Ask Bharath #7

1. Hamilton Masakadza, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja made their World Cup debuts in this World Cup after having played more than 100 ODIs in their career.  What is the record for most ODI's played before playing a world cup ODI? – Asked by Manish Achuth, India

Hamilton Masakadza played 144 ODIs before playing his first World Cup match against Zimbabwe on the second day of this World Cup. On the same day Rohit Sharma after playing 127 ODIs and Ravindra Jadeja after playing 111 ODIs played their first World Cup match against Pakistan. 144 matches by Masakadza is indeed the highest number of ODIs played by any player before playing his first World Cup ODI. The previous record was held by Shoaib Malik who appeared in 135 ODIs making his debut in World Cups. He made his debut in October 1999 but his first World Cup match came in 2007 in West Indies.

Hamilton Masakadza, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja
©Getty Images ©Cricinfo

Irfan Pathan has played 120 ODIs and he is yet to play a single match in ODI World Cup. He may surpass Masakadza if he plays in 2019 World Cup with 25 ODIs in between these two World Cups.

2. South African batsmen added 96 runs in the last five overs against Zimbabwe in their first match in this World Cup. Is this the highest number of runs in last five over of an ODI inning? – Asked by @nareshwarnie, Twitter

David Miller and JP Duminy took South Africa from 243/4 to 339/4 in the last five overs. They scored 19 runs in 46^th over, 16 runs in 47^th, 30 runs in 48^th, 12 runs in 49^th and 19 in the 50^th over. 96 runs in last five overs of the inning are easily overshadowed by the New Zealand side against United States of America in ICC Champions Trophy of 2004. Nathan Astle and Craig McMillan smashed 110 runs in the last five overs. They scored 14 runs in 46^th over, 27 runs each in 47^th and 48^th over, 16 in the 49^th and 26 runs in the final over.

3. The top two individual scores in the match between Scotland and New Zealand were both from Scotland who were on losing side. When was the last time in an ODI that a team had top 2 run getters of the match but ended on the losing side? – Asked by Srinivas, India

Scotland team was bundled for 142 runs in 36.2 overs by Kiwi bowlers at Dunedin on February 17. Two batsmen from Scotland scored half-centuries – Matt Machan 56 and Richie Berrington 50. New Zealand chased the target in 24.5 overs with loss of seven wickets and their highest scorer was Kane Williamson with 38 runs. Hence, both the top two scores were by the losing team’s batsmen. Last time this happened was on December 26, 2013 between New Zealand and West Indies at Auckland. Brendon McCullum 51 and his brother Nathan McCullum 47 were the highest run scorers in the match that was won by West Indies whose highest scorer was Darren Sammy with 43 not out.

In World Cup 2011 between India and South Africa at Nagpur the highest scorers in the match were Sachin Tendulkar (111) and Virender Sehwag (73) for India but ended on the losing side. The third highest score was also from Indian team (Gambhir – 69) but shared with Jacques Kallis (also 69) from South Africa.

4. Is Denesh Ramdin's inning of 51 the ‘lowest’ top score in an ODI team total of 300+? – Asked by Srinivas, India

West Indies scored 310 runs at loss of six wickets in their quota of 50 overs and the highest score in their inning was 51 by Denesh Ramdin. The top three scores actually were 51 (Ramdin), 50 (Simmons) and 49 (Bravo). Yes, it is the ‘lowest’ top score in a total of over 300 runs in ODIs. The previous ‘lowest’ top score in this case was 54 for South Africa (by Lance Klusener) against Sri Lanka at Lahore in 1997. South Africa had scored 311/9 in 50 overs with two more batsmen scoring 50s.

5. Who are the batsmen who scored centuries on their World Cup debut? – Asked by many!

In this World Cup so far in the first ten matches two players have scored centuries in their first World Cup match – Aaron Finch and David Miller. In the past World Cups, 13 players achieved this feat – Glenn Turner and Dennis Amiss in 1975, Trevor Chappell and Allan Lamb in 1983, Geoff Marsh in 1987, Andy Flower in 1992, Gary Kirsten and Nathan Astle in 1996, Craig Wishart, Andrew Symonds and Scott Styris in 2003, Jeremy Bray in 2007 and Virat Kohli in 2011.

