FEBRUARY 9, 2021
6 – Consecutive wins for England in Asia, following their 3-0 and 2-0 series wins in Sri Lanka in 2018 and earlier this year. Their recent record in Asia contrasts sharply with that of South Africa, who lost their ninth Test in a row in the continent when they were beaten by Pakistan in Rawalpindi on Monday.
11 – Test wins for England in Asia since January 2010 – they have a 11-12 win-loss record in the continent during this period, which is easily the best among the non-Asian teams. No other team has won more than half the number of Tests that they have lost: New Zealand and West Indies have a win-loss ratio of 0.5. Australia have a 3-15 record during this period. In fact, England have won more Tests in India during this period (three) than all other teams put together (two).
Of the nine series England have played in Asia during this period (excluding the ongoing one in India), they have won four, lost three, and drawn two.
343 – Test wickets for James Anderson after turning 30, which is the most for a fast bowler. He went past Courtney Walsh, who has 341. Among all bowlers, only three have more wickets after turning 30: Rangana Herath (398), Muttiah Muralitharan (388), and Shane Warne (386), while Anil Kumble has 343 as well.
26 – Test wins for Joe Root, which equals Michael Vaughan’s record for an England captain. Root has a 26-15 win-loss record in 47 Tests, compared to Vaughan’s 26-11 in 51 matches.
1 – India had lost just one home Test in their last 35 games before this one, going back to the beginning of 2013. They had won 28 games during this period, and were easily the most dominant home team in these eight years.
3 – Consecutive Man-of-the-Match awards for Root – he had won the award in the two Tests in Sri Lanka as well. There are only seven other instances of a player winning three or more successive awards: Muralitharan (four), Ian Botham, Wasim Akram, Muralitharan again, Kallis, Michael Hussey, and Steve Harmison.
2010 – The last time India bowled more no-balls than the 27 they did in this match. That was against South Africa in Kolkata, when India bowled 29. Just two bowlers contributed to all the no-balls: Ishant Sharma (16) and Amit Mishra (13).
4 – Wins in India for Anderson. Since 2000, only two other overseas players have won as many Tests in India: Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis.
1999 – The last time India lost a Test in Chennai. It was an epic encounter, which Pakistan won by 12 runs. Since then, India won five out of eight Tests here before this defeat to England.
Courtesy/Source: ESPNCricinfo
