First day

• Sourav Ganguly was missing a Test for the sixth time in his career. The other Tests missed by Ganguly : versus South Africa at Ahmedabad in November 1996, v West Indies at Georgetown in April 1997, v New Zealand at Mohali in October 2003 and v Pakistan at Multan and at Lahore in April 2004.
• Rahul Dravid was captaining India for the fourth time in his career. Interestingly his all captaincy assignments had come when Ganguly had to sit out because of injury.
• Aleem Dar became first Pakistani umpire to officiate in a Test on Indian soil.
• Glenn McGrath was playing his 100th Test. He became eighth Australian and 30th player to do so. Steve Waugh (168 Tests) heads the list, followed by Allan Border (156), Mark Waugh (128), Ian Healy (119), Shane Warne (115), David Boon (107), Mark Taylor (104) and McGrath (100).
• Justin Langer (44) completed 1,000 runs against India when his score reached 39. He became seventh Australian after Allan Border (1567 runs in 20 Tests), Ricky Ponting (1230 in 14), David Boon (1204 in 11), Matthew Hayden (1176 in 10),Bob Simpson (1125 in 11) and Steve Waugh (1090 in 18) and 28th player overall to aggregate 1,000 runs in a career against India. It was Langer’s 13th Test and 23rd innings against India.
• The wicket of Simon Katich was 80th for Anil Kumble against Australia. He now holds the record of taking most wickets against Australia for India. Kumble was earlier at level with Kapil Dev with 79 wickets.
• When he held Darren Lehmann off the bowling of Murali Kartik, Rahul Dravid equalled Sunil Gavaskar’s tally of 108 catches – highest by any Indian fieldsman. Dravid took only 81 Tests as against Gavaskar’s 125 to equal his record.
• Damien Martyn (114) scored his second century in successive innings (after 104 at Chennai). He became fourth Australian batsman to score back to back centuries against India after Don Bradman (1947-48), Bob Simpson (1967-68) and David Boon (1991-92). Bradman, in fact, scored centuries in three consecutive innings. Martyn, however, is the only one to perform this feat on Indian soil.
• Australia’s total of 362 (for the loss of seven wickets) is the highest total ever achieved by any side on Indian soil on the opening day of a Test match. West Indies had made 359 (for the loss of three wickets) at Calcutta in 1958-59, which was the previous highest total achieved on opening day of a Test on Indian soil. Interestingly Australia just missed the opportunity to aggregate most runs in ANY day’s play against India on Indian soil. The record still stands is 374 runs for the loss of six wickets by West Indies at Delhi on the second day during the 1974-75 series. West Indies four for one at the end of first day’s play reached 378 for 7 at the end of second day.
• Australia's score of 362 for seven on the first day is their highest in a day's play against India in India, surpassing their 345 for four on the second day of the 1986-87 Chepauk Test.

Second Day

• Michael Clarke (91) became 12th Australian (on 15th occasion) to be a victim of nervous nineties. He also became the fifth to do so on Indian soil
• Parthiv Patel made four dismissals in an innings for only second time in his career. The only other such instance was against New Zealand in second innings of Hamilton Test in 2002-03.
• The catch of Virender Sehwag Adam Gilchrist held off the bowling of Glenn McGrath, took his tally of dismissals behind the stumps to 250. He became sixth ‘keeper to do so after Ian Healy (395 dismissals in 119), Rodney Marsh (355 in 96), Mark Boucher (290 in 76),Jeff Dujon (270 in 79) and Alan Knott (269 in 95).
• Gilchrist reached the landmark of 250 dismissals playing in his 59th Test. He now holds the record of being the quickest to accomplish this feat in terms of matches. The previous record was held by South Africa’s Mark Boucher, who took his 250th dismissal in his 63rd Test. Gilchrist also completed the allround double of 2,500 runs and 250 dismissals.
• Aakash Chopra (9) once again failed to make substantial contribution in Indian innings. He has now aggregated only 436 runs in 18 innings of 10 Tests with two fifties. His batting average of 24.22 is the second worst by any Indian opening batsman having played atleast 10 Tests. Only Abid Ali (21.57) had inferior batting average as an opener in comparison with Chopra.
• Sachin Tendulkar (8) was trapped LBW by Jason Gillespie. This was the fifth time Gillespie managed to get Tendulkar’s wicket in Test cricket. He now shares the honour of dismissing master batsman on most occasions with fellow countryman Glenn McGrath and South Africa’s Allan Donald and Hansie Cronje.
• This was the fourth time Gillespie was dismissing Tendulkar on Indian soil – most for any bowler. He was earlier at level with three such instances with fellow teammate Glenn McGrath,New Zealander Daniel Vettori,Pakistan’s Saqlain Mushtaq and Zimbabwean Ray Price.
• Rahul Dravid's 21 off 140 balls is another batting failure as a captain. In his six innings as Captain, he has aggregated 78 runs at an average of 13.00. His sequence of scores as captain - 13 & 5 vs. New Zealand at Mohali; 6 vs. Pakistan at Multan; 33 vs. Pakistan at Lahore, all in 2003-04 season and 21 vs. Australia at Nagpur on October 27.