Please check my article for CricketCountry.com on this topic for more details - http://www.cricketcountry.com/articles/icc-cricket-world-cup-2015-hundreds-on-world-cup-debut-and-last-world-cup-match-245373

Ask Bharath #6

1. In World Cup, how many times have a team bowl through a complete inning without conceding any extra? – Asked by Amit Kumar, India

There has not been any complete innings (all out or full quota of overs) without an extra by the bowlers. The inning in World Cups with most runs without having any extras is 178/5 in 37.3 overs for South Africa where the New Zealand bowlers did not concede any type of extra run defending their total of 177/9 in 50 overs. South Africa. The least number of extras conceded in a complete inning of 50 overs is 3 wides by Kenya bowlers to West Indies (246/7) in World Cup 2003.

2. Whose record did Srikar Bharat break for the highest individual score by a wicketkeeper in Ranji Trophy? – Asked by Mit Chowdhury, India

Srikar Bharat became the first wicketkeeper to score a triple century in Ranji Trophy in the last match of group stage of this Ranji Trophy season. He scored 308 for Andhra against Goa. The previous record for the highest individual inning by a wicketkeeper was held by Sagar Jogiyani who scored 282 for Saurashtra against Gujarat in 2012/13 season. CM Gautam is the only wicketkeeper to score two individual 250+ scores in Ranji Trophy.

3. Axar Patel was out for a golden duck on his 21^st birthday (against England on January 20, 2015). How many players have that feat in ODIs? – Asked by Kaushik Saha, Mumbai, India

Axar Patel became the fourth player to get a golden duck on his birthday in ODIs. The three players to get this before Axar Patel are Pat Symcox (36^th birthday) in 1996, Junior Murray (29^th birthday) in 1997 and Azhar Mahmood (26^th birthday) in 2001. Makhaya Ntini was out for a diamond duck (dismissed without facing a ball) on his 23^rd birthday in 2000. Overall, Axar Patel is the 18^th player to get out on duck on birthday in ODIs.

Axar Patel © Getty Images

Shaminda Eranga is the only bowler to take wicket in his first over in all three formats while Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the only bowler to take his first wicket as bowled in all three formats.

4. How many players have taken wicket off their first ball in ODI, Test and T20I career? – Asked by Kalpesh Malpani, Kalyan, India

19 players in Tests, 18 in ODIs and 6 in T20Is have taken a wicket on their very first ball of the career. Latest to do in Tests was Dane Piedt of South Africa in 2014, in ODIs it was Kenneth Kamyuka of Canada and in T20Is Nadeem Ahmed for Hong Kong and Paras Khadka for Nepal took a wicket on their first ball in the same match. In T20Is, Michale Kasprowicz took two wickets off his first two balls and Virat Kohli took a wicket of his first ball which was a wide. In ODIs, Sadagoppan Ramesh and Wavell Hinds did it in the same ODI in 1999.

5. Which bowler holds the record for taking most number of five-wicket hauls and ten-wicket hauls in a season in Ranji Trophy? – Asked by Ayush Gandhi, India

Both these records are held by the same bowler and in same season. Bishan Singh Bedi took eight five-wickets in an innings and four ten-wickets in a match in the 1974/75 season for Delhi. In that season he took 64 wickets which is again a record for the highest number of wickets by a player in a season in Ranji Trophy. Maninder Singh in 1991/92, Rajesh Chauhan in 1996/97 and Laxmipathy Balaji in 2002/03 took seven five-wicket hauls in the season. CS Nayudu in 1942/43, Padmakar Shivalkar in 1972/73, BS Chandrasekhar in 1973/74, Rajinder Goel in 1978/79, Bharat Vij in 1996/97 and Laxmipathy Balaji in 2003/03 all took three ten-wicket hauls in a Ranji Trophy season.

