But he’s armed with quotes and ready to rise from the Ashes

Alan Gardner15-Oct-2021Time to check in on the latest update from Australia’s head coach and inspirational-quotes-googler-in-chief, Justin Langer, whose three-year voyage into the “heart of darkness” – aka the Australia men’s team dressing room – seems to be heading towards its natural conclusion.For those who haven’t been following, Langer’s idiosyncratic approach has been a beautiful gift to world cricket, from the moment he took charge of Australia’s first post-Sandpapergate tour and proudly declared that he sledges his own daughter at UNO. Now, to add to barefoot walks on the outfield, “elite mateship” and various other eccentricities, Langer has delivered a social media post from quarantine in the UAE that includes such gems as: “A wise man once said: Don’t give them a taste of your own medicine. If they lied, let their medicine be honesty… Stay true to yourself… Who you are lasts a lifetime. Who you pretend to be changes like the change of seasons… The wise man says: BE YOURSELF. YOU ARE UNIQUE and YOU ARE SPECIAL.”All good advice, for sure, but unlikely to help when it comes to STRIKE ROTATION against SPIN during the MIDDLE OVERS.It’s hard not to think that Langer is playing himself into the Colonel Kurtz role here. For a start, the intensity, the mysticism, the commitment to fully inhabiting the part – it’s all very Brando. And there’s no doubt that Langer has been, figuratively speaking, a long way up the Mekong river for some time. You can almost imagine the exchange with the unfortunate Cricket Australia staffer sent up to check on the coach, shrouded in the flickering half-light of his hotel room: “Did they say why they want to terminate my command? Are my methods unsound?”Of course, the real theatre of phoney war that concerns Australia is the Ashes – and Langer’s loyal lieutenant, Tim Paine, was manning the barricades back home, responding to the latest round of protracted negotiations to confirm England’s touring arrangements by deploying his familiar brand of somewhat-confusing smack talk. “No one is forcing you to come. If you don’t want to come, don’t come. The Ashes are going ahead.” As things stand, the series is on, pending the ECB being satisfied on “several critical conditions” – presumably one of which is that Paine never speaks on the subject again.Here’s hoping that Langer has emerged blinking into the light wearing a beatific smile well before then, having successfully banished some of his demons while at the T20 World Cup. Although, given Australia’s T20I fortunes in Bangladesh earlier this year, the Light Roller fears “the horror… the horror” could well end up being a fairly accurate tagline.

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For those worrying that the greatest finisher who ever finished might be, well, finished, it was a case of bing, boom in the IPL’s first qualifier earlier this week. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t about to enter another MS Dhoni retirement spiral. Oh no. “You’ll see me in yellow next season but whether I’ll be playing for CSK you never know,” Dhoni said gnomically at the toss for Chennai’s final game in the group stage, before a doddery 12 off 15 suggested he really might be on his way. Maybe his mind was already turning towards the next stage of his career – be it as a lollipop man, @CricSuperFan tribute act, or a role in the next Minions movie – but whatever happens in the IPL final, remember, it’s only over when Mahi says it is.

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News of New Zealand pulling out of their tour of Pakistan, and then England following suit a few days later, was sadly predictable. What we didn’t see coming was Ramiz Raja stepping up to lend some gravity to the whole sorry business. For those who remember Ramiz the commentator chiefly as a talking haircut that you wished would stop talking, his eloquent denunciation of the “western bloc”, which had failed in its obligation to look after the rest of the “cricket fraternity”, came as something of a surprise. So wrong-footed was the ECB that Ramiz’s opposite number, chairman Ian Watmore, gave some widely ridiculed comments about not knowing the USA was going to pull out of Afghanistan (okay, we’ve all tried to forget a lot of what Donald Trump said) and then agreed to step down from the job. Cricket administrators of the world had better watch their step: Rambo means business.

