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Why Bhajji is tops in Aussie Tests this century

December 06, 2018 08:50 IST

Rajneesh Gupta surveys the bowling landscape in India-Australia Tests.

Harbhajan Singh

IMAGE: Harbhajan Singh's 8/84 in the second innings of the Chennai Test against Steve Waugh's side in March 2001 is the best Indian bowling performance against Australia this century.
Bhajji took 7/133 in the first innings of the same Test. Photograph: Anesh Debiky/Gallo Images/Getty Images

5 WICKET INNINGS HAULS

INDIA: 68

AUSTRALIA: 57

BEST BOWLING IN AN INNINGS

INDIA

Figures	Player	Venue	Season
9/69	Jasu Patel	Kanpur	1959-1960
8/84	Harbhajan Singh	Chennai	2000-2001
8/106	Kapil Dev	Adelaide	1985-1986
8/141	A Kumble	Sydney	2003-2004
7/48	A Kumble	Chennai	2004-2005
7/49	Ghulam Ahmed	Calcutta	1956-1957
7/98	Bishan Singh Bedi	Calcutta	1969-1970
7/103	Ravichandran Ashwin	Chennai	2012-2013
7/123	Harbhajan Singh	Kolkata	2000-2001
7/133	Harbhajan Singh	Chennai	2000-2001

AUSTRALIA

Figures	Player	Venue	Season
8/215	Jason Krejza +	Nagpur	2008-2009
8/50	Nathan Lyon	Bengaluru	2016-2017
7/27	Mike Whitney	Perth	1991-1992
7/38	Ray Lindwall	Adelaide	1947-1948
7/43	Ray Lindwall	Madras	1956-1957
7/66	Graham McKenzie	Melbourne	1967-1968
7/67	Geoff Dymock	Kanpur	1979-1980
7/72	Richie Benaud	Madras	1956-1957
7/93	Alan Davidson	Kanpur	1959-1960
7/94	Nathan Lyon	Delhi	2012-2013
7/143	Jim Higgs	Madras	1979-1980
7/152	Nathan Lyon	Adelaide	2014-2015

+ on Test debut

BEST BOWLING IN A MATCH

INDIA

Figures	Player	Venue	Season
15/217	Harbhajan Singh	Chennai	2000-2001
14/124	Jasu Patel	Kanpur	1959-1960
13/181	Anil Kumble	Chennai	2004-2005
13/196	Harbhajan Singh	Kolkata	2000-2001
12/104	B S Chandrasekhar	Melbourne	1977-1978
12/198	Ravichandran Ashwin	Chennai	2012-2013
12/279	Anil Kumble	Sydney	2003-2004

AUSTRALIA

Figures	Player	Venue	Season
12/70	Steve O'Keefe	Pune	2016-2017
12/124	Alan Davidson	Kanpur	1959-1960
12/126	Bruce Reid	Melbourne	1991-1992
12/166	Geoff Dymock	Kanpur	1979-1980
12/286	Nathan Lyon	Adelaide	2014-2015
12/358	Jason Krejza +	Nagpur	2008-2009

+ on Test debut

HAT-TRICKS

INDIA: Harbhajan Singh, Kolkata, 2000-2001 (Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne)

AUSTRALIA: None

MOST WICKETS IN A SERIES

INDIA

Player	Season	in	Tests	Wickets	Best	Average	5WI	10WM
Harbhajan Singh	2000-2001	India	3	32	8/84	17.03	4	2
Bishen Singh Bedi	1977-1978	Australia	5	31	5/55	23.87	3	1
Ravichandran Ashwin	2012-2013	India	4	29	7/103	20.10	4	1
B S Chandrasekhar	1977-1978	Australia	5	28	6/52	25.14	3	1
Kapil Dev	1979-1980	India	6	28	5/74	22.32	2	0
Dilip Doshi #	1979-1980	India	6	27	6/103	23.33	2	0
Anil Kumble	2004-2005	India	4	27	7/48	25.37	3	1
E A S Prasanna	1969-1970	India	5	26	6/74	25.85	3	1
E A S Prasanna	1967-1968	Australia	4	25	6/104	27.44	2	0
Kapil Dev	1991-1992	Australia	5	25	5/97	25.80	2	0
Ravindra Jadeja	2016-2017	India	4	25	6/63	18.56	2	0

