Virat Kohli and Steve Smith both captained their respective sides for the first time in Tests and both hit a century in their maiden innings as Test captain. Bharath Seervi highlights the achievements of Kohli and Smith and lists the other players who did similar in the past and other numbers related to highs and lows in captaincy debut and last test as captain.
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy of 2014-15 has seen two players being given the captaincy of their national test side for the first time — Virat Kohli for India in the first test at Adelaide as MS Dhoni missed the test, and Steve Smith for Australia in the second test at Brisbane with Michael Clarke ruled out. Both men as made the best out of it with their bat.
Kohli scored 115 runs in India’s first innings in Adelaide Test — his maiden Test innings as Indian captain — and became only the fourth Indian to score a century on captaincy debut. He followed it with 141 runs in the fourth innings to become only the second player to score twin tons on captaincy debut. In the next test, Smith replaced Clarke as the captain and emulated Kohli in the first innings. Smith scored 133 runs in his maiden Test innings as captain to become the ninth Aussie to do so.
Century on captaincy debut for India
Batsman
Runs
Against
Venue
Date
Vijay Hazare
164*
England
Kotla
November 2, 1951
Sunil Gavaskar
116, 35*
New Zealand
Eden Park
January 24, 1976
Dilip Vengsarkar
10, 102
West Indies
Kotla
November 25, 1987
Virat Kohli
115, 141
Australia
Adelaide Oval
December 9, 2014
The Indians doing it before Kohli were Vijay Hazare (164 not out), Sunil Gavaskar (116) and Dilip Vengsarkar (102). Vengsarkar did in the second innings of the Test while the others achieved in the first inning.
Century on captaincy debut for Australia
Batsman
Runs
Against
Venue
Date
Billy Murdoch
0, 153*
England
The Oval
September 6, 1880
Harry Trott
0, 143
England
Lord’s
June 22, 1896
Monty Noble
133, 22
England
SCG
December 11, 1903
Clem Hill
191
South Africa
SCG
December 9, 1910
Warwick Armstrong
12, 158
England
SCG
December 17, 1920
Lindsay Hassett
112
South Africa
Wanderers
December 24, 1949
Greg Chappell
123, 109*
West Indies
The Gabba
November 28, 1975
Graham Yallop
7, 102
England
The Gabba
December 1, 1978
Steve Smith
133, 28
India
The Gabba
December 17, 2014
Smith was the ninth to do so for Australia and first since Graham Yallop in 1978. Billy Murdoch was the first to do so in 1880. The last three occasions have all occurred at Brisbane (Greg Chappell, Graham Yallop and Steve Smith).
Centuries in first two innings as a captain
Batsman
Inning
Runs
Against
Venue
Date
Vijay Hazare
1
164*
England
Kotla
November 2, 1951
2
155
England
Brabourne
December 14, 1951
Greg Chappell
1
123
West Indies
The Gabba
November 28, 1975
2
109*
West Indies
The Gabba
November 28, 1975
Virat Kohli
1
115
Australia
Adelaide Oval
December 9, 2014
2
141
Australia
Adelaide Oval
December 9, 2014
Kohli became the second captain after Greg Chappell to score centuries in both innings of the debut test as captain. He became the third to score two centuries in first two test innings as captain as Hazare did it in 1951.
On a side note, Hazare’s scores in the next four innings as captain after scoring 164 not out and 155 were six, two, zero, and zero.
Century on captaincy debut — for other teams
Let us see the similar feats achieved by captains of the other teams.
For
Batsman
Runs
Against
Venue
Date
England (5)
Archie McLaren
109, 50*
Australia
SCG
December 13, 1897
Allan Lamb
119, 10
West Indies
Kensington Oval
April 5, 1990
Andrew Strauss
30, 128
Pakistan
Lord’s
July 13, 2006
Kevin Pietersen
100, 13
South Africa
The Oval
August 7, 2008
Alastair Cook
173, 39
Bangladesh
Chittagong
March 12, 2010
New Zealand (4)
Geoff Rabone
107, 68
South Africa
Kingsmead
December 11, 1953
Graham Dowling
239, 5
India
Christchurch
February 22, 1968
Bevan Congdon
126, 61*
West Indies
Kensington Oval
March 23, 1972
Jeff Crowe
120*, 16
Sri Lanka
Colombo (CCC)
April 16, 1987
South Africa (2)
Herbie Taylor
109, 8
England
Kingsmead
December 13, 1913
Jackie McGlew
104*, 48
England
Manchester
July 7, 1955
West Indies (3)
Jeff Stollmeyer
10, 104
Australia
SCG
January 25, 1952
Clive Lloyd
30, 163
India
Chinnaswamy
November 22, 1974
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
203*
South Africa
Bourda
March 31, 2005
Zimbabwe (2)
Dave Houghton
121, 41*
India
Harare
October 18, 1992
Brendon Taylor
71, 105*
Bangladesh
Harare
August 4, 2011
Kohli became the 28th and Smith the 29th to score hundreds on captaincy debut. They are also are the 20th and 21st batsmen respectively to score century debut test inning as captain.
It is to be noted that Alastair Cook scored a century in each of his first 5 tests as captain.
