First Time In 91 Years! 3 Indian Batters Have Scored More Than...
Three batters—KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, and Ravindra Jadeja—have scored more than 500 runs for India in the ongoing series against England.
Ravindra Jadeja has impressed with his batting performances for India in the ongoing five-match Test series against England. In five matches, he has scored more than 500 runs for the Shubman Gill-led side. This is the first time in his career that Jadeja has scored 500 runs in a Test series for the Indian team.
Jadeja needed 37 runs in the second innings of the ongoing fifth India-England Test at the Oval to complete 500 runs in the 2025 edition of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, and he achieved the objective during the third session of the third day's play.
Team India played its first-ever Test match in June 1932 against England at Lord's, but their first-ever Test series was played in 1933-34 at home against the English team. In that series (3-match assignment), Lala Amarnath finished as the top run getter for India. In six innings of three matches, he amassed a total of 203 runs.
A total of five Indian batters have scored more than 400 runs in the ongoing series. During the 1989 edition of the Ashes series played in England, five batters—Mark Taylor (834), Dean Jones (566), Steve Waugh (506), Allan Border (442), and David Boon (442)—scored more than 400 runs for the Baggy Greens.
view comments
First Published:
Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
28 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Siraj emerges from Bumrah's shadows
Mumbai: It almost felt karmic when Mohammed Siraj brought the curtains down on the final Test at The Oval after an enthralling hour's play on Day 5 with his knockout punch – a yorker fired in with a scrambled seam grip to uproot Gus Atkinson's off-stump. As the fast bowler flaunted his imitation of Cristiano Ronaldo's signature celebratory move, the Indian section among the capacity crowd erupted in delirium. India's Mohammed Siraj and Dhruv Jurel celebrate following the team's victory in the fifth Test match against England, at The Oval. (PTI) Cricket Gods are not that cruel after all. If that was the case, Siraj's fielding lapse on Sunday that gave Harry Brook a reprieve on 19 and the rising England star smashed 111 would have remained the lasting image of the Test among the emotional Indian fans. To those who don't stop trying, life gives another chance. If it wasn't so, Siraj would not have got a shot at redemption, having also despaired that he was the last wicket to fall in the Lord's defeat that ended India's batting resistance and gave England the series lead. To help overcome that low, Ravindra Jadeja had asked Siraj to think of his late father – he drove autorickshaw to make ends meet – and how hard he had worked to get here. Siraj looked heavenwards in thanks on completing the win. Siraj was the heartbeat of the team through the gruelling five-Test series packed into six weeks. 'A captain's dream', Shubman Gill called him. The final wicket came in Siraj's 186th over of the series, 47th spell overall. The only fast bowler to play all the Tests and still remain standing. The body protested with aches and pains but the spirit was unbroken. Gill was the Player-of-the-Series for his 754 runs, but India's would not have levelled the series without Siraj's relentless spells. If England felt India were still in the game with only 35 runs to defend and 4 wickets to get, it was because of Siraj. 'When I woke up this morning, I told myself I would change the game. I opened Google, downloaded a 'believe' image and put that as my phone wallpaper,' he said after the match. Siraj had many prized scalps in the series with the wobble seam nipping into right-handers, but to put scoreboard pressure and under grey skies on Monday, he bowled outswingers, slightly wider. That's how he got Jamie Smith, who could have sealed it, but never got the freedom to score. Siraj was so good in the morning that Gill felt, 'they couldn't touch bat on ball'. With so much swing on offer with the old ball, India didn't take the second new ball. The batters would have known Siraj's sucker delivery – the wobble ball that shapes in. Still, Jamie Overton and Atkinson were defeated. Though India won by only six runs this time, they had pushed England into the final hour of the previous Tests. The real test was Sunday evening when Siraj had to lead a three-man pace attack knackered after the pasting by the 195-run stand between centurions Brook and Joe Root. Siraj soldiered on bowling long spells, conducted the crowd and helped set up wickets for Prasidh Krishna at the other end. 'My only plan was to bowl consistently at one spot and to move the ball in and out from there. I didn't want to try too much because that could have released the pressure,' he said. It may sound a cliche, but wickets are often earned by repeating such 'boring' tactics. In Day 4's early exchanges, Siraj beat Ben Duckett five times in an over from over the wicket. Prasidh ramped up pressure by coming in from a different angle, pushing the aggressive left-hander further back to eventually get him with a fuller ball. When Siraj isn't taking wickets - he took 9/190 in the match and 23 in the series – he's setting up batters. As seen during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy where Jasprit Bumrah was exceptional, Siraj unselfishly provided the support cast. 'My job there was to work in partnership with Jassi bhai…how well he was bowling,' he told reporters. 'But I always believe I can get wickets in any situation. Even if I am bowling the eighth over of a spell, I give 100 percent.' In England, Siraj truly emerged from Bumrah's shadows. Both the Tests India won came in Bumrah's absence. And they couldn't have done it without the man who never stopped believing.
