5 left-handers with exceptional Test records against India ft. Travis HeadÂ
Team India have often been on the receiving end of left-handed batters in Test cricket. The southpaws have often been a thorn in the flesh for Team India for the past 2-3 decades.
There are some left-handed batters who more often than not have tasted success against the Indian bowlers and scored big centuries on several occasions.
On that note, here is a look at five left-handers with exceptional Test records against India.
#1 Travis Head
Travis Head has toyed with the Indian bowling attack in the last couple of years. Before the ongoing Gabba Test, Head scored 955 runs in 21 Test innings against India at an average of 47.75 with the bat.
He guided Australia to victory against India in the final of World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-2023 by scoring a match-winning century (163).
In the recently concluded Adelaide Test, Head scored 140 runs and single-handedly won the Test for his country. He followed up the said century with a brilliant counter-attacking century (152) at the Gabba on the second day of the Test. He has now scored three Test centuries against India in the last four Tests against them.
#2 Andy Flower
Andy Flower had an astounding record against India in Test cricket. He scored 1138 runs against them in 18 innings across nine Test matches at a staggering average of 94.83.
His career best of 232* was against India in Nagpur in India in 2000. He scored three centuries and seven half-centuries against India in Test cricket.
The fact that Flower averaged 117.14 in 10 Test innings against India reflects how well he played them in the 1990s and early 2000s. All his Test centuries against India were away from home which speaks volumes about his achievements against India in Test cricket.
#3 Matthew Hayden
Australia's 2001 Test tour of India brought out the very best in Matthew Hayden. In 13 Tests before the said series, Hayden had failed to score a century in Test cricket and his career was on the lines.
Against India in 2001 in Indian conditions, while the rest of the Aussie batters struggled to get used to the spinning surfaces, Hayden scored 549 runs in six innings at an average of 109.80 including two centuries and two half-centuries.
Since then, Hayden did not look behind and tormented the Indian bowling attack on many occasions. In 35 innings across 18 Tests against India, Hayden scored 1888 runs (his most against any opponent) at an average of 59.
He scored six centuries and eight half-centuries against India and had an impressive track record against them throughout his Test career.
#4 Shivnarine Chanderpaul
The West Indian batter had an impressive Test career and was particularly fond of the Indian bowling attack. Out of 11867 Test runs, Chanderpaul scored 2171 runs against India in 25 Tests.
In 44 innings against India in the said 25 Tests, the southpaw averaged 63.85 with the bat including seven centuries and 10 half-centuries. Five of the said centuries were in the Caribbean and two were in India.
He first played a Test against India in 1994 and his last against the said opponent was in 2013. The fact that Chanderpaul maintained a healthy average of 63.85 against India over a period of 19 years speaks volumes of his success against the Asian giants in Test cricket.
#5 Sanath Jayasuriya
Nicknamed Matara Mauler, the former Sri Lankan batter had an astounding record against India in Test cricket.
Jayasuriya's highest Test score of 340 was against a hapless Indian bowling attack in 1997 at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. He added 576 runs for the second wicket with Roshan Mahanama during the said innings and helped his team to 952-6 (declared). The said total is to date the highest-ever team total in Test cricket.
In 16 Test innings against India across 10 Tests, the Sri Lankan scored 938 runs at a healthy average of 67 which was way above his Test career average of 40.07. He scored three centuries and two half-centuries against India in Test cricket.
It is pertinent to note that Sri Lanka never lost a Test against India in which Jayasuriya scored more than 50 runs.