Highest score on debut by a captain for:
Bangladesh — Shakib Al Hasan (16, 96*) against West Indies at St George’s in 2009
Pakistan — Rameez Raza (78) against Sri Lanka at Peshawar in 1995
Sri Lanka — Somachandra de Silva (7, 52) against New Zealand at Christchurch in 1983
A duck and a century on captaincy debut:
0 and 143 — Harry Trott (Aus)
0 and 153* — Bill Murdoch (Aus)
Two half-centuries on captaincy debut:
Batsman
Runs
Team
Against
Venue
Date
Jackie Grant
53*, 71*
West Indies
Australia
Adelaide Oval
December 12, 1930
Frank Worrell
65, 65
West Indies
Australia
The Gabba
December 9, 1960
Kepler Wessels
59, 74
South Africa
West Indies
Bourda
April 18, 1992
Ross Taylor
76, 76
New Zealand
Zimbabwe
Bulawayo
November 1, 2011
Frank Worrell, after scoring 65 in each innings of his debut test as captain, scored a pair in his next test as captain.
Scores in 90s on captaincy debut:
Batsman
Runs
Team
Against
Venue
Date
Ridley Jacobs
91*
West Indies
Bangladesh
Dhaka
December 4, 2002
Tony Greig
96, 41
England
Australia
Lord’s
July 31, 1975
Shakib Al Hasan
16, 96*
Bangladesh
West Indies
St George’s
July 17, 2009
200 or more aggregate runs on captaincy debut:
256 — Virat Kohli (115 and 141)
244 — Graham Dowling (239 and 5)
232 — Greg Chappell (123 and 109*)
212 — Alastair Cook (173 and 39)
203 — ShivnarineChanderpaul (203*)
After dealing with the high scores on captaincy debut, let us move to ducks on captaincy debut.
Duck in debut innings as captain
Batsman
Runs
Against
Venue
Date
Ivo Bligh
0, 3
Australia
MCG
December 30, 1882
Arthur Shrewsbury
0, 26*
Australia
Adelaide Oval
December 12, 1884
Plum Warner
0, 8
Australia
SCG
December 11, 1903
Stanley Jackson
0, 82*
Australia
Trent Bridge
May 29, 1905
Johnny Douglas
0, 32
Australia
SCG
December 15, 1911
Tom Lowry
0, 40
England
Christchurch
January 10, 1930
Buster Nupen
0, 1
England
Wanderers
December 24, 1930
Alan Melville
0
England
Wanderers
December 24, 1938
Harry Cave
0, 21
Pakistan
Karachi
October 13, 1955
Fazal Mahmood
0
West Indies
Karachi
February 20, 1959
Bobby Simpson
0, 55*
South Africa
MCG
January 1, 1964
Intikhab Alam
0, 47
New Zealand
Karachi
October 24, 1969
Tony Lewis
0, 70*
India
Kotla
December 20, 1972
Alvin Kallicharran
0, 22
Australia
Bourda
March 31, 1978
Chris Cowdrey
0, 5
West Indies
Headingley
July 21, 1988
Desmond Haynes
0, 45
England
Queen’s Park Oval
March 23, 1990
Hansie Cronje
0, 3
Australia
Adelaide Oval
June 28, 1994
Mark Taylor
0, 0
Pakistan
Karachi
September 28, 1994
Rashid Latif
0, 0
South Africa
Port Elizabeth
March 6, 1998
Habibul Bashar
0, 0
Zimbabwe
Harare
February 19, 2004
Darren Sammy
0
Sri Lanka
Galle
November 15, 2010
Pairs on captaincy debut: Mark Taylor, Rashid Latif and Habibul Bashar
Duck on captaincy debut (Excluding first innings ducks of the table above):
Batsman
Runs
Against
Venue
Date
Percy McDonnell
14, 0
England
SCG
January 28, 1887
Tip Foster
8, 0
South Africa
Lord’s
June 1, 1907
Frank Mitchell
11, 0
Australia
Old Trafford
May 27, 1912
Curly Page
22, 0
South Africa
Christchurch
February 27, 1932
Don Bradman
38, 0
England
The Gabba
December 4, 1936
Tiger Pataudi
48, 0
West Indies
Kensington Oval
March 23, 1962
Duleep Mendis
16, 0
Pakistan
Faisalabad
March 14, 1982
David Gower
29, 0
Pakistan
Lord’s
August 12, 1982
Alec Stewart
74, 0
India
Chepauk
February 11, 1993
Sachin Tendulkar
10, 0
Australia
Kotla
October 10, 1996
Saeed Anwar
8, 0
New Zealand
Lahore
November 21, 1996
Steve Waugh
14, 0
West Indies
Queen’s Park Oval
March 5, 1999
Stuart Carlisle
14, 0
Bangladesh
Chittagong
November 15, 2001
Tatenda Taibu
40, 0
Sri Lanka
Harare
March 6, 2004
Younis Khan
31, 0
West Indies
Kensington Oval
May 26, 2005
Virender Sehwag
20, 0
Sri Lanka
Motera
December 18, 2005
Daren Ganga
5, 0
England
Old Trafford
June 7, 2007
The centuries and ducks on captaincy debut have been listed. What about similar feats in last test as captain?