Spin-dominant Afghanistan pose significant threat, but confidence is soaring for England kids

Sreshth Shah31-Jan-2022The current England Under-19 players were not even born the last time their team lifted the trophy. Three from the squad of 1998 – Owais Shah, Rob Key and Graeme Swann – have gone on have illustrious careers in the game. The last of them had retired by 2016, and now all of them are established names in coaching or broadcasting. That’s how long it’s been.Now, 24 years later, England find themselves two wins away from the summit once more, thus far unchallenged. The Bangladesh encounter, their first game of the competition against the defending champions, was meant to push them to their limit. England bowled the opponents out for 97. Canada were downed by 106 runs, United Arab Emirates beaten by 189, and the path to the knockouts couldn’t have been smoother.South Africa was supposed to be tricky, but England laid down a marker by not only chasing 212 comfortably, but doing so in a manner – inside 31.2 overs – that sent a signal to every other semi-finalist – England mean business.Related

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The man doing the leading, not only on the field but also with the bat, is Tom Prest. Prest is a right-handed, middle-order batter who possesses strong arms and a clean bat swing. When he hits them, they stay hit. Ask UAE, against whom he hammered an unbeaten 154 in 119 balls. Or Canada, against whom he scored 93.And he’s already shown an aptitude for the big occasion. In his very first knockout game for Hampshire, the T20 Blast quarter-final against Nottinghamshire last August, Prest’s 44 from 34 balls dragged them to a winning first-innings total, and ultimately into Finals Day, after D’Arcy Short and James Vince had both failed before him. Prior to that, in only his third first-team appearance for the club, against Gloucestershire in July, he smacked a match-winning 59 not out from 42 balls.He’s a man of many talents too. He grew up enjoying Coventry City’s football and Rafael Nadal’s forehand, and so football and tennis competed with cricket for Prest’s attention. Hockey was another favourite, and as it did for Tom Banton and Eoin Morgan, the sport also helped him develop a love for the sweep and reverse-sweep.But hockey is not the only reason why Prest likes innovative shots. His batting is inspired by Kevin Pietersen, who always had the knack of dazzling impressionable young minds with the shots he brought out. Growing up, Prest copied Pietersen’s switch-hit as a kid and even worked on the flamingo, back leg up while flicking through the leg side. However, as a captain, it is Morgan who is his role model.”Morgan is pretty calm under pressure,” Prest tells ESPNcricinfo. “I am probably not the loudest member of the team, but kind of a quiet leader. Not someone like Virat Kohli who is very passionate on the pitch. I try to think about things logically and stay calm in the key moments of the game.”What [Morgan’s] done with bowling changes, like using Adil Rashid at the end, it’s not something teams have done before. It’s considered unorthodox, but he does whatever is needed on the pitch, he thinks quickly and clearly under pressure. From the outside, it looks like he does it very well.”

“Tom is a very modest guy, and fits in with the group. He hasn’t been seen as a prodigy, instead he’s seen as a good young cricketer who has come through the system. Whenever he steps up a level, he seems to do that in a seamless way and looks comfortable”Hampshire director of cricket Giles White