Indian Express
28 minutes ago
- Indian Express
IND vs ENG: India show the mediocrity of Bazball
What have England learnt from this Test series? They had the flat pitches that their game demands, they won all the tosses to further facilitate that approach – and yet they had to settle for a 2-2 series result. The series has tamed Bazball. Their top order remains wobbly – how and why Ollie Pope owns that No.3 spot is a mystery and at first signs of the ball movement, their top order collapses. This wasn't a weak Indian team as the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who have been struggling for a long while in Tests, wasn't a handicap, but certainly a team taking its first steps without their identity makers. Jasprit Bumrah was unavailable for just two Tests, incidentally England lost both. In the longer run, when the thrill of this dramatic, albeit mediocre quality of their cricket in several ways, fades out, England should worry. That they won't is part of the Bazball DNA perhaps; this team if anything is stubborn in nature, which is a good and a bad thing. They won't drop Zak Crawley, they won't nudge out Pope, they won't include batsmen with skills to face the moving ball if the strike rate isn't healthy. All that has worked for them in many ways, but has left cricket a touch poorer. England captain Ben Stokes offers his verdict on the series 🙌 #SonySportsNetwork #ENGvIND #NayaIndia #DhaakadIndia #TeamIndia #ExtraaaInnings | @benstokes38 @SanjanaGanesan — Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) August 4, 2025 To make Bazball happen, they have had to take life out of the pitches. Their bowlers are run to the ground, too much dirty work is asked of them. That the bowlers have bought into this Bazball-ism is a credit to the charismatic leadership of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum. The other day on BBC TMS former England captain Alastair Cook would mention if he were to tell his bowlers these kinds of tracks day in and day out, and chose to bowl after winning tosses repeatedly, there would be some stern faces. The flat-track bullies then have a swing and the game meanders along towards the final-day finale without a proper contest between bat and ball. All the drama unfolds on the final day because of the match situation rather than any deterioration in pitch to level up the bowling-batting mismatch. This Test at The Oval threw in a bit of curveball with the conditions changing. When suddenly things happen out of script as it did in the last 30 minutes on Sunday evening and on Monday morning when the old ball wobbled around, England's batsmen flail helplessly. Pope averages just 34 and it's easy to see why. A more nervous starter than him is difficult to imagine and one whose game doesn't hold up when the ball moves a bit. To length balls straightening outside off, he stabs like he is a juvenile prisoner and against nipbackers he falls over like an old drunk prisoner. Crawley's batting is only made for impact – and that too on flat tracks and even then he just averages 31.55 from 59 Tests. Says much. They had the opportunity to give Jacob Bethell a proper run in this series instead of shoving him in the fag end in a pressure-cooker situation. Jamie Smith has looked pretty decent and is likely to have a long run as wicket-keeper batsman but he and the young guns aren't able to develop their game due to the flat pitches being served up. No other big team in the circuit loads up the team with batsmen without ability against moving ball, and almost handcuffs themselves to produce pitches where these batsmen can prosper. For a while now, England have been talking about how their Bazball has made Test cricket sexy, but it's a hollow claim. There was a definite thrill to watch them blaze away in the initial year or two, but when the same pattern repeats and takes out the pleasure of watching batsmen cope with good pitches that aid an even contest, it has got a bit boring to watch. It's perhaps good for English cricket with the kind of resources they have and the personnel they chose, but to claim that its great for Test cricket for everyone sounds a tall claim. A win carved in 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘵. A moment owned by 𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐀 🇮🇳 ✨ Scenes from the commentary box as India do the improbable 🎙️#SonySportsNetwork #ENGvIND #NayaIndia #DhaakadIndia #TeamIndia #ExtraaaInnings — Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) August 4, 2025 As Australia's Steve Smith had a pop at the Englishmen, thus: 'Their (England) batters are going to be challenged a little bit differently to the wickets they have had over in England for a while, which have looked pretty flat and good for batting.' 'Boring' is an adjective that not just the England team but even its commentators and fans won't use and its usage will be slammed for a 'thriller' of a series. But this is not a diss on the cricket seen, but a sigh about the kind of cricket quality being missed due to England's methods. It's to India's credit that they sensationally made it a 2-2 result and in such a thrilling fashion at The Oval. But England's Bazball isn't that sexy; the 'young gun' Indians have exposed its banality – and cowardice that lies in its soul.
