Mahendra Dhoni now has three scores of 50-plus as a captain-’keeper in England. This is now the most by any captain-’keeper in England. England’s Alec Stewart 2 and South African Percy Sherwell 1 are the others who have got 50-plus scores in England as a captain-’keeper.
Murali Vijay seems to be having a knack of making big Test hundreds. His four Test centuries so far are: 167, 153, 146 & 139.
Among Indian Test openers with scores of 135 & above, Vijay with four such scores trails Virender Sehwag (15), Sunil Gavaskar (13) & Gautam Gambhir Gambhir (6).
The Bhuvneshwar Kumar-Mohammed Shami’s partnership of 111-run is India’s third 50-plus stand for the 10th wicket in England and now is the highest for India against England in all Tests. The previous best was 73 between Anil Kumble and Sreesanth, at The Oval, in 2007.
Also, the 111-run stand is India’s second highest 10th wicket stand in Tests. The highest still remains the 133-run stand between Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan, in Dhaka, in 2004.
Shami’s 51 not out is now the highest by an Indian No. 11 against England, bettering the previous best of 35 by Sreesanth, at the Oval, in 2007.
The last time India made a 450-plus total in an away Test match was when they made 459 in Centurion (in the second innings), in December, 2010.
By MOHANDAS MENON