The second test of the India-New Zealand series is taking place at the legendary Eden Gardens at Kolkata. This is a ground that has seen some historical performances like VVS Laxman’s epic 281 and Harbhajan Singh’s hat-trick, which was the first ever by an Indian bowler in test matches, both against Australia in 2001.
These are performances that are etched in the memories of cricket lovers forever.
In this vein, let’s have a look at some key statistics related to the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, in test cricket:
#1 Top team scores
Unsurprisingly, it is Team India that leads the way here as their batsmen have dominated proceedings at this ground since forever.
Team | Score | Overs | Innings | Opponent | Result |
India | 657/7d | 178.0 | Third | Australia | Won |
India | 643/6d | 153.0 | Second | South Africa | Won |
India | 633/5d | 159.0 | Second | Australia | Won |
India | 631/7d | 151.2 | First | West Indies | Won |
India | 616/5d | 152.5 | First | Pakistan | Draw |
West Indies | 614/5d | 162.1 | First | India | Won |
India | 565 | 172.2 | Second | West Indies | Draw |
West Indies | 530/5d | 151.5 | First | India | Draw |
England | 523 | 167.3 | Second | India | Won |
West Indies | 497 | 171.3 | Second | India | Draw |
#2 Top individual scores
Again, no surprises, as it’s that 281 by ‘Very Very Special’ Laxman that tops the list of highest scores at this ground. Such was the brilliance of this innings that it was recently rated as the best test performance of the last 50 years.
Batsman | Team | Score | Balls Faced | Innings | Opponent | Result |
VVS Laxman | India | 281 | 452 | Third | Australia | Won |
Rohan Kanhai | West Indies | 256 | - | First | India | Won |
Wasim Jaffer | India | 202 | 274 | First | Pakistan | Draw |
Alastair Cook | England | 190 | 377 | Second | India | Won |
Saeed Anwar | Pakistan | 188* | 259 | Third | India | Won |
Sunil Gavaskar | India | 182* | - | Third | West Indies | Draw |
Mohd. Azharuddin | India | 182 | 197 | First | England | Won |
Rahul Dravid | India | 180 | 353 | Third | Australia | Won |
Rohit Sharma | India | 177 | 301 | Second | West Indies | Won |
VVS Laxman | India | 176* | 280 | First | West Indies | Won |
#3 Top bowling performances
A surprise here at no.1. It is the South African all-rounder Lance Klusener who holds the record for the best ever bowling figures in an innings at this ground, and astonishingly, he did it on his test debut!
Bowler | Team | Overs | Runs | Wickets | Innings | Opponent | Result |
Lance Klusener | South Africa | 21.3 | 64 | 8 | Fourth | India | Won |
Javagal Srinath | India | 27.0 | 86 | 8 | Third | Pakistan | Lost |
Ghulam Ahmed | India | 20.3 | 49 | 7 | First | Australia | Lost |
Anil Kumble | India | 38.0 | 63 | 7 | Fourth | Pakistan | Won |
Harbhajan Singh | India | 30.0 | 87 | 7 | Third | South Africa | Won |
BS Bedi | India | 50.0 | 98 | 7 | Second | Australia | Lost |
Harbhajan Singh | India | 37.5 | 123 | 7 | First | Australia | Won |
Malcolm Marshall | West Indies | 15.0 | 37 | 6 | Third | India | Won |
Richie Benaud | Australia | 29.0 | 52 | 6 | Second | India | Won |
Roy Gilchrist | West Indies | 21.0 | 55 | 6 | Third | India | Won |
#4 Overall team statistics
Team India, being the home team, has played the highest number of tests at this venue with 40*. West Indies and England have played 10 each. Among the test playing nations, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe have never played a test here.
Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Draw | Tied | W/L Ratio |
India | 40* | 11 | 9 | 19 | 0 | 1.222 |
West Indies | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1.000 |
Australia | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1.000 |
England | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0.666 |
Pakistan | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1.000 |
South Africa | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.500 |
New Zealand | 3* | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.000 |
Note: The stars indicate that this list includes the India-NZ test that is presently underway. It is India’s 40th and New Zealand’s 3rd test at this venue.
#5 Most runs at the venue
Who else but Mr. Laxman again! He tops the run charts at this venue with over 1200 runs in just 10 tests and an average of over a 100 runs per innings.
Batsman | Matches | Innings | Runs | Average | Highest Score | 100s | 50s |
VVS Laxman | 10 | 15 | 1217 | 110.63 | 281 | 5 | 3 |
Rahul Dravid | 9 | 16 | 962 | 68.71 | 180 | 4 | 3 |
Sachin Tendulkar | 13 | 21 | 872 | 45.81 | 176 | 2 | 6 |
Mohd. Azharuddin | 7 | 9 | 860 | 107.50 | 182 | 5 | 2 |
Dilip Vengsarkar | 7 | 12 | 645 | 71.66 | 157* | 2 | 2 |
Sunil Gavaskar | 8 | 15 | 583 | 44.84 | 182* | 2 | 1 |
ML Jaisimha | 7 | 13 | 530 | 44.16 | 129 | 1 | 2 |
Virender Sehwag | 6 | 10 | 514 | 51.40 | 165 | 1 | 2 |
Gundappa Viswanath | 8 | 15 | 501 | 33.40 | 139 | 1 | 3 |
MS Dhoni | 5 | 7 | 457 | 91.40 | 144 | 2 | 2 |
#6 Most wickets at the venue
‘The Turbanator’, Harbhajan Singh, who took a hat-trick here, performed incredibly at this ground. The wily off-spinner has taken 46 wickets here in just 7 tests that include 6 five-wicket hauls.
Bowler | Matches | Innings | Wickets | BBI | BBM | Average | SR | 5-w | 10-w |
Harbhajan Singh | 7 | 13 | 46 | 7/87 | 13/196 | 21.76 | 54.1 | 6 | 1 |
Anil Kumble | 8 | 15 | 40 | 7/63 | 10/161 | 30.82 | 73.8 | 2 | 1 |
BS Bedi | 6 | 10 | 29 | 7/98 | 7/98 | 22.03 | 65.1 | 3 | 0 |
Kapil Dev | 8 | 15 | 27 | 6/91 | 6/107 | 32.37 | 68.8 | 2 | 0 |
Javagal Srinath | 4 | 7 | 22 | 8/86 | 13/132 | 23.90 | 44.2 | 2 | 1 |
Ghulam Ahmed | 4 | 7 | 21 | 7/49 | 10/130 | 22.28 | 51.7 | 1 | 1 |
Vinoo Mankad | 5 | 10 | 21 | 4/49 | 6/105 | 27.09 | 72.0 | 0 | 0 |
Salim Durani | 5 | 9 | 19 | 6/73 | 8/113 | 21.89 | 53.5 | 2 | 0 |
Richie Benaud | 2 | 4 | 18 | 6/52 | 11/105 | 14.83 | 43.6 | 2 | 1 |
BS Chandrasekhar | 6 | 10 | 18 | 5/65 | 9/107 | 30.44 | 80.7 | 1 | 0 |
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