10 Amazing Co-Incidences In Cricket History

Cricket, as we all know, is a highly unpredictable game. Apart from being an unpredictable sport, it is also a game that is full of stats and numbers.

And, of course, during the course of the last century, there have been innumerable coincidences with regards to the numbers of two different players or teams that leave fans befuddled.

On that note, here’s a look at amazing cricket co-incidences that are too good to be true:

Double tons by different players but the same margin of victory for Team India

Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, swashbuckler Virender Sehwag, and the ‘Hitman’ Rohit Sharma are the only three Indian batters to score a double hundred in 50-over cricket.

While Sachin Tendulkar achieved the feat against South Africa in 2010, Virender Sehwag and Rohit Sharma achieved the same against West Indies and Australia respectively in 2011 and 2013.

Rohit went on to hit two more double tons which also included his highest score of 264- against Sri Lanka in 2014.

In all these three instances of Sachin, Sehwag, and Rohit scoring a 200 [his 2nd double ton where he scored 264], India won the game by the same margin of 153 runs.

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Michael Clarke + Alastair Cook< Sachin Tendulkar

At the end of 100 Tests, former Aussie skipper Michael Clarke and former English opener Alastair Cook had 7964 and 7955 runs with 26 and 25 tons respectively.

If you add both stats vertically, then numbers are still less than Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar’s Test stats– 15921 runs in 200 Tests with 51 tons.

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MS Dhoni maiden ODI and Test tons

Former Indian skipper MS Dhoni announced himself to the cricket world with a whirlwind 148 in Vizag in an ODI in 2005.

A year later, Dhoni did the same in a Test match as he, en-route to his maiden 100 in the format, smashed a blistering 148 in Faisalabad.

Apart from the scores being the same on both occasions, the opponent and the number of innings he took to achieve the feat in both formats also the same.

Dhoni achieved both feats against bitter rivals Pakistan in his 5th innings in the format.

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The series of number 1

On 11/11/11, South Africa needed 111 runs against Australia to win a Test match at Newlands in Cape Town when the local time was 11:11.

The scoreboard read– 11:11 11/11/11.

The Test, in itself, was a fascinating affair. South Africa, after having been shot out for 96 in response to Australia’s first innings score of 284, stormed back in an astounding manner to dismiss the Aussies for a mere 47 in 18 overs with Vernon Philander claiming 5/15 in just 7 overs.

The home side then proceeded to chase down 236 in the fourth innings with ease thanks to brilliant hundreds by skipper Graeme Smith [101 not-out] and Hashim Amla, who scored a 134-ball 112.

The number 183 and future Indian captains

Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni, and Virat Kohli share another thing in common apart from being successful Indian skippers.

All three batters have 183 as their highest individual score in ODI cricket and the glaring coincidence is that each of them went on to become Indian captains in the future.

Sourav Ganguly smashed 183 against Sri Lanka during the 1999 World Cup and be went on to become captain the following year.

MS Dhoni achieved the same feat against Sri Lanka in 2005 and he went on to lead the side between 2007-17.

The same is the case with Virat Kohli, who smoked 183 against Pakistan in 2012 before taking up the leadership duties in 2017.

Rahul Dravid and Cheteshwar Pujara Test milestones

Not only do Rahul Dravid and Cheteshwar Pujara bear resemblance to each other in terms of unrelenting patience and grit, their milestones in Test cricket have also followed a similar trajectory.

Both Dravid and Pujara reached 3000 Test runs in 67 innings, 4000 runs in 87 innings, and 5000 runs in 108 innings.

Amazing, isn’t it?

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Simon Katich and Mike Hussey’s identical Test numbers at one point

By the end of their first 52 Tests, Simon Katich and Mike Hussey had exactly 3981 runs against their name.

Unfortunately for Katich, he could only add another 207 runs to his tally and ended with 4188 runs in 56 Tests.

As far as Mike Hussey is concerned, the left-hander finished with 6235 runs in 79 Tests at an average of 51.53 with 29 50s and 19 tons.

November 27 and 300th Test wicket milestone

On November 27th, 1981, former Aussie speedster Dennis Lillee became the fastest to claim 300 Test wickets. Lillee achieved the feat in his 56th Test.

Exactly 36 years later on November 27, 2017, India’s Ravichandran Ashwin broke the record to become the fastest to 300 Test wickets. Ashwin achieved the feat against Sri Lanka in his 54th Test.

Tony Greig and his brother Ian Greig breakout debut

Former England all-rounder and legendary commentator Tony Greig made his Test debut against Australia in 1972 and he went on to claim 4/53 in the second innings as his team eventually won the game by 89 runs.

10 years later, his younger brother Ian Greig made his Test debut against Pakistan and he also notched up figures of 4/53 in the Test.

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Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli

There is a reason why Virat Kohli is hailed as the true successor of Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar.

Not only the duo share the same hunger for runs, as is evident from their stats, but they also have glaring similarities when it comes to achieving various landmarks during their career.

Both Sachin and Virat completed 1000 international runs against Australia at the MCG (in 1999 and 2013) in the 19th over of the innings and they celebrated the milestone by smashing a hundred.

The similarities don’t end here. Both Sachin and Virat were 26 at the time and they used MRF bats to achieve the feat.

Both Sachin and Virat have exactly 3 ODI don’t against Sri Lanka at R. Premadasa Stadium. Both scored their 2nd ODI ton against Australia and, lastly, their 58th international ton came against England and each of them scored 103 in that innings and India ended up winning the Test on both occasions.

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