Stats: Batsmen who were dismissed on the first ball of a Test series

The India v Sri Lanka Test series got off to a worst possible start for the home side as they lost their opener KL Rahul on the very first ball of the game after a four-hour delayed start due to rain. On a greenish surface, Sri Lankan captain Dinesh Chandimal elected to bowl first to utilize the overcast conditions and it did click in their favour. Their pacer Suranga Lakmal dismissed the Indian openers Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan (8) cheaply and reduced them to 13/2 by the 7th over.

With this game. Rahul became the first Indian in over ten years to be dismissed on the very first ball of a Test match. Wasim Jaffer was the last one to bag this unwanted feat as he got out to Mashrafe Mortaza on the first ball of the Chittagong Test in 2007. Overall, this was the 8th instance for India where their player got out on the first ball of a Test match. The legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar finds his name on the list on three different occasions, which is a world record. He and Bangladesh’s Hannan Sarkar are the only players to be dismissed on the first ball of a Test on three different occasions.

Indians getting out on the first ball of a Test match:

Rahul getting out on the first ball of the series was the only 8th instance when a wicket fell on the very first ball of a Test series. Wasim Jaffer is the only other Indian to be dismissed on the first ball of the series. This India-Sri Lanka series will be going down in history as the first Test series in India where a wicket fell on the very first ball.

Players getting out on the first ball of a Test series:

Earlier in 2010, Lakmal got Chris Gayle out on the very first ball of the Pallekele Test match. Thus, the Sri Lankan pacer became only the 5th bowler in Test cricket after Pedro Collins (3), Geoff Arnold (2), Richard Hadlee (2) and Kapil Dev (2) to claim a wicket on the very first ball of a game on two different occasions.

This was also the 3rd instance when a wicket fell on the first ball of a Test in Kolkata. Sudhir Naik and Sunil Gavaskar got out on the first ball of a Test against the Windies in 1975 and 1983 respectively. Thus Eden Gardens became the first venue to witness three instances when a batsman got out on the very first ball of a Test while five other venues recorded two similar occurrences.

(Stats as on November 16, 2017)