5 interesting stats from Washington Sundar’s unbeaten 85 in Chennai Test
Indian all-rounder Washington Sundar continued his good form with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 85 on Day 4 of the first Test against England in Chennai.
Resuming his innings on 33, Washington Sundar played some scintillating strokes as India looked to avoid the follow-on. He smashed James Anderson for a six over the legendary bowler’s head before lofting England captain Joe Root down the ground for a maximum.
Even as wickets kept falling at the other end, Washington Sundar looked unperturbed throughout. He hit 12 fours and two sixes in his innings and was stranded 15 short of a maiden Test hundred when last-man Jasprit Bumrah was dismissed by James Anderson.
Washington Sundar faced 138 balls for his brilliant knock, lifting India to 337. Although the hosts failed to save the follow-on, England decided against enforcing the same.
Some interesting numbers have come to the fore following Sundar’s unbeaten 85 in Chennai. Here’s a look at five of them:
#1 Washington Sundar is the 8th Indian player to score a fifty in his first innings both home and away
Washington Sundar in now the eighth Indian batsman to score more than fifty runs in his debut Test innings both home and away.
In three Test innings in his Test career so far, Washington Sundar has registered scores of 62, 22 and 85 not out. He made his Test debut in the fourth Test against Australia at the Gabba earlier this year.
Rusi Modi, Surinder Amarnath, Arun Lal, Sourav Ganguly, Suresh Raina, Hardik Pandya and Mayank Agarwal are the other Indian players before Washington Sundar to score fifties in their debut Test innings both home and away.
#2 Washington Sundar records the fourth-highest score by an Indian No. 7 at the Chepauk
Washington Sundar’s unbeaten 85 is now the fourth-highest score by an Indian No. 7 batsman at the Chepauk in Chennai.
Polly Umrigar holds the record for the highest score by an Indian No. 7 at the Chepauk Stadium.
He made 130 not out against England in 1952. Kapil Dev occupies the next two spots. He made 119 against Australia in 1986 and 109 against West Indies in 1988.
#3 Washington Sundar records the fifth-highest score by an Indian No. 7 in Tests since January 2018
Washington Sundar’s knock comes in at number five in the list of top scores by an Indian No. 7 batsmen since the start of 2018.
Rishabh Pant made an unbeaten 159 against Australia in Sydney in January 2019 and 114 against England in September 2018. Ravindra Jadeja made exactly 100 not out against West Indies in Rajkot in October 2018.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya scored 93 against South Africa in Cape Town in January 2018 while coming in to bat at number seven.
#4 Washington Sundar only behind Rahul Dravid for most runs in their first three innings at No. 7
Among batsmen who have scored the most runs in their first three innings for India at No. 7, Washington Sundar is behind only Rahul Dravid. With scores of 62, 22 and 85 not out in his first three innings in the longest format of the game, the all-rounder has 169 runs to his name.
Meanwhile, Rahul David needed only two innings to score 179 runs. He batted at No. 7 in his first two Test innings, doing so against England and notching up scores of 95 and 84.
Sanjay Bangar (104) and Wriddhiman Saha (71) are the next two batsmen on the list.
#5 Washington Sundar’s fifty is the 50th time since 2015 a player batting at number 7 or lower scored 50+ against England
According to the CricViz Analyst, Washington Sundar's 85 on Monday in Chennai is the 50th time since the start of 2015 that a batsman batting at number seven or lower went past the half-century mark against England in Test matches.
No other side has conceded more fifty-plus scores against lower-order batsmen during this period.
Interesting fact: Washington Sundar's last first-class innings at the Chepauk was for Tamil Nadu against Tripura in 2017/18 when he scored 159 off 231. That remains his only first-class century till date.