Birmingham, August 13: Losing the Edgbaston Test by an innings and 242 runs, their third loss in a row, India had to relinquish their No. 1 Test spot to a truly deserving England. Indian skipper MS Dhoni, who scored half-centuries in each innings, suffered his first series-loss; his side have not been able to cross the 300-run mark in any of their innings on the tour so far. Ironically, it was No. 9 batsman Praveen Kumar who provided some late cheer to India fans with a blustery knock of 40 off 18 balls. A look at the numbers that matter from the day that India lost their top billing.
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MS Dhoni followed his first innings 77 with an unbeaten 74 in the second innings. This was the fourth time in his career that Dhoni scored fifties in both innings of a Test. The other such occasions were – 92 & 68* v Australia at Mohali in 2008-09, 56 & 55 v Australia at Nagpur in 2008-09 and 52 & 56* v New Zealand at Wellington in 2008-09.
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Dhoni is the fourth Indian captain to score 50 or more in each innings of a Test against England. He joins Vijay Hazare (89 & 56 at Leeds in 1952), Nawab Pataudi Jr. (64 & 148 at Leeds in 1967) and Sourav Ganguly (68 & 99 at Nottingham in 2002).
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Praveen Kumar (40 off 18 balls) made his highest score in Test cricket, beating the 26 he made in the first innings of the same Test.
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Praveen’s strike-rate of 222.22 is the highest for an Indian batsman scoring at least 25 runs in an innings.
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Praveen’s innings is the highest by any batsman facing exactly 18 balls in Test cricket. Interestingly, the previous record was held by Harbhajan Singh who made 37 against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo in 2005 (it may, however, be noted that Bangladesh’s Abdur Razzak scored 43 off 17 balls against Zimbabwe at Harare recently).
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Dhoni and Praveen added 75 runs for the eighth wicket. These two had added 84 in the first innings as well. They are now the only pair to put on 75-run partnerships for the eighth wicket in each innings of a Test (There are three instances of two different pairs adding 75 runs for the eighth wicket for the same side in a Test).
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India have not crossed the 300-mark even once in the six innings they have played in England so far.
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India suffered their second biggest defeat against England and third biggest in all Tests. They had lost to West Indies by an innings and 336 runs at Kolkata in 1958-59 and to England by an innings and 285 runs at Lord’s in 1974.
India’s biggest defeats by innings margin
|
Margin |
Opponents |
Venue |
Season |
|
Inns & 336 runs |
West Indies |
Kolkata |
1958-59 |
|
Inns & 285 runs |
England |
Lord's |
1974 |
|
Inns & 242 runs |
England |
Birmingham |
2011 |
India’s biggest defeats against England by innings margin
|
Margin |
Venue |
Season |
|
Inns & 285 runs |
Lord's |
1974 |
|
Inns & 242 runs |
Birmingham |
2011 |
|
Inns & 207 runs |
Manchester |
19 |
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India's defeat by an innings and 242 runs is the worst defeat for a team ranked No. 1 in the ICC rankings (since the rankings were introduced). It was the fourth innings defeat for a No. 1 ranked side. India have suffered three such losses, whereas Australia have suffered one.
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It was for the first time since 1999-00 that India lost three consecutive Tests. In that year, India were beaten 3-0 by hosts Australia.
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The last time India lost three Tests on the trot against England was way back in 1976-77. Overall, it was the sixth such instance for India.
India losing three Tests on the trot in the same series against England
|
5 |
v England in England |
in 1959 |
Lost,Lost,Lost,Lost,Lost |
|
3 |
v England in England |
in 1952 |
Lost, Lost, Lost, Drawn |
|
3 |
v England in England |
in 1967 |
Lost,Lost,Lost |
|
3 |
v England in England |
in 1974 |
Lost,Lost,Lost |
|
3 |
v England in India |
in 1976-77 |
Lost,Lost,Lost,Won,Drawn |
|
3 |
v England in England |
in 2011 |
Lost,Lost, Lost |
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England have earned an unassailable lead in the series by virtue of this win. India’s last series loss was against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka (2-1) in August 2008.
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This is the first series that MS Dhoni has lost as captain.
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This was England’s first series-win against India since 1996 when they beat the latter 1-0 at home.
