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India v Sri Lanka, 2nd Test, Delhi
Kumble's playground
Cricinfo staff
December 9, 2005
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Anil Kumble has had plenty to cheer about at Delhi
© Getty Images
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The Feroz Shah Kotla has been a good venue for India, at least over the last decade. Though they only have an 8-6 win-loss record there, the Indians have a five-match winning streak, dating back to a Test against Zimbabwe in 1992-93. The last team to beat them at Delhi was West Indies, who triumphed in a low-scoring game in 1987-88. (Click here for the results of all matches at Delhi.)
Winning the toss hasn't been such a blessing here: in all 27 matches played here, the captain calling correctly has opted to bat, but only four times has the advantage at the toss gone on to result in victory. On the other hand, the team losing the toss has won ten times. Of India's eight wins, five came after they lost the toss.
The runs-per-wicket stat shows that the track is usually a good one for batting over the first three days, before getting more bowler-friendly: teams score 37.4 and 37.8 runs per wicket in the first two innings (stats in the last five Tests there), but it quickly comes down to 22.9 and 26.4 in the last two innings. (Click here for more stats on Feroz Shah Kotla.)
Over the last five Tests, Sachin Tendulkar has been searching for the elusive three-figure score to go past Sunil Gavaskar's world record of 34 Test centuries, but his track record at the Feroz Shah Kotla isn't such an impressive one: in nine completed innings, he has only managed one hundred, and an average of less than 40. Rahul Dravid, on the other hand, averages 75 here, thanks largely to an unbeaten 200 he scored against Zimbabwe in 2000-01. Sourav Ganguly's stats are even more impressive: four scores of more than 50, and an excellent average of 82.
More than anything else, the Feroz Shah Kotla will be remembered for being the venue where Anil Kumble achieved the Perfect Ten. Even apart from that 10 for 74 against Pakistan, Kumble has superb stats at Delhi: he has never taken less than seven wickets in a Test, and his 38 scalps in four matches have come at less than 16 apiece. Harbhajan Singh, the other specialist spinner likely to play, has a pretty good record too, with 11 wickets at 19.
Not surprisingly, spinners have done much better than fast bowlers in Tests here over the last 15 years. Slow bowlers have accounted for 99 wickets at 29.08, while the 52 wickets taken by the seamers have come at 38 apiece. With both India and Sri Lanka armed with excellent spinners, expect them to rule the roost again over the next five days.
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