SPORTS

Ganguly joins exclusive club

By Rajneesh Gupta
September 18, 2005 15:17 IST

- Tatenda Taibu, who followed his first innings unbeaten 71 with 52 in the second innings, was the top scorer for Zimbabwe in both the innings. He is the second Zimbabwe skipper to top score in both innings of a Test. The only other Zimbabwe captain to do so is Andy Flower, who achieved this distinction twice -- vs Pakistan 1994-95 and vs Sri Lanka in 1999-00 in Harare.

- The last five Zimbabwean wickets added 167 runs to the total after being five down for 18 at one stage. This is the second best recovery for a team having lost half of its side for 20 runs or less.  In the Sialkot Test against Sri Lanka Pakistan's second innings ended at 212 from being 15 for 5 at one stage -- an addition of 197 runs.

- Sourav Ganguly became the first Indian captain and tenth in Test cricket history to record 20 Test wins.

- The victory was India's tenth under Ganguly captaincy on foreign soil. This puts Ganguly in the exclusive club of five other captains who have led their respective sides to ten wins in away Tests. Ganguly, in fact, has won more away Tests than Mark Taylor and Hansie Cronje, two of the best captains in Test cricket. Interestingly, Sunil Gavaskar and Mohammad Azharuddin, whom Ganguly displaced to second position in terms of most Tests as Indian captain in Bulawayo Test, have only two and one away Test wins respectively against their names.

Players leading their sides to most wins in Away Tests:

Captain For Tests Won Lost Drawn Tied Winning %
C Lloyd WI 50 23 10 17 0 46.00
S Waugh Aus 25 16 7 2 0 64.00
A Border Aus 42 13 11 17 1 30.95
V Richards WI 26 12 6 8 0 46.15
S Fleming NZ 39 10 14 15 0 25.64
S Ganguly Ind 27 10 10 7 0 37.03

- The victory was India's seventh by innings margin on foreign soil. Interestingly, five of them have come under Ganguly. Here is the complete list:

Margin Opponent Venue Season Captain
Innings & 2 runs Aus Sydney 1977-78 B S Bedi
Innings & 46 runs Eng Headingley 2002 S Ganguly
Innings & 52 runs Pak Multan 2003-04 R Dravid
Innings & 131 runs Pak Rawalpindi 2003-04 S Ganguly
Innings & 140 runs Ban Dhaka 2004-05 S Ganguly
Innings & 83 runs Ban Chittagong 2004-05 S Ganguly
Innings & 90 runs Zim Bulawayo 2005-06 S Ganguly

- Ganguly has now recorded 12 wins after losing the toss. No other Indian has gone on to win more than six games.

- The defeat was Zimbabwe's fifth in as many matches – all by innings margin!

- The last six Tests played by India on foreign soil have all produced result with India winning five and losing only one. Interestingly, India's all five wins have been by innings margin -- twice against Pakistan in 2003-04, twice against Bangladesh in 2004-05 and in Bulawayo.

Rajneesh Gupta

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