Highest run-getters at No. 3 in Tests
Batsman
Innings
Runs
Average
100s/50s
Rahul Dravid
219
10, 524
52.88
28/50
Ricky Ponting
196
9904
56.27
32/43
Kumar Sangakkara
160
8716
58.10
27/36
Don Bradman
56
5078
103.63
20/10
Richie Richardson
107
4711
47.11
14/21
Rohan Kanhai
90
4689
52.68
13/20
David Boon
111
4412
45.58
13/20
Ian Chappell
91
4279
50.94
13/22
Dravid’s stats at No. 3 sorted by the score at which he came in to bat present some interesting numbers. He averaged only 38 when the first wicket fell with ten runs or fewer on the board, but on the 18 occasions when the first wicket fell at zero, he averaged 51.94, with three centuries and as many fifties. In fact, his highest Test score, 270, came when he came out to bat second ball, after Virender Sehwag had fallen to Shoaib Akhtar off the first ball of the innings, in Rawalpindi. He also had plenty of success when he came in to bat fairly early, with the score between 11 and 20. The 148 at Headingley in 2002 came after the first wicket fell for 15, while the 217 that followed in the next Test, at The Oval, was scored after the first wicket fell at 18.
He obviously also relished coming in to bat after the openers had given the team a solid start. On the 66 occasions when they added more than 50, Dravid averaged 62.41. Among his key knocks in such situations was the 233 in Adelaide in 2003 – that match-winning effort came after the openers had added 66.
Dravid at No. 3 by point-of-entry scores
Point of entry
Innings
Runs
Average
100s/ 50s
10 or below
66
2322
38.07
4/12
11 to 20
45
2482
60.54
7/9
21 to 50
42
1913
53.14
4/11
51 and above
66
3807
62.41
13/18
And here’s a comparison with a couple of other top-class No. 3 batsmen by their point-of-entry averages. Ricky Ponting and Kumar Sangakkara have better averages when they have come in to bat with the score at 10 or under, while Don Bradman’s stats are predictably beyond compare.
Other No. 3 batsmen by point-of-entry scores
Point of entry
Bradman-Runs/ ave
100s/ 50s
Ponting-Runs/ ave
100s/ 50s
Sangakkara-Runs/ ave
100s/ 50s
10 or below
1403/127.55
5/1
2359/53.61
9/10
2948/57.80
8/13
11 to 20
524/52.40
2/1
975/46.43
1/8
1370/48.93
3/9
21 to 50
1689/112.60
7/5
3631/69.83
13/10
1953/48.82
5/7
51 and above
1462/112.46
6/3
2939/49.81
9/15
2445/78.87
11/7
Staying through partnerships
Dravid’s ability to spend long periods at the crease meant bowlers had to invariably work hard to get his wicket. On average, he played 123 balls per dismissal, which works out to 20.3 overs. Since the year of Dravid’s debut, the only batsman who has faced 10,000-plus deliveries and has a higher rate of balls per dismissal is Jacques Kallis, who averages 125.55 balls per dismissal. They’re the only two with a balls-per-dismissal figure of more than 120. Further down the table below, Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara have similar numbers: both have higher averages than Dravid, but their higher scoring rates also mean they don’t play as many deliveries per dismissal.
Highest balls per dismissal in Tests since Jan 1996*
Batsman
Innings
Not outs
Balls
faced
Average
Strike rate
Balls
per dismissal
Jacques Kallis
256
39
27,139
57.04
45.60
125.06
Rahul Dravid
286
32
31,258
52.31
42.51
123.06
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
&
nbsp; 221
33
21,365
48.79
42.93
113.64
Thilan Samaraweera
116
20
10,653
52.89
47.66
110.97
Steve Waugh
137
21
12,705
53.06
48.45
109.53
Gary Kirsten
143
14
13,841
47.19
43.98
107.29
Sachin Tendulkar
256
25
23,781
56.22
54.61
102.95
Michael Hussey
121
13
11,059
50.82
49.63
102.40
Kumar Sangakkara
181
12
17,236
55.39
54.31
101.99
*Qualification: 10,000 balls played
Dravid’s ability to spend long periods at the crease meant his contribution to the team was much more than just the runs he scored. His solidity at the top of the order allowed the other, more extravagant, strokeplayers in the Indian team to express themselves freely, knowing that Dravid would hold his end up for long periods without losing concentration.
