India v Australia Test series - Statistical Preview

Team India’s long home Test season will come to an end with a 4-match Test series against Australia starting 23rd February at Pune. The hosts come into this Test on the back of 8 wins from 9 Tests they played this season while Australia land on Indian soil without a win since 2004. While the teams fight to extend or end their streaks, we put our heads towards the individual perspective as well ahead of the series. Here we look at all the records, stats and approaching milestones of the players.

0 – Number of Test matches Australia have won in Asia since 2012. Zimbabwe is the only other country which failed to register a Test win in Asia in the last 5 years.

4 – Number of players in this series who are nearing the 1000 runs milestone in Test cricket. Mitchell Starc needs 51 runs, Ravindra Jadeja needs 76 runs, Wriddhiman Saha needs 161 while KL Rahul needs 193 runs for completing 1000 Test runs.

4.250 – India’s win-loss ratio in Test cricket with Ravindra Jadeja in the XI, the best rate for India in this format with any specific player in the XI. (Min: 25 Tests) Murali Vijay (3.500) and Umesh Yadav (3.400) stand at next two positions, who might be playing in all the 4 Tests in this series.

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6 – Number of centuries Virat Kohli has scored against Australia so far, the most for him against any country in this format. His next best is 3 each vs New Zealand and England.

7 – Number of consecutive Tests Australia have lost in India coming into this series, their worst streak in any country. They lost 6 Tests in a row between 1967 and 1970 in South Africa.

7 – Australia’s 7 consecutive Test losses in India is the worst streak for any visiting team in India. Sri Lanka lost 6 Tests between 1986 and 1994 while New Zealand have a 6-match ongoing losing streak in India which started in 2010.

9 – Number of Test matches India have played in 2016/17 season. India won 8 of those and one ended in a draw. If India doesn’t lose any Test against Australia, they will beat the 12-match 2005/06 season record held by Australia.

11 – Number of consecutive matches Australia have played without a win so far in India. In case if they fail to win in at least one of the 4 Tests in this series, it will be Australia’s longest streak in a country without winning a single Test. They went 14 Tests straight in Pakistan without a win between 1959 and 1994.

12 – Number of Border-Gavaskar Trophy series’ played between India and Australia. Team India won while Australia has won 5. One series ended in a draw and the trophy was awarded to India as they won the previous series and regained the trophy with the help of the drawn series.

16 – Number of Test series (or one-off Tests) Steven Smith has played before this Indian series. He has managed to score at least one half century in all of them and centuries in 11 of those.

18 – Number of Tests India have played with Ravindra Jadeja in the XI at home. India haven’t lost any of those 18 matches. In the list of most Tests played at home without being defeated, R Chauhan (16) stands second followed by Indian pacer Umesh Yadav (15) who is a part of the current team.

25 – The Maharashtra Cricket Stadium (MCA) in Pune will be the India’s 25th Test venue with the previous 3 Test venues in India making their respective debuts in 2016/17 season itself.

61 – Wickets taken by Ravichandran Ashwin in Tests in 2016/17 season. He needs 3 more wickets to break the record of most wickets taken by a bowler in a home season held by Kapil Dev (63 in 1979/80). The record for most wickets taken by an Indian in a season in Tests is 64 by Anil Kumble (2004/05) for which Ashwin need 4 more wickets.

1206 – Runs scored by Virat Kohli in 2016/17 season in Test cricket. He needs 64 more runs to break Gautam Gambhir’s (1269 in 2008/09) record of most Test runs scored by an Indian in a season. Ricky Ponting’s 1487 in 2005/06 is the highest by any batsman.