Vizag Test: James Anderson creates unwanted 110-year-old record vs India

Anything that could go wrong for England in the second Test against India in Vizag went wrong. Virat Kohli scored 167, England were undone by the spin of R Ashwin and Jayant Yadav as they crashed to a 246-run defeat, their second heaviest in terms of runs in Tests versus India.

The statistics accumulated by England in this match are not pretty reading. However, following the end of the match, James Anderson created an unwanted 110-year old record that summed up their horror. (SCORECARD)

In the first innings, he was bowled by Ashwin first ball while in the second, he was trapped LBW to Jayant first ball. Anderson was dismissed for a ‘King Pair’, making him the first England batsman to achieve this notoriety after 110 years.

The last England batsman to have been dismissed for a ‘King Pair’ was Ernie Hayes. He achieved the feat against South Africa in Cape Town in 1906. Overall, only four England batsmen have been dismissed for a ‘King Pair’. William Atwell was the first England player to get dismissed for a first ball duck in both innings against Australia in Sydney in 1892 while Bobby Peel was the second in Adelaide in 1895.

Peel also has the notorious record for being dismissed for four consecutive ducks in an innings. However, the record for being dismissed for consecutive ducks in consecutive innings is jointly held by Australia’s Bob Holland and India’s Ajit Agarkar. Both batsmen were dismissed for a duck in five consecutive innings.

Anderson and ducks have a reputation. During the 2014 Test against Sri Lanka in Leeds, the left-handed batsman was dismissed for a duck but he had consumed 55 balls in the process. However, England lost the match with only two balls to go. His 55-ball duck was the second-longest in Tests, behind New Zealand’s Geoff Allott who consumed 77 balls for his duck against South Africa in Auckland in 1999.

However, it should not be forgotten that Anderson had held the record for not being dismissed for a duck for 54 consecutive innings. That record was broken during the 2009 Ashes Test against Australia at the Oval.

Anderson may be the king of swing bowling, but as a batsman, the ‘Burnley Lara’ now has to live with the ‘King Pair’ stat.