Published: Jan 01, 2017, 03:58 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 01, 2017, 03:58 PM (IST)
Top run-getters in 2016: Joe Root (1,477), Jonny Bairstow (1,470), Alastair Cook (1,270), Virat Kohli (1,215).
Root’s 1,477 runs in this year stand at the 10th position in all time most runs by a batsman in a calendar year.
Right-handed batsmen scored 32,055 runs in 2016, the third-highest for any calendar year (after 34,788 in 2001 and 33,380 in 2002). Root tops the chart.
On the other hand, total of 15,122 runs was scored by left-handed batsman in 2016, which is the 12th-highest in a calendar year. Cook tops this list.
Cook’s 1,221 runs are the 5th-highest for any No. 1 batsman in a calendar year.
Bairstow’s 638 are 4th-highest for any No. 7 batsman.
Most runs as captain: Three captains scored above 1,000 runs in 2016, the 1st such instance in the history of Test cricket. The batsmen are Cook (1,270 runs), Kohli (1,215) and Steven Smith (1,079). There have been five calendar years which saw two captains scoring 1,000 runs — 1998, 2003, 2006, 2008 and 2014.
Fastest fifties and hundreds: Both records went to Brendon McCullum. He got to his fifty in 34 balls (the 4th-fastest for New Zealand), while his 54-ball hundred is the fastest in Test cricket history. McCullum also became the second New Zealand cricketer to score hundred on his final Test after Rodney Redmond.
Most runs scored against a single opposition: 655 runs by Kohli against England, followed by Root (512 against Pakistan, 491 against India).
Most runs in a series: Kohli’s 655 against England, which is also the 4th-most by an Indian.
Most runs on a single ground: Surprisingly, Ross Taylor leads this list with scoring 364 runs at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo against Zimbabwe in 2 Tests. It includes two centuries and a half-century.
Top scores in 2016: Karun Nair (303*), Azhar (302*), Stokes (258), Root (254), Adam Voges (239), Kohli (235). 2016 was the 6th year where two Test triple-hundreds were scored, after 1930, 1958, 2004, 2012 and 2014. Nair and Azhar’s scores were also the most runs scored by a batsman in a Test.
Note: Kohli’s 235 is also the top score in an innings by a captain in 2016.
Most runs at home, away and neutral venues in 2016: Kohli’s 964 runs at home are the most by any batsman scored at home in this year. Root’s 878 runs are the most by an overseas batsman. As is expected, Azhar leads the way in neutral venues, with 474 runs, all of them at UAE.
In fact, Root and Stokes now hold the top two spots for most runs by Englishmen in overseas venues in a calendar year. Both men went past Cook’s 2012 record of 811 runs.
Most not-outs in 2016: James Anderson leads the way with 7, followed by Moeen Ali (6).
Highest batting average (500 plus runs): Kohli leads this list with his excellent average of 75.93 across 1,215 runs, followed by Smith at (71.93; 1,079 runs). They are the only two batsmen to have topped 70.
Most balls faced: Azhar faced 2,569 balls this year, the most by a batsman, followed by Bairstow (2,525). Azhar’s tally is the 2nd-most by a Pakistani batsman in a year after Mohammad Yousuf (2,854 in 2006). Of course, this excludes matches where number of balls faced was not known.
Best strike-rate (500 plus runs): David Warner has scored 748 runs at 86.9 runs every hundred balls. He is followed by Quinton de Kock (78.6) and Sarfraz Ahmed (70.3). Warner’s strike rate is the 3rd-best by an Australian after Adam Gilchrist’s 93.2 in 2003 and 89 in 2002. Once again, this ignores Tests where count of balls faced is unknown.
Most centuries: Moeen, Kohli and Smith holds this record jointly with 4 hundreds in the year, followed by Azhar, Bairstow, Stephen Cook, Cheteshwar Pujara, Root and Ross Taylor with 3 each.
Most centuries by captains: A total of 17 hundreds were scored by 9 Test captains this year. Kohli and Smith top the list with 4 each, while Cook and du Plessis have got 2 apiece. The other hundreds were scored by Hashim Amla, Graeme Cremer, McCullum, Misbah-ul-Haq and Kane Williamson. The record for most centuries by captains in a calendar year is 23, which came in 2005.
Most fifty-plus scores: Root leads the way with 13. It is also the joint-most by a batsman in a calendar year. Root shares this record with Virender Sehwag (2010) and — Root himself (2015).
Most fifty-plus scores as captain: The captains got 46 fifties, the joined-5th in history after 2005 (61), 2006 (53), 2004 (49), and 2008 (48), and at par with 2009 and 2012. Cook and Smith lead the way with 9 apiece.
