When you read the title of this article, the cricket expert in you must have woken up: "how can I not know something about cricket"?. Well, we respect your expertise but there are still some small details that anyone can miss or not come across.
So we have done a conscious effort to prepare a list of 20 mind-boggling cricket facts that you may not be aware of. Please note that they are in no specific order.
Virat Kohli has taken a wicket off the "0th" ball of his career
Virat Kohli has set such unparalleled records with the bat that we often forget that he was a handy medium-pace seamer early in his career. He was handed the ball for the first time in his career in 2011 against England in a T20I
He was bowling to Kevin Pietersen. He ended bowling a wide first up and Pietersen who was charging down to hit Kohli for a boundary was stumped down the leg-side by MS Dhoni. So, Kohli didn't bowl a single ball in international cricket as his first ball was a wide but since a stumping goes in the account of the bowler, he had a wicket!
Hence, effectively, Kohli had a wicket off the "0th" ball of his career.
Kapil Dev has not missed a single international match due to injury.
Kapil Dev, arguably, India's greatest ever all-rounder has never missed a cricket match due to an injury. He, of course, has missed matches and also was dropped once but has not missed a single match owing to an injury.
For a fast bowler to have played for over 16 years and has taken over 600 wickets and never have missed a match due to an injury is a unique feat. It must be noted that fitness regimes in that era were not as emphasized as they are in the modern era.
Sachin Tendulkar was not the first person to score 200 in ODI cricket
We all are die-hard fans of Sachin Tendulkar as he has given us lots of joy growing up. We associate most of the batting records with him. Actually, he does hold most of them too. A lot of people thought that he was the first player to score a double century in ODI cricket when he scored 200 not out against South Africa in 2010. However, he was the first male cricketer to do so.
The first person to do so was actually Belinda Clarke, arguably the greatest Australian batswoman ever. She did this against Denmark in 1997 when she scored 229.
The story behind the logo of the 1999 Cricket World Cup.
The logo of the 1999 Cricket World Cup which was held in the UK was a bowling action. The logo was based on no one else but the Indian new ball bowler Debashis Mohanty who opened the bowling for India alongside Venkatesh Prasad in that tournament.
He was a promising fast bowler. After all, his action was good enough to inspire the logo of the World Cup. However, his career was cut short by injuries and lack of opportunities to play.
Sri Lanka has never won a test match in Australia.
Sri Lanka of the first two decades of the twentieth century was an epic team with players like Sangakkara, Jayasuriya, Jayawardene, Muralitharan, etc. However, it's shocking to know that such a remarkable team has not managed to win a single test match in Australia, let alone a series.
After all, beating Australia in Australia is no child's play.
Which Rule has never changed in cricket?
The laws of the game of cricket were written for the first time in 1774 by the MCC and we cannot count as to how many times the rules have been changed. It's almost like a different game now from when it started.
However, there is one rule that has stayed intact, that is the length of the pitch is 22 yards. Except this rule, every other rule has undergone some change.
Bapu Nadkarni bowled 131 dot balls in a row.
We know test cricket is a game of patience. It is characterized by defence and solidity. However, India's left-arm spinner Bapu Nadkarni reached a different level as he bowled 131 consecutive dot balls and 27 consecutive maidens against England in 1963. It is still a world record.
He finished with the figures of 32-27-5-0
77 is the highest run aggregate in one over.
Even if you add margins of wides and no balls, one can fancy a maximum of 40-45 runs in one over. However, Wellington's Bert Vance conceded 77 runs in one over against Canterbury in the first-class game in New Zealand.
The time-line of the over is: 0 4 4 4 6 6 4 6 1 4 1 0 6 6 6 6 6 0 0 4 0 1
The innings was declared for 0-0 twice in the same test match in 1999
In a test match between England and South Africa in 1999 the innings were declared for 0-0 twice in the same test match. On the first day, South Africa scored 248/8 as the rain washed out the second, third, and fourth day.
