New Delhi, September 23, 2024: India completed a fairly routine Test match victory over Bangladesh in the opening contest of their series, winning by 280 runs in Chennai on the back of a player of the match performance from hometown star Ravichandran Ashwin.
There was plenty to celebrate for Indian fans, not least in terms of some of the positives that the players can take into the crowded Test season that lies ahead. Here are some of the statistical takeaways from the first Test in India vs Bangladesh.
1. Historical win: a positive Test record
India can claim, for the first time in their Test history, that they have won more Test matches than they have lost. A team with a negative win-loss record ever since its first Test matches in 1932, India’s dominance over the Test landscape in the previous decade and change means that India have lost 178 matches in these 92 years, but won 179.
India join Australia, England, Pakistan, and South Africa as the five teams who currently hold a winning overall record. In an act of fate, India achieved this feat at the same venue where they registered their first Test win in 1952.
2. R Ashwin shakes hands with greatness
Ashwin was at his masterful best in this match, playing rescue act with bat as he scored a first innings century, before turning the Bangladesh batting inside-out with 6 wickets in the fourth innings according to the reports published in hindustantimes.com.
Two records fell Ashwin’s way. This was the fourth occasion on which Ashwin paired up a five-fer and a century in the same Test match, leaving him just one short of Ian Botham’s record of 5. Of the eight times an Indian cricketer has achieved this feat, Ashwin has done it half the times.
Secondly, this was Ashwin’s 37th Test five-fer, leaping him over Richard Hadlee and placing him level with the great Shane Warne in second place for most Test five-fers. Muttiah Muralitharan’s total of 67 remains a long way off.
3. Rishabh Pant matches MS Dhoni, sets standard for wicketkeepers
Rishabh Pant was at his best in his first Test match back from his extended time away from the format, as he played a classic Pant innings on his way to a sixth Test match century.
This achievement puts him on par with MS Dhoni, who also racked up six tonnes as wicketkeeper, with Pant also boasting a host of 90+ scores and looking set to make the Indian record his own.
One of the most attacking and entertaining batters in world cricket, Pant may well be eyeing Adam Gilchrist’s mark of 17 Test centuries as wicketkeeper. A seventh century will put him on par with names such as AB de Villiers, BJ Watling, and even Kumar Sangakkara, who only got seven centuries while keeping wicket in the same match. A long journey, but achievable for a player with Pant’s talent.
