Test matches
In cricket, when a talented player comes to the crease, the expectation is usually that he will play 510 balls and get out early. But in the 2014 Test match at Trent Bridge, something happened that was like the climax of a sports documentary. England were stuck at 298 for 9 and in came James Anderson, a legendary bowler who was least expected to bat. But in the next few hours, he along with Joe Root broke the record for the highest 10th wicket partnership in Test cricket. The two added 198 runs together in which Anderson scored a career best 81 runs while Root remained unbeaten on 154. Anderson’s famous century was a moment that the underdog hero shocks everyone at the end of the film. With every ball, the Lord’s crowd was cheering and with every run, new records were falling. Earlier, this record was made by Australia’s Ashton Agar and Phil Hux in which they added 163 runs and interestingly this record also came a year ago on the same ground. Ashton Agar came at number 11 in his debut in 2013 and scored 98 runs and then made a dream partnership of 163 runs with Hux. An even older record is from 1973. When New Zealand’s Brian Hastings and Collings added 151 runs. In today’s time, if someone can break the 10th wicket stand of 200 runs, then it requires a set batsman like Joe Root and a fighter like Anderson. Perhaps in the future, a tailender like Pat Cummins or Jassi Bai can become a part of some big moment. By the way, India’s own record is also no less. In 2004, Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan made a partnership of 133 runs. When Sachin guided Zaheer to 248 not out. So the next time you see a number 11 at the crease, understand that the story is yet to come. This is how some stories become records. From Anderson’s magical batting to this embarrassing record of Rahul Dravid. Today we will talk about some such records which hardly anyone of you knows. Not only top records, today we will see who is the leader in these records in the Indian scene. Like Anderson’s batting, bowlers dominate our next record too and the funny thing is that they do not even deserve to be here. I am talking about the most number of ducks. The holder of this embarrassing record in the Hall of Fame of Test cricket is Kotney Walch. This fast bowling legend of West Indies has ruined the careers of so many batsmen. He is the only cricketer to have scored the most number of zeros with the bat. In 132 Test matches, Kote sahab has returned to the pavilion without scoring 43 times. And what’s more, he scored zero in the entire match four times. In cricket terms, pair means eggplant in both innings. But credits have to be given. Kote never took his batting failure seriously. Once when he escaped from a pair, he achieved this milestone by racing the bat towards the pavilion. Stud Broad comes second in this list of records. England’s talent who has not only scored 1350 runs in Tests but has also achieved a high score of 169 against Pakistan. But Broad, who has collected 39 ducks before retirement, is still second in this list. By the way, James Anderson has retired from Tests. But with 34 ducks, he was not far behind. Talking about India, our Ishant Sharma is the champion of this category. Same as Anderson, he is also India’s top duck collector with 34 ducks. His batting was so hilarious that sometimes it seemed that stand up comedy was going on in the middle of the match. The only active player on this list is Jassi Bhai. But it seems difficult for him to reach Wall’s record of 26 wickets. Getting out on a duck in cricket is quite embarrassing. But if it is about saving the follow on, then I am talking about the most important duck in cricket history. How can a player play 77 balls, stay on the pitch for a full 1.5 hours and still get out on zero. It seems impossible to do this. But this feat was achieved by Geoff Allett. In the 1999 Auckland New Zealand vs South Africa match, Ellett came in to bat at number 11. The match had to be saved because the follow on had to be avoided. Basically it was a game of miss survival and from there began an epic test. Ellett neither saw the ball nor the scoreboard. He just turned on defense mode and respected every delivery. No flashy shots, no risky moves. For 101 minutes he just blocked, ducked and left. It was so impressive that the crowd started clapping loudly when Tillander left the ball. Also at the crease was Chris Harris. He also protected Ellett well by rotating the strike. But the end came on 77 balls when Geoff got out. But the score was still zero and in this way he also made a world record of getting out on a duck after playing the most number of balls. Second in this list is James Anderson who played 55 balls in 2014 without scoring a run. There are three players from India in this test. Irfan Pathan, Suresh Raina and Rishabh Pant who took 29 balls before they got out on a duck. Apart from this, Ishant Sharma once scored just one run in 92 balls against Australia. But