The table below shows that when Dravid was at the crease, the team scored 32,039 runs (60 of those were in the Test between Australia and the ICC World XI, so 31,979 runs were scored by the Indian team). Given that the entire Indian team scored 89,668 runs, it means 35.6% of the total runs that India made in the Tests in which Dravid played were scored with him at the crease. The corresponding percentage for Tendulkar is 29.9, and 32.6 for Kallis. Dravid is also the only batsman to be involved in more than 700 partnerships; in fact, no other batsman has touched 650 so far.
Every time Dravid walked out to bat, he was involved in, on an average, 2.58 partnerships. Among batsmen who have played at least 100 innings, only Shivnarine Chanderpaul has a higher partnerships-per-innings number (2.66). So while Dravid scored heaps of runs himself, his batting style also meant many more runs were being scored from the other end while he was around, all of which helped the team’s cause.
Partnership runs for batsmen with 10,000-plus Test runs
Batsman
Partnerships
Partnership
runs
100/50
stands
Batsman
runs
Percentage
Rahul Dravid
738
32,039
88/126
13,288
41.47
Sachin Tendulkar
646
30,278
85/121
15,470
51.09
Ricky Ponting
496
26,703
85/110
13,200
49.43
Jacques Kallis
581
26,349
65/119
12,379
46.98
Allan Border
617
24,500
63/104
11,174
45.61
Steve Waugh
590
23,457
64/87
10,927
46.58
Brian Lara
508
21,495
62/84
11,953
55.61
Sunil Gavaskar
519
21,080
58/85
10,122
48.02
Mahela Jayawardene
429
20,948
63/82
10,271
49.03
Dravid has been involved in more century stands than any other batsman: he finished at 88, with Tendulkar and Ponting on 85 each. Dravid is also the only batsman to have ten or more century stands with four others. And with Tendulkar, Dravid scored more partnership runs and century stands than any other pair, including openers, did: 6920 runs in 143 partnerships at 50.51, with 20 century stands. (Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes are next in terms of runs, with 6482, while in terms of century stands, the West Indian opening pair shares second place with Hayden and Ponting – both have 16 hundred partnerships each.)
Batsmen involved in most 100-plus stands in Tests
Batsman
Century stands
Partners with 10+ century stands
Rahul Dravid
88
Tendulkar (20), Laxman (12), Sehwag (10), Ganguly (10)
Ricky Ponting
85
Hayden (16), Langer (14)
Sachin Tendulkar
85
Dravid (20), Ganguly (12)
Jacques Kallis
65
de Villiers (12)
Steve Waugh
64
—
Allan Border
63
—
Mahela Jayawardene
63
Sangakkara (14), Samaraweera (10)
Brian Lara
62
Sarwan (12)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
60
—
Sunil Gavaskar
58
Chauhan (11), Vengsarkar (10), M Amarnath (10)
Beyond the batsman
And if all those achievements are not enough, Dravid was captain of the Indian Test team for 25 Tests, a period during which the team had an 8-6 win-loss record, and won series in the West Indies and England. Among Indian captains who led in 20 or more Tests, only MS Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly have better win-loss ratios.
Indian captains with best win-loss ratio*
Captain
Tests
Win/Loss
Draw
W/L ratio
MS Dhoni
37
17/10
10
1.70
Sourav Ganguly
49
21/13
15
1.61
Rahul Dravid
25
8/6
11
1.33
Sunil Gavaskar
Rahul Dravid: Timeless Steel Page 21