So the captains Nasser Hussain and Hansie Cronje agreed to declare their second and third innings respectively to ensure a result. It was done in the spirit of the game.
Hence, England effectively had to chase down 249 to win the test which they eventually did. However, Cronje later revealed that he was paid by a bookie to ensure a result in the game. This became the central issue of the match-fixing saga of 1999-2000.
The perfect ending for Glenn McGrath.
Glenn McGrath after picking up loads of wickets in international cricket ended his career for Australia in the best possible manner.
He picked up a wicket off his last ball in Test, ODI as well as the T20I. He is the only bowler to achieve this feat.
When Don Bradman was stumped for the only time in his career
The greatest batsman to set foot on a cricket pitch, Sir Don Bradman was stumped only once in his glittering test career. He was stumped by none other than Probin Sen, the Indian wicket-keeper. The bowler was Vinoo Mankad.
The baby with the hole in left ear-lobe
In 1949, a baby was born in a hospital in Mumbai. The uncle of the baby noticed a small hole in the left ear-lobe of the baby. However, on the next day, the hole was missing. The watchful uncle found that the baby was accidentally switched with the baby of a fisherwoman in the next bed. Thanks to the Uncle, the baby with the hole in the ear-lobe was returned and who was that baby? A certain Sunil Manohar Gavaskar!
So if it were not for his uncle, he would have been in a fisherman family and may never have become a cricketer!
How much was Brendon Taylor paid for the 2015 Cricket World Cup?
The Zimbabwean wicket-keeper batsman Brendon Taylor was paid a mere 250 USD for the entire 2015 World Cup!
Though he was the highest run-getter in the tournament prior to the knockout stage, Zimbabwe just didn't have funds. Australians, on the other hand, were paid 5000 USD each!
Courtney Walsh- the batsman!
The bowling record of the great West Indian Courtney Walsh needs no introduction. However, his record as a batsman in test cricket is really bizarre. He has the most ducks in test cricket (43) as well as the most number of not-outs(61).
So you could never tell whether he would get out without scoring or would hang around till the very end.
Martin Guptill has only two toes.
The swashbuckling Kiwi opener Martin Guptill is a two-toed batsman. He lost the other three toes in an accident when he was 14 years old. The New Zealand captain during that time was Stephen Fleming. He visited him in the hospital and let him know that he would play for New Zealand.
Now, he is one of the best white-ball openers and fielders in the world. What a story!
The story of Hitesh Modi and Subhash Ranchhoddas Modi.
We have seen some epic father-son duos to grace the game of cricket. However, Hitesh Modi and Subhash Ranchhoddas Modi remain the only father-son duo to not only play International cricket but also to officiate in an international match as an umpire.
Chris Gayle is the only player to hit a six off the first ball of a test
The king of six-hitting, Chris Gayle showed why he is called so in a test match against Australia. He hit the first ball of the match for a six and remains the only player to do so.
Sachin Tendulkar played for Pakistan before India.
Sachin Tendulkar was a thirteen-year-old kid when he fielded for Pakistan. He acted as a substitute for Pakistan's Javed Miandad and Abdul Qadir who left the stadium. He was positioned at long-on by Imran Khan. He also dropped the catch of Kapil Dev once.
Sachin Tendulkar has more five-wicket hauls than Shane Warne.
The greatest leg-spinner to play the game, Shane Warne was a master of the test-match game. He was a very good One-Day bowler too as he picked up 293 wickets. However, he had just one five-wicket haul in his ODI career. Consequently, Tendulkar, who was a part-time bowler ended up with more five-wicket hauls in ODIs than Warne.
Alec Stewart's test runs represented his date-of-birth
England's prolific batsman Alec Stewart scored 8463 test runs for England. He was born on 8th April 1963. So his test runs effectively represent his DOB (8-4-63).
What a coincidence!.
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