Adam Gilchrist cheekily congratulates James Anderson on his 'King Pair'

Former legendary wicket-keeper batsman Adam Gilchrist took to his Twitter handle and jokingly congratulated James Anderson for joining the unwanted club of batsmen with “king pairs” to their names. While a batsman is said to be out for a pair when he is dismissed for naught in both the innings, he is said to be dismissed for a “king pair” when he gets out in the very first ball off both the innings.

Adam Gilchrist, who was the pioneer of changing the concept of a wicket keeper batsman joined the unwanted club way back in 2001 when he was dismissed for naught in both innings against India at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. While Harbhajan dismissed him in the first innings, “Little Master Sachin Tendukar foxed him in the 2nd innings. However, the match is fondly remembered as the Laxman-Dravid Test as the duo helped India register a famous win after following on.

For Anderson, the feat was achieved courtesy Indian spinners who dismissed him on both occasions. While Ashwin dismissed the fast bowler to bring down the curtains on their 1st innings, it was debutant Jayant Yadav who dismissed him in the 2nd essay to hand India a comprehensive victory by 246 runs. Virat Kohli was adjudged the Man of the Match for his brilliant century as India took a 1-0 lead in the 5 match series.

Commenting on the stat, Gilchrist wrote on his Twitter handle, “Welcome to the club Jimmy Anderson. I was first Aussie back in ’01 in Calcutta. #indiadoesthattoyou”

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For the one’s keen on the stats, there have been 18 previous occasions when a batsman has been dismissed for a king pair with William Attewell of England being the first to achieve this unwanted feat. The three Indians to achieve this rare feat includes Bhagwath Chandrasekhar, Ajit Agarkar and Virender Sehwag.