Stats – Most wickets on opening day of a Test in India since 2006
Also, how much does Virat Kohli need to score in the second innings (if he is dismissed) to keep his average above 50?
ESPNcricinfo stats team12-Mar-202216 Wickets that fell on the opening day of the Bengaluru Test, the most ever on day one of a day-night Test. The previous highest was 13, on four different instances, including the two previous day-night Tests in India, against Bangladesh in Kolkata, and against England in Ahmedabad.
Sixteen is also the most wickets to fall on the opening day of a Test in India since the start of 2006. It was two more than the total wickets lost on day one in Ahmedabad in 2008, when South Africa bowled India out for 76 and then finished the day on 223 for 4. The most wickets ever on the opening day of a Test in India is 18, in the India-West Indies Test in Delhi in 1987.
In the last eight years, there has only been one instance of more wickets falling on the first day of a Test in any country: in the England-Ireland Test at Lord’s in 2019, 20 wickets went down as both teams were bowled out on the opening day.47 The highest partnership in India’s innings, between Hanuma Vihari and Virat Kohli for the third wicket. Despite no partnership touching 50, India still managed a total of 252. Only once have India scored more runs in an innings without a partnership of at least 50: way back in 1977, they scored 259 for 9 against England, also in Bengaluru, with a highest stand of 49.20 Runs that Virat Kohli needs to score in the second innings (if he is dismissed) to ensure that his average at the end of the Test stays above 50. The last time his average dropped below 50 at the end of a Test was in August 2017, when he averaged 49.55 after his 60th Test. Since then, his average has stayed above 50 in 40 consecutive matches. (Click here for Kohli’s cumulative average after each Test.)