AUSTRALIA

Player	Season	in	Matches	Wikets	Best	Average	5WI	10WM
Craig McDermott	1991-1992	Australia	5	31	5/54	21.61	3	1
Alan Davidson	1959-1960	India	5	29	7/93	14.86	2	1
Richie Benaud	1959-1960	India	5	29	5/43	19.59	2	0
Ashley Mallett	1969-1970	India	5	28	6/64	19.11	3	1
Wayne Clark #	1977-1978	Australia	5	28	4/46	25.04	0	0
Ben Hilfenhaus	2011-2012	Australia	4	27	5/75	17.22	2	0

# in debut series

Anil Kumble

IMAGE: Anil Kumble has taken 111 of his 619 Test wickets against the Aussies. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

MOST WICKETS IN INDIA-AUSTRALIA TESTS

INDIA

Player	Tests	Wickets	Best	5WI	10WM	Average	Strike Rate
Anil Kumble	20	111	8/141	10	2	30.32	58.70
Harbhajan Singh	18	95	8/84	7	3	29.96	61.12
Kapil Dev	20	79	8/106	7	0	25.35	60.08
Ravichandran Ashwin	14	71	7/103	4	1	32.49	68.14
Zaheer Khan	19	61	5/91	3	0	35.59	63.23
E A S Prasanna	13	57	6/74	5	1	28.71	75.98
Bishan Singh Bedi	12	56	7/98	5	1	24.91	72.02
Shivlal Yadav	13	55	5/99	1	0	28.78	72.64

AUSTRALIA

Player	Tests	Wickets	Best	5WI	10WM	Average	Strike Rate
Nathan Lyon	14	64	8/50	5	1	33.31	57.25
Brett Lee	12	53	5/47	2	0	31.98	57.13
Richie Benaud	8	52	7/72	5	1	18.38	56.79
Glenn McGrath	11	51	5/48	2	1	18.64	50.16

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

IMAGE: Mahendra Singh Dhoni has several records behind the stumps against Australia. Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

MOST DISMISSALS IN AN INNINGS

INDIA

Dismissals	Catshes	Stumpings	'Keeper	Venue	Season
5	5	0	M S Dhoni	Perth	2007-2008
5	3	2	M S Dhoni	Mohali	2012-2013
5	4	1	M S Dhoni	Melbourne	2014-2015

AUSTRALIA

Dismissals	Catches	'Keeper	Venue	Season
6	6	Brad Haddin	Brisbane	2014-2015
5	5	Rod Marsh	Sydney	1980-1981
5	5	Brad Haddin	Melbourne	2011-2012

MOST DISMISSALS IN A MATCH

INDIA

Dismissals	Catches	Stumpings	'Keeper	Venue	Season
9	8	1	M S Dhoni	Melbourne	2014-2015
8	7	1	M S Dhoni	Perth	2007-2008
7	4	3	M S Dhoni	Bengaluru	2010-2011
7	5	2	M S Dhoni	Mohali	2012-2013

AUSTRALIA

Dismissals	Catches	Stumpings	'Keeper	Venue	Season
9	9	0	Brad Haddin	Brisbane	2014-2015
8	7	1	Rod Marsh	Sydney	1980-1981
8	8	0	Adam Gilchrist	Melbourne	2007-2008

MOST DISMISSALS IN A SERIES

INDIA

Dismissals	Catches	Stumpings	Player	Tests	Season	in
14	11	3	S M H Kirmani	6	1979-1980	India
14	9	5	M S Dhoni	4	2012-2013	India
14	13	1	M S Dhoni	2	2014-2015	Australia
14	13	1	Wriddhiman Saha	4	2016-2017	India

AUSTRALIA

Dismissals	Catches	Stumpings	Player	Tests	Season	in
25	25	0	Adam Gilchrist	4	2007-2008	Australia
22	22	0	Steve Rixon	5	1977-1978	Australia
22	21	1	Brad Haddin	4	2014-2015	Australia
19	19	0	Ian Healy	5	1991-1992	Australia
18	18	0	Brad Haddin	4	2011-2012	Australia

MOST DISMISSALS IN INDIA-AUSTRALIA TESTS

INDIA

Dismissals	Catches	Stumpings	Player	Tests
71	56	15	M S Dhoni	19
41	29	12	S M H Kirmani	17
20	19	1	Wriddhiman Saha	7

AUSTRALIA

Dismissals	Catches	Stumpings	Player	Tests
75	73	2	Adam Gilchrist	18
58	56	2	Brad Haddin	13
26	26	0	Ian Healy	9
22	22	0	Steve Rixon	5
20	18	2	Wally Grout	5

MOST CATCHES IN AN INNINGS

INDIA

Catche	Player	Venue	Season
5	K Srikkanth	Perth	1991-1992
4	Mohammad Kaif	Mumbai	2004-2005

AUSTRALIA:

