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Best visiting performers in India
Subcontinent stalwarts
The List features the best overseas batsmen and bowlers in India
Travis Basevi and George Binoy
March 14, 2006
Some statistics, like Bradman's average and the number of centuries Tendulkar has made are known to pretty much every cricket buff. But The List will bring you facts and figures that aren't so obvious, adding fuel to those fiery debates about the most valuable middle-order bat, and the most useless tailender. If there's a particular List that you would like to see, e-mail us with your comments and suggestions.
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Touring India poses myriad challenges for visiting players. The weather is hot and humid, the food spicy, the pitches spinner-friendly, and the crowds vociferously cheer the home side. The List features overseas players who rose to the occasion and starred in India.
For those who watched Andy Flower's tours of India, it's no surprise that he tops the batting averages with a staggering 117.14. In fact his average was halved by ordinary scores in his last two Tests. After his first three Tests, Flower had one double-century, two centuries, and three fifties at an average of 239.
Clive Lloyd and Gordon Greenidge are the only two batsmen to aggregate over 1000 Test runs in India. Lloyd's 1359 runs came at an average of 75.50 whereas Greenidge's 1042 at 45.30.
| Player | Span | Mat | Inns | Runs | HS |
Ave | 100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Flower (Zimb) | 1993-2002 | 5 | 10 | 820 | 232* | 117.14 | 3 |
| GS Sobers (WI) | 1958-1967 | 8 | 13 | 899 | 198 |
99.88 | 3 |
| KF Barrington (Eng) | 1961-1964 | 6 | 10 | 674 | 172 |
96.28 | 3 |
| CH Lloyd (WI) | 1966-1983 | 14 | 22 | 1359 | 242* | 75.50 | 4 |
| JH Kallis (SAf) | 2000-2004 | 4 | 7 | 377 | 121 |
75.40 | 1 |
| CD McMillan (NZ) | 1999-2003 | 4 | 7 | 342 | 100* | 68.40 | 1 |
| B Sutcliffe (NZ) | 1955-1965 | 9 | 16 | 885 | 230* | 68.07 | 3 |
| RB Kanhai (WI) | 1958-1967 | 8 | 12 | 765 | 256 |
63.75 | 1 |
| IT Botham (Eng) | 1980-1982 | 7 | 9 | 554 | 142 |
61.55 | 2 |
| ML Hayden (Aust) | 2001-2004 | 7 | 14 | 793 | 203 |
61.00 | 2 |
| AI Kallicharran (WI) | 1974-1979 | 11 | 19 | 992 | 187 |
58.35 | 2 |
Given how good Indian batsmen are at playing spin and their susceptibility against pace, visiting fast bowlers have fared far better than spinners on Indian pitches. Richie Benaud is the only spinner in the top ten bowling averages and Saqlain Mushtaq, who began his Indian experience with four consecutive five-fors in 1999, is at No.11. However, two spinners, Benaud and Derek Underwood , are the only visiting bowlers to have taken over 50 wickets in India.
| Player | Span | Mat | Runs | Wkts | BBI | Ave | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AK Davidson (Aust) | 1956-1960 | 6 | 473 | 30 | 7/93 | 15.76 | 2 |
| AA Donald (SAf) | 1996-2000 | 4 | 274 | 17 | 4/37 | 16.11 | 0 |
| BR Taylor (NZ) | 1965-1969 | 5 | 381 | 21 | 5/26 | 18.14 | 2 |
| R Benaud (Aust) | 1956-1960 | 8 | 956 | 52 | 7/72 | 18.38 | 5 |
| CA Walsh (WI) | 1987-1994 | 7 | 798 | 43 | 6/79 | 18.55 | 3 |
| GD McKenzie (Aust) | 1964-1969 | 8 | 655 | 34 | 6/58 | 19.26 | 3 |
| JK Lever (Eng) | 1976-1981 | 8 | 731 | 37 | 7/46 | 19.75 | 3 |
| AME Roberts (WI) | 1974-1983 | 7 | 733 | 37 | 7/64 | 19.81 | 3 |
| WJ Cronje (SAf) | 1996-2000 | 5 | 166 | 8 | 3/23 | 20.75 | 0 |
| WW Hall (WI) | 1958-1967 | 8 | 796 | 38 | 6/50 | 20.94 | 2 |
Carl Hooper, with 806 runs at 53.73, tops the ODI runs aggregate for matches against India in India. Jacques Kallis, Matthew Hayden and Inzamam-ul-Haq average over 50 in both Tests and ODIs in India.
| Player | Span | Mat | Inns | Runs | HS |
Ave | 100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JH Kallis (SAf) | 2000-2005 | 8 | 7 | 307 | 91 |
76.75 | 0 |
| CG Greenidge (WI) | 1983-1988 | 9 | 8 | 517 | 115 |
73.85 | 1 |
| AJ Lamb (Eng) | 1984-1989 | 7 | 7 | 276 | 91 |
69.00 | 0 |
| Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pak) | 1996-2005 | 12 | 12 | 551 | 91 |
68.87 | 0 |
| GM Ritchie (Aust) | 1984-1986 | 7 | 7 | 261 | 75 |
65.25 | 0 |
| MG Bevan (Aust) | 1996-2003 | 15 | 14 | 556 | 87* | 61.77 | 0 |
| Salman Butt (Pak) | 2004-2005 | 7 | 7 | 343 | 108* | 57.16 | 2 |
| CL Hooper (WI) | 1987-2002 | 24 | 22 | 806 | 113* | 53.73 | 1 |
| KC Wessels (Aust/SAf) | 1984-1993 | 10 | 9 | 413 | 107 |
51.62 | 1 |
| ML Hayden (Aust) | 2001-2003 | 8 | 8 | 413 | 111 |
51.62 | 1 |
| Player | Span | Mat | Runs | Wkts | BBI | Ave | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BP Patterson (WI) | 1987-1988 | 7 | 223 | 20 | 6/29 | 11.15 | 1 |
| PS de Villiers (SAf) | 1993-1996 | 7 | 176 | 11 | 3/19 | 16.00 | 0 |
| NW Bracken (Aust) | 2001-2003 | 6 | 209 | 13 | 4/29 | 16.07 | 0 |
| Naved-ul-Hasan (Pak) | 2004-2005 | 7 | 313 | 16 | 6/27 | 19.56 | 1 |
| AA Donald (SAf) | 1991-1996 | 9 | 362 | 18 | 5/29 | 20.11 | 1 |
| IVA Richards (WI) | 1983-1989 | 15 | 417 | 20 | 6/41 | 20.85 | 1 |
| CA Walsh (WI) | 1987-1996 | 17 | 490 | 23 | 4/16 | 21.30 | 0 |
| SM Pollock (SAf) | 2000-2005 | 8 | 295 | 13 | 3/25 | 22.69 | 0 |
| DW Fleming (Aust) | 1996-2001 | 9 | 413 | 17 | 5/36 | 24.29 | 1 |
| SR Waugh (Aust) | 1986-2001 | 20 | 482 | 19 | 3/29 | 25.36 | 0 |
If there's a particular List that you would like to see, e-mail us with your comments and suggestions.
George Binoy is editorial assistant of Cricinfo
Feeds: George Binoy
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Senior sub-editor After a major in Economics and nine months at a financial research firm, George realised that equity, capital and the like were not for him. He decided that he wanted to be one of those lucky few who do what they love at work. Alas, his prodigious talent was never spotted and he had to reconcile himself to the fact that he would never earn his money playing cricket for his country, state or even district. He jumped at the opportunity to work for Cricinfo and is now confident of mastering the art of office cricket.
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