The Indian side, switching to white-ball cricket mode in their second innings, scored 181 runs in 24 overs before declaring. India’s run rate of 7.54 was the fastest ever recorded in a Test innings of at least 20 overs.
After a rare show of ultra-attacking long-format cricket on day four of the second Test against West Indies at Port of Spain on Monday, the Indian cricket team rewrote the Test record books by setting the mark for highest team run-rate in a Test inning of at least 20 overs. India’s Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid appeared to take a page from England’s book in presenting what could be the first exhibition of ‘Dravball’ to fans, while England’s ‘Baseball’ school of cricket drew polarising reactions from Test cricket lovers, and purists, for its emphasis on positive and attacking gameplay and the need to achieve clear results.
The Indian side, switching to white-ball cricket mode in their second innings, scored 181 runs in 24 overs before declaring. India’s run rate of 7.54 was the fastest ever recorded in a Test innings of at least 20 overs.
Australia’s previous record of 242 runs in 32 overs against Pakistan in Sydney in 2017 was shattered. These runs were scored by Australia at a pace of 7.53 per over.
India also set a new record for the quickest team hundred in Test cricket.
India’s first wicket fell after a stand of 98 runs between skipper Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal in just 71 balls (11.5 overs).
After Rohit’s removal, India scored 100 runs in 12.2 overs, using 74 balls.
India broke a record that Sri Lanka had held for 22 years. In a 2001 Asian Test Championship match against Bangladesh, they reached 100 runs in just 13.2 overs (80 balls).
Two of Mumbai’s top players, Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma, were very aggressive.
The time it took Rohit Sharma to reach 50 was his fastest ever. Rohit, batting in his T20I guise, got to 50 off of just 35 balls.
Ishan Kishan reached fifty in only 33 balls. Kishan scored India’s second-fastest fifty behind only Yuvraj Singh. Rishabh Pant, the Indian wicketkeeper, has scored a fifty in the least amount of balls (28).
Kishan was not out at the time of declaration, having scored 52 (from 34 balls) without being dismissed, with four fours and two sixes. His run production rate was 152.94 percent.
Kishan’s strike rate of 152.94 is the fourth-highest SR by an Indian player in a Test inning (with at least 50 runs). The renowned Indian all-rounder Kapil Dev holds the record for the best strike rate by an Indian hitter in an inning of at least 50 runs, having hammered 89 in just 55 balls against England in 1982 at Lord’s.
Kishan played the third-fastest innings in Test history in terms of strike rate, among the designated wicketkeepers. Australia’s Adam Gilchrist scored 102 not out (*) off 59 balls in a 2006–07 match against England in Perth. His strike rate was 172.88. Next up is Rishabh Pant, who in 2022 against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru hit 50 runs off 31 balls for a strike rate of 161.29.
