Bhuvneshwar Kumar © Getty Images
Bhuvneshwar Kumar © Getty Images

 

Against all odds, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, out of nowhere, unexpectedly came out in first Test and scored two back-to-back half-centuries. On Thursday, he almost did it again, before getting bowled by Broad.  The tailender topped the record books when reaching the best average by an Indian in overseas conditions. Sudatta Mukherjee looks at the list.

 

Playing his first overseas Test, Bhuvneshwar Kumar hit two vital half-centuries against England at Nottinghamshire. In the first innings of the first Test at Trent Bridge, Bhuvneshwar scored 58 and was involved in a 111 runs partnership for 10th wicket. From 346 for nine, Bhuvneshwar and Mohammed Shami helped India reach 457. In the second innings, he scored another half-century and remained unbeaten on 63.

 

On Thursday night with centurion Ajinkya Rahane, Bhuvneshwar was put up 90 runs for the eighth wicket. Bhuvneshwar attained the highest batting average for Indian batsmen number in overseas conditions after Thursday play. In the process, he went past Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar Vinod Kambli and even Rahane.

 

Here is the table –

 

Players Matches Inns Runs HS Avg 100s 50s
Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2 3 157 63* 78.5 0 2
Ajinkya Rahane 6 10 530 118 58.88 2 2
Cotar Ramaswami 2 4 170 60 56.66 0 1
Vinod Kambli 4 5 277 125 55.4 2 0
Sachin Tendulkar 106 176 8705 248* 54.74 29 36
Rahul Dravid 93 164 7667 270 53.61 21 36
Sunil Gavaskar 60 106 5055 221 52.11 18 22
Mohinder Amarnath 37 63 3008 138 51.86 9 17
Madhav Apte 5 10 460 163* 51.11 1 3
Vijay Merchant 6 11 527 128 47.9 2 2

 

Had Bhuvneshwar scored another half-century on Thursday night, then he would have become the first number nine bastman two score three consecutive half-centuries in Tests.

 

(Sudatta Mukherjee is a reporter with CricketCountry. Other than writing on cricket, she spends penning random thoughts on her blog and produces weekly posts on new food joints at Whopping Weekends. She played Table Tennis for University of Calcutta. When she is not writing, you will catch her at a movie theatre or watching some English serial on her laptop. Her Twitter id is @blackrosegal)