Third Day

• Jason Gillespie (5-56) returned his best figures against India. His previous best was 4 for 65 in first innings of Brisbane Test in 2003-04.
• Gillespie’s figures are the second best against India on this ground after New Zealander Hedley Howarth’s 5 for 34 in 1969-70.
• Australia once again decided not to enforce the follow-on on India like in Bangalore Test. It was only the third time that India conceded a first innings lead of 200 or more runs twice in the same series at home soil. The other two instances were against West Indies way back in 1948-49 and in 1958-59. In 1958-59 series India went on to concede a lead of 200-plus in three consecutive Tests.
• Matthew Hayden (9) was dismissed for his lowest score against India. Before this innings, Hayden had managed to move into double figures in 19 consecutive innings against India. He thus missed the opportunity to achieve the longest sequence of double-digit scores against India. The record is currently held by West Indian Rohan Kanhai, who managed double figures in 25 consecutive innings between 1958-59 and 1970-71.Pakistan’s Javed Minadad had a run of 20 consecutive double-digit scores between 1979-80 and 1986-87. Hayden now occupies the third place in this list. He, however, is well ahead of David Boon, who was the previous record holder for Australia.
• Batsmen with most consecutive double-digit scores v India

  Inns  Player          For   Runs    Hs  100s  50s   Period
  25    RB Kanhai       WI    1605   256    4    6    1958-59 to 1970-71
  20    Javed Miandad   Pak   1340   280*   2   10    1979-80 to 1986-87
  19    ML Hayden       Aus   1176   203    3    6    2000-01 to 2004-05
  16    GS Sobers       WI     976   153    2    7    1958-59 to 1970-71
  15    ED Weekes       WI    1495   207    7    4    1948-49 to 1952-53
  15    DC Boon         Aus    898   131    4    2    1985-86 to 1991-92
  

• Simon Katich became tenth batsman to miss a Test hundred by one run against India. Katich also became fourth Australian batsman to achieve this dubious distinction against India after Bill Brown (Melbourne, 1947-48),Ian Chappell (Calcutta,1969-70) and Matthew Hayden (Birsbane, 2003-04) and 19th Australian overall.
• Katich also provided the 74th instance of a batsman missing a ton by a solitary run in Test cricket. The country-wise break-up : 19 Australians (20 occasions), 12 Englishmen (15 occasions), 8 Pakistanis (9 occasions),7 South Africans,6 Indians (7 occasions),6 New Zealanders (7 occasions), 5 West Indians (6 occasions) 2 Sri Lankans and one Zimbabwean.