And England’s Under-19 team – who were just entering their impressionable teenage years when Morgan’s men began the revolution that would lead to glory at the 2019 ODI World Cup – possesses many of the same attributes too. The top order thrives on quick runs, scores of 362 and 320 being proof of that. Barbados-born Jacob Bethell played the quarter-final without worrying about the implications of a knockout fixture while smacking 82 in 44 balls against South Africa, and Prest has brought in the fireworks himself, averaging 91.66 at a strike rate of 105. William Luxton delivers the Jos Buttler-style death-overs assault, and five other batters have 100-plus strike rates. Batting is their strength, and Prest has adapted to difficult West Indian batting conditions to score 275 runs in four innings.”The pitches are obviously quite different to England,” Prest says. “Quite spin-friendly and tricky in the opening period. New-ball spin bowlers are tricky too, because some balls skid and some spin. The 9am start can be tricky batting first, since the ball obviously does a bit.”But I am probably quite attacking. I like playing my shots. But with that, I like batting for long periods of time as well. I sometimes take my time to get in, but I like to score quickly after that. Watching T20 cricket and the Hundred last summer has reinforced the fact that scoring quickly… everyone loves watching it really. Good entertainment.”But England are far from being a one-dimensional side. Batting alone cannot inspire a team to win a championship. England have also taken ten wickets in every game thus far.In left-arm seamer Joshua Boyden, there’s a swing bowler who gets the ball moving into the right-handers. Rehan Ahmed is a leggie who can give the ball a rip. James Sales is a new-ball enforcer. Fateh Singh is a Ravindra Jadeja-style left-arm spinner. As a combination, the bowling attack has sparkled. In particular, they have adapted to what the Caribbean surfaces are offering, and haven’t been afraid to lean heavily on their spinners, with Prest himself bowling a mean offbreak too.So the team is well-rounded, the players are in form. But does the captain have the temperament to see the side through the high-octane moments that lie ahead? Hampshire’s director of cricket Giles White sums up Prest’s credentials.Tom Prest: “I sometimes take my time to get in, but I like to score quickly after that”•ICC via Getty”Sometimes in England, when you’re a young player like Prest that’s got a lot of talent, you tend to play above yourself [in age groups] and there are captains in place so you can’t lead much yourself,” White says. “But Prest is good with his peers and has a good feel for the game. The England U-19s have toured Sri Lanka before, so they have practice on surfaces that turn.”Tom is a very modest guy, and fits in with the group. He hasn’t been seen as a prodigy, instead he’s seen as a good young cricketer who has come through the system. Whenever he steps up a level, he seems to do that in a seamless way and looks comfortable.”Despite not winning a World Cup in over two decades and not even making it out of the group stage in the last edition, Prest’s Under-19 England team is aiming for the stars. However, he’s aware there are some factors, particularly at this late stage of the competition, that are not in one’s control.”We’ve all come with the intention of winning the whole competition,” he says. “Without a doubt. To play those three group games and win every one convincingly, it’s given us a lot of confidence. But from here, we can only take it game by game from here, since we haven’t played the other opponents.”Standing in England’s way for a final spot, though, lies their biggest challenge yet – Afghanistan. They have the most revered spin combination of the competition, with two bowlers already on the radar for IPL teams. Against Bangladesh, chasing 98 meant that England were not really put under the pump by a good spin-bowling unit, and the other teams so far have not offered much to dent the confidence of England’s batters. Will the lack of a prior spin challenge, or the lack of pressure in their previous fixtures, come back to bite England?That is the big unknown when they step out at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Tuesday. A 100-over match, against a team that is high on morale after winning an epic quarter-final against Sri Lanka, could very well send them out of contention.If it does, however, it will be an anti-climactic end for a team that’s been one of two countries to have a 100% win record so far. That’s been the impact England have had on the 2022 U-19 World Cup, and for that alone, it has been a memorable campaign under Prest’s captaincy.

They are among a few unknown young batters who have shown from the word go that they know the IPL terrain

Nagraj Gollapudi14-Apr-20222:57

Manjrekar: This season might be remembered for the ‘new lot’