this duck of Elliott reminds us that sometimes a gritty zero is more valuable than a flash 50. Cricket is not just about scoring, sometimes it is also the art of not getting out. Whenever there is talk of test cricket, we think of patience, technique and long innings. But in 2016, Brad McClellam did not play a single innings.He changed the definition of this format. In the last test match of his career against Australia in Christchurch, McCullum did what no one had thought of. He made headlines by scoring a century in just 54 balls and thus became the fastest century in test cricket. When he came, the score was 32 for three. But McCullum came out of the dugout well set. In his innings, he hit 21 boundaries and a six and completed 100 in just 78 minutes. Australia went into shock and the cricket world just kept clapping. Earlier this record was with Viv Richards and Misbha ul Haq. Both had scored centuries in 56 balls in their respective times. But McCullum cut two more balls and became the fastest test centurion. Now if we talk about India, then the record of fastest century is not with Sehwag or Kapil Dev, this record is in the name of Mohammad Asruddin. He scored a century in 74 balls against South Africa in Eden Gardens in 1996. When India was reeling at 167 for 7, Azhar came and scored 109 runs in 77 balls. Although there is no current player in this list. But in today’s era when the effect of T20 is visible in every format, players like Harrybrook, Travis Head and Rishabh Pant can definitely reach close to McCullum. Just the pitch should be flat, the outfield should be fast and the batsman should have zero fear in his mind. While McCullum scored the fastest century, our next player moved at a snail’s pace.
Pakistan mudassar nazar
I am talking about Pakistani opener Mudassar Nazar. Who scored the slowest century in Test cricket history in December 1977 at Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore. Mudassar scored a brilliant century by staying on the pitch for 557 minutes, i.e., about 9 hours and 17 minutes. In this innings played against England, he faced 449 balls and scored just 114 runs. Wickets kept falling at the other end, but Mudassar did not lose his cool. The match was drawn, but Mudassar’s slow-mo batting saved Pakistan from collapsing. There are many other big names in the Hall of Fame of slow century. South Africa’s Jackie Magaloo scored a century in 554 minutes against Australia in 1958. From our country, Sanjay Manjrekar is at number five in this list, who scored a century of 500 minutes against Zimbabwe in 1992. Chasing a mammoth score of 456, the Indian batting attack collapsed like a pack of cards. But Manjrekar stood his ground and finally scored 104 runs in 422 balls to play a vital role in drawing the match. Such records have become rare in today’s era Between 1971 and 1984, Dennis Lillee and Rob Marsh formed the deadliest bowler wicketkeeper pair in Test cricket. Both of them together took 95 dismissals which is the highest in Test history. While Lillee was a fast storm, Marsh was always alert, calm and dependable behind the stumps. Whenever the ball edged, it stuck to Marsh’s hands like a magnet. Both of them have played 70 Test matches together. In which they have dismissed 95 batsmen together. Glenn Magrat and Adam Gilkees come second in this list who have made 90 dismissals together. Now if we talk about India’s successful duo combo, then surprisingly Dhoni is not included in it. India’s best combo is Kapil Dev and Kirmani sahab who played 61 matches together and sent 51 batsmen back to the pavilion. Dhoni is no doubt India’s best wicketkeeper but he has come close to this record many times but could not break it. Sometimes Zaheer and sometimes Ishan. Over the years Dhoni has changed the game behind the wicket many times. In modern cricket, frequent rotation, short careers and long term players are rare. But there is a pair from India who is still in this race. I am talking about Pant and Bumrah who have taken 39 wickets so far and perhaps this pair can easily break both the records of Dhoni. Speaking of Dhoni, let’s move on to our seventh and last record. Whenever The Wall is mentioned in Test cricket, only one name comes to mind. Rahul Dravid has shown a master class of technique and patience by scoring more than 13,000 runs in his 16-year Test career. But the most surprising thing is that Dravid is the batsman who has been bowled out the most number of times in Test cricket. In his 286 Test innings, Dravid has been bowled out 55 times. That means every fifth dismissal came with his stumps scattered. And let’s say that 20% of his career was bowled out. The second number in this list is the God of Cricket Sachin Tendulkar. He has got his stumps bowled out 54 times in his career. this is bound to happen due to such a long Test career. But still, this is a world record in itself. In today’s constantly changing lineup, there is hardly anyone will even come close to this record.