Fourth Day

• Damien Martyn (97) narrowly missed becoming the second Australian to score three centuries in consecutive innings against India having scored 104 and 114 in his last two innings. Don Bradman (132,127* & 201) is the only batsman to have achieved this feat -in 1947-48- for Australia.
• Martyn provided the 28th instance of a batsman scoring a hundred and a 90 in the same Test match. He is the fifth Australian to do so. Martyn also became the fifth batsman to do so against India.
• The dismissals in the nineties of Katich (99) and Martyn (97) provided the sixth instance of two batsmen missing their centuries by 10 runs in the same innings against India.
• Apart from Katich and Martyn, Clarke also became a victim of nervous ninety, albeit in first innings. This provided the third instance in Test history of three batsmen from the same side making 90s in a match. The details:

  JED Sealy (92),LN Constantine (90) & GA Headley (93)   WI  v Eng    Port-of-Spain   1934-35
  GA Hick (96),RC Russell (91) & MA Atherton (95)        Eng v WI     The Oval        1995
  MJ Clarke (91),SM Katich (99) & DR Martyn (97)         Aus v Ind    Nagpur          2004-05
  

• Dravid had a totally forgettable match both as a captain and as a batsman. His performance with the bat while burdening the responsibility of captaincy has dipped considerably. In seven innings of 4 Tests Dravid has led India, he has aggregated only 80 runs at an average of 11.42 !
• The wicket of Sachin Tendulkar was 450th for Glenn McGrath. He became fourth bowler after fellow teammate Shane Warne (541), Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan (532) and West Indian Courtney Walsh (519) to reach this landmark. Incidentally McGrath reached this landmark in fewest balls of the four, taking only 23,538 balls as against Walsh’s 26,157, Murali’s 27,118 and Warne’s 28,345 (calculated upto the end of the Test in which milestone was achieved).
• Tendulkar has not made a double-digit score in his last five innings since scoring 194* v Pakistan at Multan earlier this year. His scores in last five innings read - 2 & 8 at Lahore, 1 at Rawalpindi (v Pakistan) and 8 & 2 at Nagpur (v Australia). This is the longest lean patch for Tendulkar in Test cricket. During the 2001-02 series against West Indies Tendulkar had failed to move in to double figures in four consecutive innings (0,0,8 & 0), which was his previous longest failing streak with the bat.
• The last wicket partnership of 52 runs between Agarkar and Zaheer is India’s highest against Australia in India and second highest in all Tests after 94 run partnership between Sunil Gavaskar and Shivlal Yadav at Adelaide in 1985-86.
• The wicket of Zaheer Khan was Shane Warne’s 50th in the year 2004 (in his eighth Test).He became second bowler to perform this feat this year after England’s Steve Harmison, who has taken 61 wickets in 11 Tests so far.
• Zaheer’s 25 is the highest score by a number 11 Indian batsman against Australia in India and second highest in all matches after Shivlal Yadav’s 41 at Adelaide in 1985-86.
• Jason Gillespie, with match figures of 9-80 (5-56 + 4-24), recorded his best performance in Test cricket. His previous best match haul was 9 for 88 against West Indies at Melbourne in 2000-01.
• The defeat by 342 runs at Nagpur is biggest ever for India in Test cricket. Overall it was the 17th biggest defeat in entire Test history. India’s previous biggest defeat had also come at home soil by 329 runs against South Africa at Calcutta in 1996-97. Incidentally India’s previous biggest defeat against Australia was by 300 runs at Perth in 1991-92
• Australia, by winning the Nagpur Test, also won the four match series 2-0 with one match to go. Australia had last won a series against India in India way back in December 1969 when Bill Lawry’s team defeated Nawab Pataudi’s Indian team 3-1. Overall it was only the 14th instance of a visiting side winning a series (comprising atleast two Tests) on Indian soil. West Indies have done so most often – 5 times, followed by Australia (4), England (3), Pakistan (1) and South Africa (1).
• Tendulkar has now got a dubious record on his name. He has now appeared in 34 ‘lost’ matches for India equalling the existing Indian record hitherto held by Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar. However one should not forget that it is also Tendulkar, who holds the record of having made most appearances (33) in ‘won’ matches for India.
• Damien Martyn got his second Man of the Match award. His only other award had come against England at Perth in 2002-03.

(Article: Copyright © 2004 Rajneesh Gupta)