During the second day of the on-going test series between India and England in Vishakapatnam, English speedster James Anderson became the 19th player in the history of cricket to get a king pair. One of the most embarrassing experiences for any cricketer, a ‘king pair’ is when the batsman falls on the very first delivery in both innings of the Test match.
English cricketer William Attewell was the first player to be dismissed off the first ball in each innings of a match in the year 1892 at the Sydney Cricket Ground against Australia.
Let us have a look at top 5 cricketers with ‘king pair’ in International cricket:
#1 Bhagwat Chandrasekhar
Part of the famous Indian spin quartet, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar was part of many famous victories of the Indian cricket team for a considerable period of time including crucial away tour victories in West Indies, England, and New Zealand.
During India’s tour to Down Under in 1977/78, the Indians played one of their most memorable encounters overseas, defeating the hosts by 222 runs, and was the first test victory for the Asian country in Australia.
It was Bhagwat Chandrasekhar’s flawless bowing display that made such a result possible. The leg-break bowler took 12 wickets in the match, but Chandrasekhar wasn’t known to be a proficient batsman which showed when he got a king pair in the match. In the first innings, he was bowled by Wayne Clark while Gary Cosier caught him in front of the stumps in the second innings.
The Mysore-born bowler took 242 wickets in Tests at an average of 29.74 and career-best figures of 8 for 79 runs.
#2 David Richardson
David Richardson was the first choice wicket-keeper for the ‘Proteas’ after they were given full member status by the ICC in 1991 following the apartheid movement turmoil. His glove work was excellent and he chipped in with a few useful knocks occasionally and scored a century in his 42 match test career.
The Johannesburg-born cricketer was part of the historical match which made their entry to the world of cricket at Eden Gardens in Kolkata against India. It was during Pakistan’s African tour that the right-hander was dismissed in the first ball of each innings. Apart from Richardson, the rest of the South African’s performed brilliantly in the Test match and outclassed the Asian giants by 324.
Pakistani bowler Aamir Nazir bowled through Richardson’s sticks in the first innings and he was dismissed leg before wicket by Aaqib Javed in the second innings. The South African is a qualified lawyer and is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the International Cricket Council.
#3 Ajit Agarkar
Ajit Agarkar played only 26 Test matches but had one or two memorable performances to his name, the most popular and significant being the spell of 6 wickets for just 41 runs in Adelaide which guided India to a famous victory on foreign soil.
Another bright star in his Test career was the century he scored at Lord’s against England in the summer of 2002. Though heavily criticised for his uneconomical bowling, Agarkar was in the side for his wicket-taking ability, which was the reason he played close to 200 ODIs.
Once again we shift our focus to the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground and the year was 1999 when a relatively inexperienced team toured the mighty Australians in their own den. It was the second Test of the series and the visitors lost by 180 runs and the Mumbaikar failed to score a single run in both the innings’.
Brett Lee got the wicket of Agarkar in the first innings by an LBW, and Mark Waugh completed his ‘king pair’ by taking his wicket as Agarkar found his shot in the safe hands of Gregory Blewett.
#4 Adam Gilchrist
Adam Gilchrist is probably one of the best wicket-keeper-batsman to have ever played the game and his numbers back the statement. He was a part of an Australian cricket team which dominated world cricket for a decade.
The Aussies had won 16 Tests in a row before they took the field in the iconic “Eden Gardens” in Kolkata in 2001, which went on to become one of the greatest Test matches the world had ever witnessed. It was the third time that a team won a 5-day affair after following-on, mainly due to the brilliant batting performance of VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid.
It was during this match that “Gilly” was unfortunate to get on the score sheet in the entire match and fell prey to Harbhajan Singh, the star of the match in the first innings while Sachin Tendulkar was responsible for sending the southpaw back to the pavilion in the second innings.
#5 Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag is by far one of the most destructive batsmen the world had ever seen, and his record in Tests matches is quite impressive. He is the only Indian to score a triple century and one of the four batsmen ever to score two 300-plus runs twice in International cricket.
But one of the incidents the “Nawab of Najafgarh” would love to forget is the king pair he suffered during India’s tour to England in 2011 at Edgbaston. The tour itself was a very disappointing one for the Indian team as they were whitewashed 0-4 by the hosts. The right-hander was caught behind in the first innings off Stuart Broad’s bowling while speedster James Anderson tricked him in the second innings and was caught by Andrew Strauss.
Having won the toss, England put the visitors to bat, Sehwag was dismissed off the first ball by Stuart Broad and India crumbled for only 224 runs. In reply, England scored a mammoth 710 runs by virtue of Alastair Cook’s 294. The Indians lost by an innings and 242 runs.
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