Wisden 20:20 - Duck surprise

England vs India, 1st Test, day 5, Lord's

With India six-down overnight, England might have expected to have had their feet up by midday, especially as India's No. 8, Ajit Agarkar, aka The Bombay Duck, had a reputation as something of a walking wicket.

But Agarkar smacked the most unlikely of centuries - his average before this innings (7.47) was the lowest in Test history of anyone making their first hundred. The next-worst - among players who had had more than ten innings at the time - was the legendary Middlesex and England batsman Bill Edrich, who had struggled to collect 88 runs in 11 innings (average 8.00) before he came good with 219 in the Timeless Test at Durban in 1938-39.

As our graph shows, Agarkar was in control of 77% of his shots, a hugely impressive ratio for someone who bats in the bottom four. This was no merry tailend thrash. Another Indian batsman was in control of 77% of his shots in this match - Sachin Tendulkar. It's unlikely that Agarkar's batting will ever be compared with his again.

Agarkar was a lot more productive against the seamers, carving 83 runs 104 balls as against 26 off 86 against the spinners. All very impressive from a man who before this had managed a mere 127 runs in 18 Test innings.

The Aussies wouldn't have been impressed, though: Agarkar is their ultimate bunny, with seven Test ducks in a row against them. The first five were all first-ballers.

Earlier Wisden 20:20
The tone-setter: Eng vs Ind - 1st Test
Kaif's KO - Final: Eng vs Ind
At Last - Game 8: Eng vs Ind
The secret weapon - Game 7: Eng vs SL
Digging it in - Game 3: Ind vs SL

Rob Smyth is on the staff of Wisden.com. Exclusive from Wisden.com