5 Things about Indian cricket which people didn't know
Here we look at five things related to Indian cricket which are not familiar ones.
2. Greatest opening pair on the Indian soil
Sir Jack Hobbs is the most prolific batsman in the history of first-class cricket as he scored 61760 runs across 834 matches at a solid average of 50.70. No other player even scored 60000 runs in this format. Hobbs crossed the 50-run mark in 472 innings during his 29-year career which includes 199 hundreds; by far most for any player. Hobbs featured in 61 matches during his Test career that concluded in 1930.
One of the highlights of his career was pairing with Herbert Sutcliffe who is also a legend of first-class cricket. Sutcliffe smashed 50670 runs with the help of 381 fifty-plus scores including 151 centuries; all the three stand among the top six in FC history. The Hobbs-Sutcliffe pair batted together in 39 innings aggregating 3339 partnership runs at an average of 87.86 with 15 century partnerships and another 11 fifty stands.
As an opening pair alone, the duo put on 3249 runs from 38 partnerships (15 100+ & 10 50+) at an average 87.81. Their impeccable records make them the best-ever opening pair in the history of Test cricket. With Hobbs’ Test career coming to an end in 1930, the Indian fans didn’t get a chance to watch the duo opening the batting together. Even Sutcliffe played only one Test against India which was also at home.
However, the duo toured India only once which was during the 1930-31 season when they played first-class matches across India and Sri Lanka. Hobbs-Sutcliffe pair opened the batting for Maharaj Kumar of Vizianagram’s XI during this tour. They were part of this tour after Maharaj Kumar of Vizianagram commonly known as Vizzy, employed the duo to represent a team named after him. Their tour came to an end in Hyderabad’s prestigious Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup Tournament which was won by them only.
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