Australia v India, 3rd Test: Day 2 in Numbers

Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara 

Resuming Day 2 of the Boxing Day Test against India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) at 259/5, Australia rode on the back of a 305-ball 192 from Steven Smith and half-centuries from Brad Haddin (55) and Ryan Harris (74) to score 530 in their first innings. 

The visitors, in reply, were 108/1 at stumps with Murali Vijay (55) and Cheteshwar Pujara (25) at the crease. Here is a look at some of the most important numbers of the day: 

74 – Australian No. 9 Ryan Harris’s highest Test score. This is the 35-year-old fast bowler’s third half-century in international cricket.

69.46 – Murali Vijay holds the record for the highest average by any opener against Australia (minimum 1000 runs)

190 – Indian bowlers have accounted for the most number of dismissals when a batsman is in his 190s (13). England are joint-first.

423 – Most number of sixes in a calender year ever. Previous best was 375 in 2004.

2084 – Murali Vijay now has the most number of Test runs by a batsman from Tamil Nadu, beating Kris Srikkanth’s 2062.

1830* – Most balls faced by an Indian player in Test matches in 2014, Murali Vijay at the top. Pujara is the next batsman on the list with 1083* deliveries. 

353 – Steven Smith is second in the list of captains with most runs after three Test innings. Former Indian great Sunil Gavaskar is at the first spot, with 356 runs. 

134 – MS Dhoni now holds the world record for the most number of stumpings in international cricket, beating Kumar Sangakkara’s 133.

4 – Four batsmen have been dismissed for 190s in the last 30 days: Mohammad Hafeez, Brendon McCullum, Steven Smith and Kane Williamson. Nervous 190s? 

28 – Steven Smith, aged 25 years and 208 days, missed a chance to become the youngest Australian Test captain to score a double century. However, he still has a lot of time left to accomplish the feat. The record is currently with Don Bradman who scored a double as an Australian captain aged 28 years and 131 days. 

Note: Inputs taken from statisticians Mohandas Menon, Bharat Seervi and Twitter account Cricket Record.