The Dravid-Laxman symphony, and Lara's run-riot
Perhaps numbers do never reveal the full story, but they tell a large part of it fairly well
Rahul Dravid had long been considered India's best bet - along with Sachin Tendulkar - in bowler-friendly conditions, but only recently has he finally transformed from being a technically correct, good-looking batsman to one who uses his skills to make a contribution when the team needs him most. In the last 20 months, Dravid has been in stunning form, averaging more than 69 in Tests when he has batted at No. 3.
Innings
|
Runs
|
Average
|
100s
|
|
31
|
1868
|
69.18
|
6
|
|
1st wicket <=25 |
21
|
1054
|
58.56
|
3
|
1st wicket >25 |
10
|
814
|
90.44
|
3
|
Innings
|
Runs
|
Average
|
100s
|
|
32
|
1384
|
47.72
|
4
|
|
1st wicket <=25 |
19
|
512
|
28.44
|
1
|
1st wicket >25 |
13
|
872
|
79.27
|
3
|
Meanwhile, Dravid and VVS Laxman continued their magic, putting together their sixth century partnership in 31 tries. More than half their stands have been for the fifth wicket, where they put together, on an average, a phenomenal 84 runs per partnership.
For |
Runs
|
No.
of p'ships
|
Ave
p'ships
|
2nd wicket |
265
|
10
|
26.5
|
3rd wicket |
150
|
2
|
150
|
4th wicket |
179
|
3
|
59.67
|
5th wicket |
1185
|
16
|
84.64
|
Total |
1779
|
31
|
63.54
|
For | Pair |
Runs
|
Inn.
|
Ave
|
100s
|
50s
|
1st wkt | Hobbs & Sutcliffe |
3249
|
38
|
87.81
|
15
|
10
|
2nd wkt | Bradman & Woodfull |
1579
|
15
|
105.27
|
7
|
3
|
3rd wkt | Miandad & Mudassar |
1734
|
19
|
91.26
|
8
|
1
|
4th wkt | Barrington & Dexter |
985
|
11
|
109.44
|
4
|
4
|
5th wkt | Dravid & Laxman |
1185
|
16
|
84.64
|
5
|
1
|
6th wkt | Dujon & Lloyd |
731
|
10
|
91.38
|
3
|
2
|
Brian Lara's glorious double-hundred at Johannesburg continued an amazing run for him in overseas Tests that West Indies have lost. His scores in the last four such matches - starting with the first Test against Sri Lanka in 2001-02 - read 178, 40, 74, 45, 221, 130, 202 and 5: 895 runs at 111.88. Thanks to this glorious run, Lara's average in lost games overseas has shot up from a mere 30.26 to 41.51, the third-highest in the alltime list. Lara is also the only player to score a double-century twice in losing causes, while his six hundreds puts him in joint-top spot. As the table below shows, Lara has also been part of an extraordinarily high number of overseas defeats, an indication of just how miserably West Indies have performed abroad recently.
Player |
Tests
|
Runs
|
Ave
|
100s
|
Hutton |
12
|
1016
|
53.47
|
2
|
Hobbs |
17
|
1743
|
52.82
|
6
|
Lara |
29
|
2408
|
41.52
|
6
|
MAK Pataudi |
10
|
821
|
41.05
|
1
|
Ponting |
10
|
805
|
40.25
|
2
|
A Flower |
20
|
1445
|
40.14
|
4
|
Haynes |
11
|
842
|
40.1
|
3
|
Gavaskar |
21
|
1602
|
40.05
|
6
|
S Waugh |
22
|
1479
|
39.97
|
3
|
M Amarnath |
15
|
1190
|
39.67
|
1
|
Player |
Tests
|
Runs
|
Ave
|
100s
|
Tendulkar |
23
|
1727
|
37.54
|
6
|
Bashar |
16
|
1114
|
35.94
|
1
|
Kallis |
11
|
732
|
34.86
|
0
|
Thorpe |
13
|
794
|
31.76
|
1
|
Laxman |
12
|
658
|
31.33
|
1
|
Dravid |
17
|
969
|
31.26
|
1
|
Inzamam |
18
|
1088
|
30.22
|
1
|
Andy Flintoff came to Sri Lanka with plenty of runs under his belt, but he has had a rather quiet time there. His tormentor in the series has been Muttiah Muralitharan, a former team-mate at Lancashire. Despite Flintoff's 77 in the first innings in Colombo - 11 of which were scored off Murali - he averages a mere seven against him in this series.
Balls
|
Runs
|
Dismissals
|
Ave
|
105
|
28
|
4
|
7
|