Hindustan Times
28 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Shubman Gill lands on both feet as Test captain on trial
New Delhi: This English summer will be remembered for its combative Test cricket, but also for Shubman Gill's emergence as Indian cricket's heir apparent. His first assignment as Test captain was trial by fire. A team in transition after three stalwarts had retired and the challenge of managing his best bowler's workload apart, the onus was also on bettering his own individual numbers. India's captain Shubman Gill acknowledges the crowd after India won the fifth Test match against England, at The Oval. (PTI) But Gill will return with great memories. He produced one of the great individual performances by a captain in Test history. His 754 runs in 10 innings, with four centuries, were more than just numbers. They were the backbone of India's resistance as he lived up to his philosophy for the team – 'never give up'. Only Don Bradman, with 810 runs in the 1936-37 Ashes, scored more in a Test series as captain. Among Indian skippers, Gill's tally is the highest, surpassing names like Virat Kohli and Sunil Gavaskar. 'There were certain things that I wanted to work on as a batsman and it was my goal to be able to be the best batter of the series,' Gill, the Player-of-the-Series, said at the post match presentation. 'To be able to accomplish that goal feels very satisfying and rewarding.' It wasn't only about the runs, but how they came. In the first Test at Leeds, under pressure after his underwhelming numbers in the format, Gill responded with a commanding century. Next up in Birmingham, his double hundred and hundred were the knockout punches in a seesaw Test. And when India were staring at defeat in Manchester, Gill again ground out a century that helped salvage the draw. 'Each hundred had a different significance,' Gill said in the media conference. 'Each has a story and means a lot to me – 25 days of cricket and we played them all, so it's hard to pick one.' Gill also became the first Indian captain to score four centuries in a Test series. And at 25 years and 330 days, he is the fourth youngest in Test history to win the Player-of-the-Series award on captaincy debut. As a leader, it is clear that he has a lot to learn, but in acknowledging that, he looked assured and willing to learn. When asked how he approached pressure situations, he said, 'It's moments like these where you feel like the journey is worth it. More highs and lows and that's kind of expected in sport, it is a roller-coaster. But that's how the game and life is. You have to be able to navigate the highs and lows and stay balanced.' Gill seemed confident as India returned to bowl on the final day of the hard-fought series, but he was quick to credit his bowlers for making his job easier. England needed only 35 runs with four wickets in hand – including the injured Chris Woakes – and the fast bowlers, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna, responded with a performance for the ages. Siraj snapped up three wickets for nine runs on an overcast morning, looking like taking a wicket with every delivery bowled with the old ball. Gill said: 'Every ball, every spell that he bowled, he gave his all. Every captain, every team wants a player like him. We are very fortunate to have him in the team.' 'When you have good bowlers like Siraj and Prasidh bowling that spell, captaincy seems pretty easy. The ball is doing all sorts… they're making the ball talk. We just wanted to make sure (England) were feeling the pressure throughout. Pressure makes everyone do things they don't want to.' Gill's tone in post-match interviews has reflected the composure he had gained under pressure, something that seemed missing in the first half of the series. 'That we never give up,' he said when asked to describe his team's mentality. In an era when cricket debates often examine the commercial viability of reducing Tests to four-dayers, workload management and the future of the longest format, Gill has also emerged as its advocate, something that he vowed to carry forward after Kohli's retirement ahead of this series. 'If it were four-day Tests, all five games would have been draws,' he said with a laugh. 'Test cricket should be as it is. It's the most rewarding and satisfying format. You work the hardest to get a win. The best thing is that it always gives you a second chance, which no other format gives.' There were doubts raised when Gill was appointed captain with questions raised about his batting consistency and ability away from home. However, he has brilliantly regained his red-ball credentials, averaging 75.40 over the series – he averages 41.35 overall – with resolute knocks under pressure. There were moments when he didn't hesitate to take on the opposition, bringing forth a different aspect to his personality. This was some way to get started, indeed. But there will be tougher tests ahead, be it overseas tours, dressing room dynamics, lean patches or technical vulnerabilities. But for now, Gill has passed his first leadership exam in flying colours.
