Friday, August 10, 2007

Kumble's feats

Anil Kumble today established a new world record of a batsman scoring his maiden Test hundred after playing most number of Tests. Oval Test is Kumble's 118th Test and he surpassed Sri Lanka's Chaminda Vaas' record who was playing his 97th Test when he scored his maiden 100.

The following table lists top-5 batsmen taking most Tests to score their maiden Test hundred:

Test# Batsman For Span
118th A Kumble Ind 1990-2007
97th WPUJC Vaas SL 1994-2006
71st JN Gillespie Aus 1996-2006
56th HH Streak Zim 1993-2003
51st SM Pollock SA 1995-2000


At 36 years 297 days Anil Kumble has become the oldest Indian to score a maiden Test century. The previous record was held by Vijay Hazare.The following table lists the oldest Indians at the time of scoring a maiden Test century:

Age Batsman Opponent Venue Season
36 Y 297 D A Kumble (110*) England The Oval 2007
32 Y 321 D VS Hazare (116) Australia Adelaide 1947-48
31 Y 322 D RG Nadkarni (122*) England Kanpur 1963-64
31 Y 241 D M Prabhakar (120) West Indies Mohali 1994-95
30 Y 265 D MH Mankad (116) Australia Melbourne 1947-48


Kumble is the sixth Indian (on seventh occasion) to score a Test century while batting at number eight.Kapil Dev has done so twice. Kumble's score is now the third highest by an Indian at this position. Interestingly out of seven centuries scored by Indians at number 8, five have come against England!

Highest scores by Indians at number 8
Score Batsman Opponent Venue Season
116 Kapil Dev England Kanpur 1981-82
115* A Ratra West Indies St.John's 2001-02
110* A Kumble England The Oval 2007
110 Kapil Dev England The Oval 1990
110 DH Shodhan Pakistan Calcutta 1952-53
109* AB Agarkar England Lord's 2002
102 SMH Kirmani England Mumbai 1984-85

Kumble now also holds the record for having the most wickets taken by a test centurion beating Kapil Dev's record.