Catches	Player	Venue	Season
4	Alan Davidson	Delhi	1959-1960
4	Dave Whatmore	Kanpur	1979-1980
4	Mark Waugh	Melbourne	1999-2000
4	Mark Waugh	Chennai	2000-2001
4	Matthew Hayden	Brisbane	2003-2004

MOST CATCHES IN A MATCH

INDIA

Catches	Player	Venue	Season
5	Eknath Solkar	Madras	1969-1970
5	Krishnamchari Srikkanth	Perth	1991-1992
5	Rahul Dravid	Chennai	1997-1998

AUSTRALIA

Catches	Player	Venue	Season
6	Dave Whatmore	Kanpur	1979-1980
6	Mark Waugh	Chennai	2000-2001
5	Neil Harvey	Kanpur	1959-1960
5	Bobby Simpson	Sydney	1967-1968
5	Mike Hussey	Sydney	2007-2008

MOST CATCHES IN A SERIES

INDIA

Catches	Player	Tests	Season	in
13	Rahul Dravid	4	2004-05	India
10	Eknath Solkar	4	1969-70	India

AUSTRALIA

Catches	Player	Tests	Season	in
12	Dave Whatmore	5	1979-80	India
10	Neil Harvey	3	1956-57	India
10	Ian Chappell	5	1969-1970	India
10	Mark Waugh	4	1991-92	Australia

MOST CATCHES IN INDIA-AUSTRALIA TESTS

INDIA

Catches	Player	Tests
46	Rahul Dravid	32
36	V V S Laxman	29
23	Sachin Tendulkar	39
22	Virender Sehwag	22

AUSTRALIA

Catches	Player	Tests
36	Ricky Ponting	29
29	Mark Waugh	14
29	Michael Clarke	22
23	Matthew Hayden	18
21	Bobby Simpson	11
20	Mike Hussey	14

MOST APPEARANCES

INDIA

Player	Tests	Span
Sachin Tendulkar	39	1991-2013
Rahul Dravid	32	1996-2012
V V S Laxman	29	1998-2012
Dilip Vengsarkar	24	1977-1992
Sourav Ganguly	24	1996-2008
Virender Sehwag	22	2003-2013
Ishant Sharma	22	2008-2017
Sunil Gavaskar	20	1977-1986
Kapil Dev	20	1979-1992
Anil Kumble	20	1996-2008

AUSTRALIA

Player	Tests	Span
Ricky Ponting	29	1996-2012
Michael Clarke	22	2004-2014
Allan Border	20	1979-1992

CAPTAINS

INDIA

Player	Matches	Won	Lost	Drawn	Tied	Win%
Ajinkya Rahane	1	1	0	0	0	100.00
M S Dhoni	13	8	4	1	0	61.54
Rahul Dravid	2	1	1	0	0	50.00
Bishan Singh Bedi	5	2	3	0	0	40.00
Sunil Gavaskar	9	3	1	5	0	33.33
Sourav Ganguly	9	3	3	3	0	33.33
Mohammad Azharuddin	8	2	5	1	0	25.00
Sachin Tendulkar	4	1	3	0	0	25.00
G S Ramchand	5	1	2	2	0	20.00
Virat Kohli	5	1	2	2	0	20.00
Mansur Ali Khan 'Tiger' Pataudi	11	2	7	2	0	18.18
Anil Kumble	6	1	2	3	0	16.66
Kapil Dev	6	0	0	5	1	0.00
Lala Amarnath	5	0	4	1	0	0.00
Polly Umrigar	3	0	2	1	0	0.00
Chandu Borde	1	0	1	0	0	0.00
Virender Sehwag	1	0	1	0	0	0.00

AUSTRALIA

Player	Matches	Won	Lost	Drawn	Tied	Win%
Ian Johnson	2	2	0	0	0	100.00
Bill Lawry	7	5	1	1	0	71.43
Don Bradman	5	4	0	1	0	80.00
Adam Gilchrist	3	2	0	1	0	66.66
Michael Clarke	8	5	3	0	0	62.50
Bobby Simpson	10	6	3	1	0	60.00
Steve Waugh	10	5	3	2	0	50.00
Richie Benaud	5	2	1	2	0	40.00
Allan Border	11	4	0	6	1	36.36
Greg Chappell	3	1	1	1	0	33.33
Steve Smith	7	2	2	3	0	28.57
Mark Taylor	4	1	3	0	0	25.00
Ricky Ponting	11	2	6	3	0	18.18
Kim Hughes	6	0	2	4	0	0.00
Ray Lindwall	1	0	0	1	0	0.00
Shane Watson	1	0	1	0	0	0.00

Rajneesh Gupta