In Ranchi Test, Handscomb, Marsh, Jadeja Reach Milestones

Take a look at the records set during the third Test between India and Australia at Ranchi.

Peter Handscomb (72*) and Shaun Marsh (53) grinded out a 124-run partnership on day five of the third Test and helped Australia salvage a draw at Ranchi on Monday.

Australia began the day on 23/2 and were 129 runs behind India. The visitors were in deep trouble when Matt Renshaw and Steve Smith got dismissed in quick succession. Australia were reduced to 63/4.

Then Marsh and Handscomb got together and resurrected the Australian innings. The Baggy Greens managed to end the day at 204/6.

Here’s a look at the records set by various players during the day.

• Australia have drawn three Tests against India on Indian soil after facing a deficit of 150 runs or more – the first two being in Delhi in 1979-80 and in Mumbai in 1986-87.
• Of the last five Tests played between India and Australia, three ended in draw – Melbourne and Sydney in 2014-15 and the recent Ranchi Test. Australia had won the Pune Test by 333 runs and lost the Bangalore Test by 75 runs.
• Australia faced 100 overs to draw the Test – the last instance when they faced 100 overs or more in the second innings was in 2004 – 369 off 133.5 overs at Chennai.
• Cheteshwar Pujara has got his fourth man of the match award in Tests – his second vs Australia. He had first received the award against them for recording 204 at Hyderabad in March 2013.
• In drawn Tests, Pujara averages 55.07 – his tally being 771 in fourteen innings, including three hundreds and a fifty.

• Peter Handscomb's unbeaten 72 is his first fifty away from home in Tests. He has registered a fifty each against South Africa, Pakistan and India. Handscomb has faced 200 balls or more for the third time in Tests.
• Handscomb's strike rate of 36.00 is his worst in an innings, which he scored over fifty.
• Ravindra Jadeja, with 27 wickets at 19.66 runs apiece in four Tests, is the most successful bowler in Tests this year – the next highest being Ravichandran Ashwin – 23 (ave.28.82) in four Tests.
• Jadeja enjoys an impressive bowling record while capturing 117 wickets (ave.19.87) in 21 Tests at home. His average is the best among the Indian bowlers with at least 100 wickets in Tests in India.
• Shaun Marsh's fourth fifty against India is his seventh in Tests. In drawn Tests, Marsh is averaging 55.55 – his tally being 500 runs in nine innings, including a hundred and four fifties.
• Handscomb and Marsh have faced 373 balls to share a partnership of 124 for the fifth wicket – the most by an Australian pair in the second innings against India, eclipsing the 336 balls while adding 139 runs for the fifth wicket between Jason Gillespie and Damien Martyn at Chennai in 2004-05.

• Jadeja, as an all-rounder, has produced his best performance in a Test match – 9 wickets for 178 runs and 54 not out. Only once he has captured 10 wickets in a Test match – 10 for 154 against England at Chennai in December 2016.
• Jadeja has dismissed Steven Smith four times in five Tests – Delhi, 2012-13 and once each at Pune, Bangalore and Ranchi in the present series.
• Smith enjoys a superb batting record as Test captain – 2,583 runs at an average of 73.80 in 23 Tests.
• For the second time in a Test match, Australia recorded century stands for the fifth wicket in both innings – both times against India – Perth in 1977-78 and Ranchi in 2016-17. In the Ranchi Test, 191 runs were added by Smith and Maxwell in the first innings followed by 124 by Marsh and Handscomb.
• Ashwin captured 78 wickets at an average of 25.51 in 12 Tests this season, equalling Dale Steyn's tally of 78 wickets at 16.24 in 12 Tests in 2007-08. Ravindra Jadeja has the next best tally – 67 wickets at 22.98 in 12 Tests in the present season.

(With inputs from PTI)