting reading: 502 Tests -- 251 at home, 251 abroad!