49s: As many as 10 scores of 49 were happened this year, the joint-most for any calendar year (along with 1998). Of the 10 of this year, 4 were unbeaten, a new record (beating the 3 in 1949 and 1980). Two of the 10 came from Cook’s bat, which made him the first cricketer to hit two 49s in a two separate calendar years. Cook’s previous instance came in 2012.
Of the 10, three came from captains — two from Cook and one from Kohli. Only 2006 (5) and 1998 (4) have seen more Test 49s from captains.
99s and 199s: There has been no 99s in 2016, though poor KL Rahul had a 199.
Most fours: Root tops the chart again, with 170, followed by Cook. Root’s 170 fours are the 4th-most by an Englishman in a calendar year — where fours were registered — after Michael Vaughan (186 in 2002), Marcus Trescothick (180 in 2005) and Kevin Pietersen (171 in 2006).
Most sixes: Stokes leads the way with 21. No other batsman has even hit 15. Stokes’ tally is the joint 4th, behind McCullum (33 in 2014), Gilchrist (22 in 2005) and Sehwag (22 in 2008), and at par with Andrew Flintoff (21 in 2004).
Most runs in wins: With 1,082 runs, Kohli leads the way by a significant distance. Overall, this is the 11th instance of a batsman scoring over 1,000 runs in a calendar year in winning causes. Ricky Ponting has done this thrice and Matthew Hayden twice.
| 1,000 runs in a calendar year on winning cause | |||||
| Player | Runs | HS | Ave | Team | Year |
| Garry Sobers | 1,039 | 365* | 207.8 | West Indies | 1958 |
| Matthew Hayden | 1,132 | 197 | 80.85 | Australia | 2002 |
| Ricky Ponting | 1,139 | 257 | 126.55 | Australia | 2003 |
| Justin Langer | 1,045 | 215 | 55 | Australia | 2004 |
| Matthew Hayden | 1,027 | 137 | 64.18 | Australia | 2005 |
| Ricky Ponting | 1,103 | 207 | 84.84 | Australia | 2005 |
| Ricky Ponting | 1,333 | 196 | 88.86 | Australia | 2006 |
| Graeme Smith | 1,283 | 232 | 85.53 | South Africa | 2008 |
| Jonathan Trott | 1,003 | 226 | 91.18 | England | 2010 |
| Steven Smith | 1,029 | 215 | 102.9 | Australia | 2015 |
| Virat Kohli | 1,082 | 235 | 77.28 | India | 2016 |
Most runs on losing cause: Azhar scored 706 runs in losing causes, the most. This is also the 5th-most runs by a batsman in a year on losing causes in a calendar year after Brian Lara (928 in 2005 and 873 in 2001), Tamim Iqbal (837 in 2010) and Habibul Bashar (801 in 2003). Azhar also became the 1st Pakistani batsman to cross the 500-mark, going past Inzamam-ul-Haq’s 481 in 1995.
Amla, Williamson and Bairstow all scored fifties in 4 consecutive innings in 2016.
Pujara scored hundreds in 3 consecutive Tests.
Dismissals
Most ducks: Asad Shafiq and Wahab Riaz lead the way with 5 ducks each, followed by Mitchell Starc (4). They are nowhere close to the world record, which remains with Mervyn Dillon (10 in 2002).
King pair: James Anderson was the only player to get out for a golden duck in each innings of a Test this year. Overall; he became the 19th cricketer to enter this unwanted record list, 3rd from England and 4th against India. Never in history have two men registered king pairs in the same year.
Pair: Barring Anderson, Jermaine Blackwood, Josh Hazlewood and Alzarri Joseph are the others to register pairs. The count now stands at 239. The record of 10 pairs was set in 2002 and 2014.
Golden ducks: There were 32 in all, which took the count to 1,503. The record remains 55, set in 2001.
Zero not out: 27 unbeaten noughts were registered in this year, led by Jon Holland (3). The 43 nought not outs in 2001 remain a record.
| Dismissal types: | |||
| 2016 | Record | Set in | |
| Caught | 902 | 1,049 | 2001 |
| Bowled | 223 | 287 | 2005 |
| LBW | 275 | 297 | 2002 |
| Run out | 38 | 71 | 2001 |
| Stumping | 21 | 41 | 2004 |
| Hit wicket | 1 | 6 | Twice |
| Retired | 1 | 5 | Thrice |
Kohli was the only batsman to get out hit wicket.
Herath was the only batsman to get retired out.
| Firsts in 2016 | |
| Face a ball | Alastair Cook |
| Run | Alastair Cook |
| Not out | Jonny Bairstow/Moeen Ali |
| Duck | James Taylor |
| 50 | Alex Hales |
| 100 | Ben Stokes |
| 200 | Ben Stokes |
| 300 | Azhar Ali |
