India vs England 2nd Test: Key stats from the record-breaking win

Virat Kohli matched MS Dhoni’s record for the most number of Test wins as an Indian captain (21), as a collective effort from the home side brushed aside Joe Root’s England by 317 runs to level the series 1-1. 

After having won the toss, Kohli didn’t think twice about batting first. Despite the pitch offering assistance to spinners early in the game, India put up 329 on the board courtesy of a century by Rohit Sharma and respective half-centuries by Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant. In response, England could only score 134 as they fell victim to Ravichandran Ashwin’s five-wicket haul.

The off-spinner continued his domination with the bat in the second innings, scoring a fantastic ton to give India a sizable lead. His spinning partner Axar Patel did the rest as India bowl out England for just 164 runs to win the game.

The second Test at Chennai produced some spectacular statistics, and here we look at a few of them.

Ravichandran Ashwin running the show

It was for the third time in his 10 years of Test career that Ravichandran Ashwin picked a five-fer and scored a century in the same match. This was the 34-year-old’s 29th five-wicket haul in the longest format and this helped him surpass Harbhajan Singh (265) to become the second-highest wicket-taker (271) in India. Only Anil Kumble has taken more wickets (350) than Ashwin.

Out of his 29 five-fers, a whopping 23 have come at home. Furthermore, in his tally of eight wickets in the 2nd Test, four were left-arm batsmen. This helped him become the first bowler in Test cricket to dismiss 200 left-handers. These scalps included Ben Stokes not just once, but twice, meaning that Ashwin has now dismissed the England all-rounder 10 times which is the joint-most dismissals of a batsman by the off-spinner in Tests.

Here’s a list of games where Ashwin picked five wickets and scored a century.

• 103 & 5/156 vs WI at Mumbai in 2011
• 113 & 7/83 vs WI at North Sound in 2016
• 106 & 5/43 vs ENG at Chennai in

A debut to remember for Axar Patel

After picking two wickets in the first innings, debutant Axar Patel went on to dismantle the England batting line-up by picking his maiden five-wicket haul. With this, he has become only the sixth Indian spinner to pick a five-fer on a Test debut.

The stat is particularly impressive given the fact that only two debutants have managed to pick a five-fer in 2021 so far, and both are left-arm spinners. Patel’s spell of 5/60 is the 7th best spell by an Indian bowler in an innings on Test debut. Meanwhile, the only other left-arm spinner to take five wickets on India debut is Dilip Doshi, who picked 6/103 against Australia in Chennai in 1979.

Moeen Ali’s outing in numbers

Moeen Ali’s brief cameo at the end of England’s second innings made him his side’s leading run-scorer (49 runs) in the 2nd Test. He hit five sixes during his blitz and this is the joint-most 6s smashed by an England batsman in India.

While everyone expected him to topple the bowling department, this particular foray was impressive at its very best. In all, Ali took eight wickets in the second Test while conceding 226 across two innings, and this is his fifth-best match figure in Tests.

Meanwhile, Ali also surpassed Graeme Swann to become the second-most wicket-taker against India in Tests. He now needs just one wicket to complete 50 wickets against India in Tests.

India captain Virat Kohli was Ali’s first wicket of the 2nd Test and with this, he became the first spinner to dismiss Kohli for a duck in Tests. He also got the better of Ajinkya Rahane in both innings, taking his tally to seven dismissals against the Indian vice-captain; most dismissals of batsmen by Ali.

Feature image courtesy: Twitter / @BCCI