The third Test of the four-match series between India and Australia came to a thrilling end as Ravichandran Ashwin (39*) and Hanuma Vihari (23*) came up with a fantastic rearguard action to save the match for India. Rishabh Pant (97) and Cheteshwar Pujara (77) played their part as well.
India were battered and bruised as they lost Ravindra Jadeja in the middle of the match due to a thumb injury, Pant suffered an injury-scare as well but was declared fit to play later on. Ashwin could barely stand up on the morning of the final day but still played through his pain, whereas Vihari battled a torn hamstring on the way to his memorable 161-ball match-saving knock. This draw was special for India in many ways and here we will take a look at the important numbers and records created in this match.
- Hanuma Vihari and Ravichandran Ashwin’s partnership of 256 balls was the second longest fourth innings stand to save a Test match for India. The longest one lasted 270 balls, by WV Raman and Manoj Prabhakar against New Zealand at Auckland in 1990.
- Hanuma Vihari scored a total of 27 runs in this match after facing a total of 199 deliveries, thus recording a strike-rate of 14.28. It is the second lowest strike-rate by a batsman after facing 100+ balls in a Test match for India. The lowest recorded strike-rate (11.66) is by Rahul Dravid as he scored 21 off 180 deliveries against Australia, at the MCG in 2007.
- The Australian bowlers bowled a total of 1390 balls in this Test and picked up 12 wickets at a strike-rate of 115.8. They have recorded a worse strike-rate only once since 1972 — against India at Delhi in 2008. They bowled 1431 balls and picked up 12 wickets at a strike-rate of 119.2.
- Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill put on 141 runs for the first wicket in this Test match. That’s the highest by an Indian opening pair outside Asia since 2010.
- Pant’s knock of 97 was the second-highest score by an Indian wicketkeeper-batsman in the fourth innings of a Test match. Incidentally, the highest recorded score is also by Pant — 118 vs England at the Oval in 2018.
- Pujara took 134 innings to reach the landmark of 6000 runs in Test cricket. He became the 11th Indian player to reach the landmark and did so in fewer number of innings than five other Indian players.
- The partnership of 148 runs between Rishabh Pant and Cheteshwar Pujara was the highest four-wicket stand for India in Test cricket. The previous best was 138 between Vijay Hazare and Rusi Modi at the Brabourne Stadium in 1948/49.
- India batted out a total of 131 overs in the fourth innings to save the match. That’s the highest number of overs batted by an Asian Team to save a Test match in Australia. The previous best was also by India — 89.5 overs at the SCG in 2014/15.