New Delhi: The Score to settle series, as portrayed by the official broadcasters of the India-England series will kick start tomorrow with its first Test at Rajkot. Apart from what promises to be a grueling battle of Test match cricket, tomorrow’s match at Rajkot will see quite a few records also. Here are 5 records that will take place when two of the most popular cricket teams take the field at Rajkot.
Rajkot will host its first Test match
The Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium will become the 23rd venue to host a Test match in India, as the home ground for Saurashtra gears to host its first ever Test match. The stadium with a capacity of 28,000 has already hosted 2 ODIs and a solitary T20I. This will also provide a chance to local heroes Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja to play a Test match in front of their home crowd for the first time. Notably, Rajkot was the home of new IPL franchise Gujarat Lions in the ninth edition of the celebrated league.
DRS will make its India debut
The ever so controversial Decision Review System (DRS) will make its debut in India in a bilateral series tomorrow. The Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) India finally gave green signal to DRS after persuasion from coach Anil Kumle and captain Virat Kohli. BCCI have been against the use of DRS right from the onset, citing its inaccuracy, the board last used the system as a trial in the India-Sri Lanka series in 2008. Notably, the DRS recently got its upgradation clearance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While England is accustomed with the system, it will be an entirely new experience for the Indian side. Captain Virat Kohli though, sounded confident and said “DRS is no rocket Science” ahead of the first Test match at Rajkot.
Stuart Broad the ‘centurion’
Many believed that he would fail to recover from the scars of conceding six sixes to Yuvraj Singh in the inaugural world T20 at South Africa in 2007. But Stuart Broad proved his critics wrong and went to become a match winning fast bowler. It will be a special occasion for Stuart Broad when he takes the field tomorrow, England’s one of the most experienced fast bowlers will play his 100th Test match. He will be the 14th Englishman to achieve that feat. Borad, who has taken 360 wickets in 99 Test matches for his country also felt it was proud moment for him to be playing his 100th Test match against the No. 1 side in the World. ““There is no bigger occasion than starting a series in India, against the No 1 team in the world. It’s great to get a milestone being in such an important game because we know how vital it is to start these tours well. We are getting there and we are about ready to go,” said Broad.
Five-match Test series to return to India after 29 years
In the era of T20 cricket, a five-match Test series has become a rarity. A Cricket follower’s mind casts to the Ashes whenever he thinks of a series involving five Tests. Other teams rarely get involved in such a long series. India, also are no exceptions. This India-England series will mark the return of five-match Test series in India after 29 long years. It was way back in 1987 when a five-match Test series was last played in India, it was against arch rivals Pakistan. India ended up losing that series 0-1. They would hope that this time around they end up on the winning side.
Haseeb Hameed to become youngest English opener
As confirmed by England captain Alstair Cook, Indian origin batsman Haseeb Hameed will get his Test cap tomorrow to become the youngest ever to open the batting for England in a Test match. He will also be the fifth youngest ever to have played a Test match for his country. The 19 year old batsman hails from Lancashire and has had a prolific season opening batting for his county side. Haseeb has scored 1455 runs in 20 first class matches at an impressive average of 48.50.