IPL matches come and go. We remember a few of them for a long time while majority recede into the memory bin even before we wake up the next morning.Wednesday’s contest between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings will probably fade away from our memory soon. But the memory of Dewald Brevis taking on Rahul Chahar will stay fresh in the mind for a long time. The way Jitesh Sharma turned the game back in Kings’ favour immediately after Jasprit Bumrah had delivered a superb 15th over will be spoken about by the cricketing fraternity each time the Vidarbha batter comes up for discussion. And the way Tilak Varma showed both boldness and composure once again in his maiden IPL season will not only make the Mumbai scouts happy but also have the national selectors keep an eye on his progress.The beauty of a 10-team IPL is well known: not only does it spread talent across the board, but it also provides opportunity to many more players, especially newcomers. To encash that opportunity is one thing. To do it in an enthralling fashion by playing nerveless innings that enervates the opposition is what has made some of the young batters stand out this IPL.At 18 years and 350 days, Brevis is the youngest player to have featured in a playing XI so far this IPL. When Mumbai, impressed by his batting technique and boldness at the Under-19 World Cup, picked Brevis at the auction in February, the South African youngster was pinching himself in disbelief. He was flown business class and his journey was scripted into a video blog by the franchise. Brevis was straightway introduced to the IPL life: it was as much about cricket but also about doing things outside your comfort zone. To his credit Brevis, stood up to the task and was not shy to take on the challenge.But Brevis, who came with the moniker of “Baby AB” as his batting technique resembles that of his countryman AB de Villiers, was yet to announce himself this IPL until Wednesday. In Mumbai’s last match, against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Wanindu Hasaranga had snapped him with a wrong ‘un for 8.When he walked in against Kings, Mumbai had been numbed by the quick fall of their opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan in a space of four deliveries. Brevis felt he could just swing his bat and the ball would fly. He failed to open his account after the first eight deliveries he faced. He was charging at the bowlers, but soon he calmed down. Arshdeep Singh angled a short delivery away from length and Brevis stepped back to cut fiercely for his first four. Next ball was driven hard for another four. Next over, responding to a short ball from Odean Smith, Brevis swiftly pulled his first six over deep square leg.Tilak Varma turned it on in partnership with Dewald Brevis•BCCIBrevis’ strength at the Under-19 World Cup was his batting against spin. When Chahar came on to bowl, Mumbai needed 136 runs from the final 12 overs. The first ball Brevis faced from Chahar was the second of the over. Brevis crouched, just like de Villers used to, he lined up for the short and straight delivery and sent it to the straight boundary like a tennis player hitting a forehand down the line with a horizontal bat. Class and finesse.The final four deliveries of the overs were all sixes and with every passing delivery, Chahar’s plan fell apart. His last ball was a floating legbreak, which pitched outside off but Brevis stepped out and thumped it so high that it now is the biggest six – at 112 metres – recorded so far in the tournament, according to host broadcaster Star Sports. Brevis’ strike rate against spin in the game was 414.28. Mumbai’s win percentage had suddenly jumped from 13.3% to 48.5% after that Chahar over. It took Brevis five deliveries to turn the match.Brevis and Tilak Varma were playing in the same fashion as Kings’ batters this IPL – going with gusto at every delivery. When Vaibhav Arora bowled fast and short at Tilak Varma’s body immediately after the time out which was taken after the Chahar over, the Hyderabad batter did not flinch and instead pulled – the top edge sailed over the wicketkeeper for another boundary. When Smith sprayed a short and wide delivery outside off, Tilak Varma leapt at the opportunity and swatted a fabulous six over deep point.Brevis and Tilak Varma would certainly be distraught that despite helping Mumbai back into the game, their team eventually faltered and fell short by a mere 12 runs. But their efforts will not go unnoticed by the captain and the staff, for sure.Jitesh will be thanked by the Kings team management for playing the catalyst to help them finish on a formidable score when at one point it appeared they had suddenly stalled. At the end of the 15th over, Kings were 132 for 3, after Bumrah had bowled one of the best overs of the tournament including the searing 143 kmph yorker that pegged back Liam Livingstone’s off stump. But Jitesh proved how an innings can turn in a few balls when he picked 23 runs off Jaydev Unadkat’s over including three sixes, the best of which was a reverse shovel over short third man.Brevis, Tilak Varma and Jitesh are among a few unknown young batters in this IPL and from the word go they have shown that they know the terrain. On Tuesday evening, an unknown Goan batter Suyash Prabhudessai played a cameo that nearly upset Chennai Super Kings’ march to their first win of the tournament. Ayush Badoni, Anuj Rawat and Abhinav Manohar are some of the other batters who have shown they can match the best and play against the best bowlers without breaking sweat.We have not even reached the halfway stage of the 2022 IPL yet, but this season has shown how the young, bright talents have outshone their experienced seniors in the team.

And how many batters have been dismissed for both 99 and 199 in Tests?

Steven Lynch31-May-2022Despite having six batters dismissed for nought, Bangladesh still made 365 in Mirpur. Was this the highest Test total to include so many ducks? asked Suranga Jayawardene from Sri Lanka (among others)

In that remarkable comeback after being 24 for 5 in Mirpur, Bangladesh soared past the previous-highest Test total to include six ducks, India’s 152 at Old Trafford in 2014. It was only the sixth Test innings ever to feature six men out for 0.But that wasn’t all: Bangladesh’s 365 was actually the highest total in all first-class cricket to contain six ducks, beating Sussex’s 300 against Derbyshire in Hove in 2021. A number of other notable statistics arose from that Bangladesh innings, and were summed up in this article.I assume Murali or Warne must be top of the list of bowlers with most caught-and-bowled dismissals in Tests. But which batters have suffered this fate the most? asked Haris Jadoon from Pakistan

Among bowlers, Muthiah Muralidaran is joint first on this list, with 35 – he shares top spot with India’s Anil Kumble. They are well clear of Daniel Vettori and Shane Warne, who both completed 21 c&b’s in Tests. England’s Derek Underwood comes next with 20.The man most often out caught and bowled in Tests was Mohammad Yousuf, who fell this way 11 times – as did Warne. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Aravinda de Silva and Mark Waugh were all caught and bowled on ten occasions, while Asif Iqbal was out this way nine times in just 58 Tests for Pakistan. Stephen Fleming, Nasser Hussain and Mahela Jayawardene were all out caught and bowled on eight occasions.Angelo Mathews was dismissed for 199 against Sri Lanka, and had previously been out for 99 in a Test too. Has anyone else done this double in Test or first-class cricket? asked Saloni Gupte from India

