Sri Lanka vs India 2017, 1st Test Day 1 Stats: Dhawan-Pujara pair compiles records
The new opening combination of Shikhar Dhawan and Abhinav Mukund, brought together after KL Rahul’s illness on the eve of the Test, could garner only 27 runs. However, comeback man Dhawan, playing his first Test since October last year, shut all his detractors up by compiling his highest Test score.
Cheteshwar Pujara, the ever-reliant No.3, then stamped his class all over the already weary Lankan bowlers, notching up his 12th Test ton to help India post a record breaking 399 on the first day’s play.
Here are all the major statistics from day 1 of the Galle Test:
1 - These are the most runs (399) scored on the first day of a Test by India away from home.
2 - Shikhar Dhawan’s 126 runs are the second-highest runs scored in a session by an Indian, behind Virender Sehwag (133 runs during his 293 against SL in Mumbai).
3 - Number of left-handed opening pairs for India in Tests. Irfan Pathan - Gautam Gambhir (2005) and Abhinav Mukund - Gautam Gambhir (2011).
4 - The number of Test centuries by Shikhar Dhawan in the first or only Test of a series.
5 - This was Dhawan’s fifth Test century overall. It is also the fifth highest score by a visiting batsman at Galle.
6 - This is Pujara’s sixth century while batting first in a Test.
7 - The number of Indian batsmen who have been dismissed in the 190s. KL Rahul against England in Chennai (2016) was the last one before Dhawan.
8 - The number of second-wicket century partnerships for India since 2016, the most by any team since that period.
9 - The Shikhar Dhawan - Abhinav Mukund pair is the ninth opening combination under Virat Kohli.
26 - The number of Tests captained by Virat Kohli - the skipper has never fielded the same team in successive Tests.
126 - Runs scored by Dhawan between Lunch and Tea, the most runs in Tests by any Indian in that period of a Test match, breaking Polly Umrigar's 63 year old record.
113.09 - Dhawan’s strike-rate in today’s innings, the second-highest for an Indian in an innings of 150 or more. Sehwag had a strike-rate of 115.35 against Sri Lanka during his 293.
190 - Dhawan’s highest score in Tests. His previous best was 187, against Australia on his debut at Mohali in 2013.
289 - Hardik Pandya became India’s 289th Test cap.
2010 - Suresh Raina made his Test debut exactly seven years ago, on 26 July 2010, against Sri Lanka at Colombo. Only Wriddhiman Saha from the current Indian team made his Test debut before that.