Century in last test as captain
Batsman
Runs
Against
Venue
Date
Ian Chappell
192
England
The Oval
August 28, 1975
Marcus Trescothick
193, 5
Pakistan
Multan
November 12, 2005
Ramnaresh Sarwan
65, 128
Australia
North Sound
May 30, 2008
Kevin Pietersen
144
India
Mohali
December 19, 2008
Jacques Kallis
102
Australia
Newlands
March 19, 2009
Daniel Vettori
110, 1
Pakistan
Wellington
January 15, 2011
Kumar Sangakkara
2, 119
England
Rose Bowl
June 16, 2011
Ross Taylor
142, 74
Sri Lanka
Premadasa
November 25, 2012
Ramnaresh Sarwan, Kevin Pietersen (presumably), Daniel Vettori, Kumar Sangakkara and Ross Taylor have not retired from Test cricket.
Two half-centuries in last test as captain:
Batsman
Runs
Against
Venue
Date
George Giffen
57, 51
England
MCG
March 1, 1895
Mahela Jayawardene
72, 60
Australia
SCG
January 3, 2013
Score in 90s in last test as captain:
Batsman
Runs
Against
Venue
Date
Javed Miandad
92, 12
New Zealand
Hamilton
January 2, 1993
Duck in last test inning as captain
Batsman
Runs
Against
Venue
Date
Percy McDonnell
15, 0
England
Old Trafford
August 30, 1888
Louis Tancred
0, 0
England
The Oval
August 12, 1912
Don Bradman
0
England
The Oval
August 14, 1948
Harry Cave
0, 0
West Indies
Dunedin
February 3, 1956
Ian Botham
0, 0
Australia
Lord’s
July 2, 1981
Imran Khan
22, 0
Sri Lanka
Faisalabad
January 2, 1992
Rameez Raza
36, 0
Sri Lanka
SSC
April 26, 1997
Courtney Walsh
1, 0
Pakistan
Karachi
December 6, 1997
Sanath Jayasuriya
32, 0
South Africa
Wanderers
November 8, 2002
Pair in last test as captain: Louis Tancred, Harry Cave and Ian Botham
Duck in last test as captain (Excluding last innings ducks of the table above)
Batsman
Runs
Against
Venue
Date
Monkey Hornby
0, 20
Australia
Manchester
July 10, 1884
Tom Horan
0, 4
England
Melbourne
March 21, 1885
Plum Warner
0, 4
South Africa
Cape Town
March 30, 1906
Arthur Jones
0, 34
Australia
Sydney
February 21, 2008
Imtiaz Ahmed
0, 86
England
Karachi
February 2, 1962
Barry Sinclair
0, 8
India
Dunedin
February 15, 1968
Mike Brearley
0, 51
Australia
The Oval
August 27, 1981
Michael Atherton
0, 51
Australia
Nottingham
August 2, 2001
Stuart Carlisle
0, 37
India
Delhi
February 28, 2002
Waqar Younis
0, 9
South Africa
Cape Town
January 2, 2003
Tatenda Taibu
0, 1
India
Harare
September 20, 2005
Brian Lara
0, 49
Pakistan
Karachi
November 27, 2006
Stephen Fleming
0, 27
Sri Lanka
Wellington
December 15, 2006
Shoaib Malik
0, 11
India
Delhi
November 22, 2007
Michael Vaughan
0, 17
South Africa
Birmingham
July 30, 2008
Duck in only test as captain (First and Last)
Batsman
Runs
Against
Venue
Date
Alfred Richards
6, 0
England
Newlands
March 21, 18966
Warren Bardsley
0, 15
England
Headingley
July 10, 1906
Teddy Hoad
24, 0
England
Kensington Oval
January 11, 1930
Pankaj Roy
15, 0
England
Lord’s
June 18, 1959
Murray Chapple
15, 0
England
Christchurch
February 25, 1966
Mashrafe Mortaza
39, 0
West Indies
Kingstown
July 9, 2009
# Don Bradman, Harry Cave, Pelham Warner, Percy McDonnell, Tatenda Taibu and Stuart Carlisle have scored ducks in both their first and last Tests as captain.
# Cave is the only one to score a duck in his first and last Test innings as captain.
# Kevin Pietersen is the only player to score a century in his first and last test Tests as well as in his first and last Test innings (considering he does not lead again, that is).
# Mike Brearley captained most Tests without scoring a century. He captained in 31 tests and scored seven fifties with best of 81.
# Frank Worrell (10) and Ken Rutherford (8) scored more half-centuries than Mike Brearley without scoring a ton as captain.
# Ted Dexter captained in 30 tests scoring no duck. It remains a record.
# Graham Dowling scored 239 runs in his debut test innings as captain, but scored only one fifty in the next 37 innings he batted in his captaincy career.
(Bharath Seervi is a cricket statistician who is obsessed with digging numbers, facts and records related to the game. An active member of Society of Cricket Statisticians of India, he blogs at www.cricketseervistats.blogspot.com. He can be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SeerviBharath and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SeerviCricket)
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