Ask Bharath #5

1. Is it the first time that three players ageing over 40 are playing in a World Cup? – Asked by Jigar Mehta, Mumbai, India

In the ICC World Cup 2015, Misbah-ul-Haq for Pakistan and Mohammad Tauqir and Khurram Khan for United Arab Emirates are players ageing over 40. This is not the first time that three players with age of more than 40 appearing in the World Cup. It has happened in two World Cups in the past. In 1975 World Cup, Lance Gibbs for West Indies and Prabhu Nana and Donald Pringle for East Africa were the players with age of more than 40. There were three players with more than the age of 40 in 1996 World Cup, all from Netherlands – Flavian Aponso, Nolan Clarke and Steven Lubbers.

Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Tauqir and Khurram Khan
©AFP © Getty Images © Cricinfo

2. Which captain has taken most number of wickets in World Cups? – Asked by Aravinth JV, India

It is Imran Khan with 24 wickets in the 13 innings he bowled in World Cups as captain. He is followed by two more Pakistan cricketers – Shahid Afridi (21 wickets in eight innings) and Wasim Akram (18 wickets in 14 innings). Next best is 17 wickets by Kapil Dev in 15 innings.

In this World Cup the skippers who are regular bowlers among the test playing teams are: Mashrafe Mortaza (Bangladesh), Angelo Matthews (Sri Lanka), Jason Holder (West Indies) and Elton Chigumbura (Zimbabwe). We shall hope they pick some wickets as captain.

3. 26 wickets fell on the first day of the Ranji Trophy match between Gujarat and Haryana at Ahmedabad. What is the maximum number of wickets on the first day of a Ranji Trophy 

match and overall? – Anonymous

On February 6, 2015 at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Staidum in Ahmedabad in the Ranji Trophy 

match between Gujarat and Haryana, 26 wickets fell on the first day of the match. Haryana batting first were dismissed for 129 runs in 31.5 overs and then Gujarat were all out for 125 in 29.2 overs. By the end of the day, Haryana lost another six wickets in their second inning (71 for 6 in 24 overs). The next day, Gujarat won the match by nine wickets.

The record for most number of wickets to fell on the first day of a Ranji Trophy match is 30. It was on the first day of the first ever Ranji Trophy match between Madras and Mysore at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on November 4, 1934; Mysore 48/10 (27.2), Madras 130/10 (43) and Mysore 59/10 (39.3). The match was over on the first day itself with Madras winning it by an inning and 23 runs.

In overall First-Class cricket, there are seven occasions of all the 40 wickets of the match felling on the first day of the match. All the occasions were in the 18^th and 19^th century. Since World War II, the record is 32 wickets on the first day of the match between Griqualand West and Easterns at Kimberly in South Africa in 2010/11.

4. Mumbai were defeated by an innings for the first time in the last about 64 years. This should be the record for most years between two innings defeats. Which team has the next best sequence? – Asked by Vigneshwar, Chennai, India

The defeat by an innings and 44 runs for Mumbai against Tamil Nadu at Chepauk is only the fourth innings defeat for Mumbai in their history of Ranji Trophy. Their last such defeat was way back in 1950/51 against Gujarat at Ahmedabad by an innings and 166 runs. The next most number of years between two innings defeats is for Wellington in New Zealand for about 35 years from December 1904 to February 1939. Hyderabad was without an innings defeat for 32 years from 1964/65 to 1996/97. Delhi had such a streak for 28 years while Tamil Nadu/Madras and Baroda had for about 25 years. Auckland was without an innings defeat for about 23 years.

Has any wicketkeeper bowled in World Cup? – Asked by Poun Raj, India

Well, there has been no instance of a wicketkeeper giving away his gloves and bowled in a World Cup match. Overall in ODIs, there have been only seven occasions when a designated wicketkeeper bowled in a match. The best figures by a designated wicketkeeper in an ODI are 2/11 by Devon Thomas for West Indies against Bangladesh in 2009 and 2/42 by Tatenda Taibu for Zimbabwe against Sri Lanka at Harare in 2004. MS Dhoni has bowled in two ODIs, picking a wicket in one of them. Hashan Tillkaratne and Andrew Hall also bowled as wicketkeepers in ODIs.