Angelo Mathews’ 199 in the recent first Test against Bangladesh in Chattogram followed his run-out for 99 against India in Mumbai in 2009-10. Mathews was the first to complete this particular double in Tests, although Steve Waugh, who was out for 199 against West Indies in Bridgetown in 1998-99, was left stranded on 99 not out against England in Perth in 1994-95.Eighteen other men have been dismissed for both 199 and 99 in first-class cricket. The first to complete this bittersweet double was Essex’s Herbert Carpenter, who was out for 199 against Surrey at the Oval in 1904, and 99 against Hampshire at Bournemouth in 1914. He was followed by Percy Holmes of Yorkshire (two 99s), Middlesex’s Patsy Hendren, Wally Hammond of Gloucestershire (two 99s), Bombay’s Dilip Sardesai, Rohan Kanhai of Warwickshire (two 99s, including one in a Test for West Indies), Dean Jones of Victoria (99 in a Test for Australia), Pakistan’s Mudassar Nazar (99 for PIA), Michael Atherton (199 for Lancashire in 1992; two 99s for England), Matthew Elliott (199 in a Test for Australia, two 99s for Victoria), Guyana’s Ramnaresh Sarwan (99 for Gloucestershire), Younis Khan (199 in a Test for Pakistan, 99 for Habib Bank), Ian Bell (199 for England, 99 for Warwickshire), HD Ackerman (199 for Leicestershire, 99 for South Africa A), Stephen Peters (199 for Northants, 99 for Essex), Islamabad’s Shan Masood, and Devon Smith of the Windward Islands (three 99s).But pride of place probably has to go to Jason Gallian, the first man to be out twice for 199 in first-class cricket – run out both times, for Nottinghamshire against Sussex at Trent Bridge and Kent in Canterbury in 2005. He was also out for 99 (lbw this time) for Lancashire at Leicester in 1997. Dawid Malan has also been out twice for 199, but has not (yet) fallen for 99.Jason Gallian has been run out twice for 199 in first-class cricket, both in the 2005 season of the County Championship•Getty ImagesWho holds the record for the most successive first-class fifties? My money’s on Don Bradman! asked Graham Harris from Australia

Your money’s usually safe if you bank on Bradman for this sort of thing – and he does share the record, which is ten successive first-class scores of 50 or more. The Don started that particular sequence in Australia in 1947-48, and continued it on arriving in England for his successful farewell tour.After being dismissed for 13 in the second Test against India in Sydney in 1947-48, Bradman – who was 39 at the time – cracked 132 and 127 not out in the third Test, 201 not out in the fourth, and 57 not out in the fifth. He made 115 against Western Australia in March, as the team that became known as the Invincibles prepared to set sail, then on arrival in England started off the 1948 tour with 107 at Worcester, 81 at Leicestershire, 146 against Surrey at The Oval, 187 against Essex at Southend (when the tourists ran up 721 on the first day), and 98 against MCC at Lord’s, before he was out for 11 against Lancashire at Old Trafford. Bradman’s dismissal by the 19-year-old slow left-armer Malcolm Hilton, who got him out in the second innings as well, brought calls for Hilton to be fast-tracked into England’s Test team.Those ten successive half-centuries equalled the record set by Lancashire’s Ernest Tyldesley in 1926. That sequence included seven centuries, one of them for the Players against the Gentlemen at Lord’s, and was rounded off with 81 on his Test recall against Australia, at home at Old Trafford (Tyldesley was out for 44 in his next innings, against Essex).The record was equalled in 1994-95 by Romesh Kaluwitharana, whose ten innings in domestic cricket for Galle and Sri Lanka’s Western Province included one three-figure score (and a 92 not out).I know that Sunil Gavaskar used to hold the records for the most runs and centuries against West Indies in Test cricket. Does he still? asked Chitesh Sharma from India

