India vs England, 2021: 4th Test, Statistical Preview - Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ashwin on the cusp of shattering big records

India and England are set to meet in the fourth and final Test of the series starting 4th March at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. India are currently leading the series 2-1 and are favourites to clinch the series. 

In the third Test at the same ground, England were decimated in only 2 days. India will also have their eyes on the final of the World Test Championship. The hosts will be through if they are able to draw or win the last Test.

Let’s look at important stats and numbers ahead of the fourth Test between India and England :

Milestones await for King Kohli

59 – Virat Kohli has captained India in 59 Tests till now in his career. As soon as he takes the field in the last match, he will equal MS Dhoni in terms of leading India in most Tests (60).

17 – The prolific batsman has aggregated 11983 runs in international cricket as captain, and needs 17 more runs to complete 12000 runs. He will be the third player to achieve this milestone after Ricky Ponting and Graeme Smith.

22 – Virat has won 22 home Tests till now as captain and will surpass Steve Waugh if India wins the last Test reaching the third spot.

36 – Virat will also have the chance to become the joint fourth most successful captain in Test cricket by winning the fourth match. He will equal Clive Lloyd (36 wins) in this regard.

Approaching records for Ravi Ashwin

24 – Ravi Ashwin has picked 24 wickets till now in the series. He needs 10 more wickets in the last Test to break the world record for most wickets in a 4-match series. The record currently belongs to Alfred Valentine of West Indies who had taken 33 wickets in a four-match series against England in 1950.

603 – Ashwin has 603 wickets to his name in international cricket. He needs 8 more to surpass Zaheer Khan (610), and reach the fourth spot among Indian bowlers.

7 – The Indian all-rounder has performed brilliantly in the series so far and is in contention for the player of the series award. Ashwin has most series awards (7) to his name among Indians and will reach the joint third spot in the World if he gets the award in the ongoing series.

Rohit Sharma’s upcoming feats

27 – Ben Stokes and Rohit Sharma are currently at the top two spots in terms of most sixes in the World Test Championship (WTC). Rohit who has hit 27 sixes needs 3 more maximums to surpass Stokes (29) in this regard.

19 – Rohit has scored 981 runs in WTC and needs 19 more runs to touch the 1000-run mark. He will become the second Indian after Ajinkya Rahane to achieve this feat.   

Anderson’s eyes on 900th wicket

898 – England pacer James Anderson has picked 898 wickets across formats in his career. He needs 2 more wickets to become the third pacer to complete 900 wickets. Glenn McGrath and Wasim Akram are the only two pacers to have achieved this milestone.

Joe Root’s captaincy record

50 – Joe Root will be taking the field as England captain for the 50th time in the fourth Test. He will become the fourth captain to lead England in 50 Test matches.

Upcoming milestones for Stuart Broad

517 – English pacer Stuart Broad has been wicketless from the last 2 Tests, and his place is not sure for the last match. He has taken 517 Test wickets till now and needs 3 more wickets to surpass Courtney Walsh’s tally of 519 wickets and become the third most successful Test pacer.

69 – Broad has picked 69 wickets in WTC and needs 2 more wickets to surpass Pat Cummins (70) to become the highest wicket-taker in the tournament.

36 – There is one unwanted record too waiting for Stuart Broad, who has bagged 36 ducks in his Test career so far. He will reach the second spot in terms of most Test ducks if he gets out without scoring one more time.

Axar Patel’s hope for a dream run

18 – Axar Patel has picked up 18 wickets so far in his first 2 Tests and would hope to continue his dream run. He took 11 wickets in the last Test and now needs 14 more wickets to break the record for most wickets in the first 3 Tests of his career.

3 – The left-arm spinner has picked 3 consecutive fifers in the last 2 matches. If he shows his magic one more time, he will become the second Indian bowler after Harbhajan Singh to pick 4 consecutive fifers.