India’s great opener Sunil Gavaskar does still hold these records: in 27 Tests against West Indies, he scored 2749 runs, with 13 centuries, signing off with 236 not out – his highest Test score – against them in Madras (now Chennai) in 1983-84.Gavaskar took the aggregate record from England’s Geoff Boycott, who made 2205 runs in 29 Tests against West Indies. He’s since been overtaken in second place by South Africa’s Jacques Kallis, who collected 2356 runs against West Indies. Kallis made eight centuries, to lie second behind Gavaskar on that count as well; Mohammad Yousuf, Ricky Ponting, Graeme Smith and Steve Waugh all made seven. For the full list, click here.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

All the key numbers from England’s record chase against India at Edgbaston

Sampath Bandarupalli05-Jul-2022A record chase378 – Target chased down by England, their highest successful chase in Tests. Their previous best was 359, against Australia in the 2019 Ashes Test at Headingley.ESPNcricinfo Ltd1 – England posted the highest chase by any team against India in Tests. Australia’s 339-run chase in the 1977 Perth Test was the previous highest against India. The 378-run chase is also the second-highest by any team in England, behind Australia’s 404 in 1948.1 – Number of fourth-innings total against India in Tests that are higher than the 378 for 3 by England at Edgbaston. South Africa made 450 for 7 in pursuit of a 458-run target in the 2013 Johannesburg Test. It is also the fourth-highest total for England in the fourth innings of a Test.ESPNcricinfo Ltd4 – Successful 250-plus run chases in 2022 for England. They have now become the first team to complete four successful chases of 250-plus targets in a calendar year. Australia had three such wins in 2006, while four other teams have won two each, including England in 2004.Related

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Scoring them quickly4.93 – England’s run rate in the chase, the third-highest for any team involved in a successful 300-plus chase in Test cricket. Pakistan scored at a run rate of 5.25 to chase down a target of 302 against Sri Lanka in 2014, while West Indies hunted down 342 against England in the 1984 Lord’s Test at 5.19 runs an over.4.34 – Scoring rate in the Edgbaston Test, the fourth-highest for a completed Test match. Edgbaston has played host to three of the top-six results in the list of completed Tests with the highest scoring rates.A partnership for the ages269* – The partnership between Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow. This is the fourth-highest stand for any wicket in the fourth innings of a Test match. It is also the highest partnership for the fourth (or lower) wicket, surpassing the 251-run fourth-wicket stand by Australia’s Graeme Wood and Craig Serjeant against West Indies in 1978.1 – The partnership between Root and Bairstow is the highest in the fourth innings of a Test match against India, surpassing the 216-run stand between Sri Lanka’s Roy Dias and Duleep Mendis in the 1985 Kandy Test. It is also the second-highest stand for England in the fourth innings behind the 280-run partnership between Paul Gibb and Bill Edrich in 1939 against South Africa.1 – Root and Bairstow became the first England pair to score hundreds in a successful fourth-innings chase in Test cricket. There have been 11 previous instances of twin centurions in a successful chase in Tests, with the last one by Pakistan in 2015 against Sri Lanka in Pallekele.2 – Hundreds for Root and Bairstow in successful chases, both in the ongoing home summer. No other England batter has more than one century in a successful fourth-innings chase in Test cricket.Bairsball!2008 – Last instance of a player scoring centuries for England in both innings of a Test match – Andrew Strauss in 2008 against India in Chennai.ESPNcricinfo Ltd2 – Bairstow became only the second England batter with twin hundreds while batting at No. 5 or lower in Test cricket. Denis Compton scored 147 and 103* against Australia in the 1947 Adelaide Test while batting at No. 5.6 – Hundreds for Bairstow in Tests in 2022, the most by a player while batting at No. 5 or lower in a calendar year, surpassing Michael Clarke’s five hundreds in 2012. Bairstow’s six Test centuries is the joint-most by an England batter in a calendar year.ESPNcricinfo LtdRoot’s favourite opponents9 – Number of centuries for Root in Tests against India, the most by any batter against India. Garry Sobers, Viv Richards, Ricky Ponting and Steven Smith are all at second with eight hundreds each against India.ESPNcricinfo Ltd737 – Number of runs by Root in the series, the second-most for England in a series against India, behind Graham Gooch’s 752 in 1990. His 737 runs are the fifth-highest for an England batter in a bilateral Test series and the fifth-most runs for a batter in a series against India.333 – Difference in runs between Root and Bairstow in this series, the joint-third highest between the top two run-getters of a Test series since 1940. Smith led Ben Stokes by exactly 333 runs during the 2019 Ashes series in England.