Major milestones for Sachin and Co in the offing
Sachin Tendulkar will perhaps be the most closely watched player as fans anticipate his 50th Test hundred in the upcoming series in South Africa. But there are a whole slew of other milestones also in the offing during the three-Test series.
Indian opening batsman Gautham Gambhir
One more century stand from Gambhir and Virender Sehwag will equal the Indian record of most 100-plus partnerships by an opening pair. Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan together put on 10 century stands for India.
Virender Sehwag has 84 sixes in Test Cricket under his belt and is on par with Viv Richards. While still considerably far behind Adam Gilchrist who has 100 sixes to his credit, Sehwag can surpass Chris Cairns (87) and Brian Lara (88) to take second place in the list of six-hitters. .
The Wall Rahul Dravid, requires just 11 more runs to outrun Brian Lara's tally of 11,953 runs and consequently move to third place in the list of top run-scorers after Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting. Plus, if Dravid takes one more catch, he will become the first cricketer in the history of the Tests to pouch 200.
Sachin Tendulkar is 67 runs shy of creating a new Indian record of most runs in a calendar year. He currently has 1,396 runs from 12 Tests in 2010. Fellow teammate Virender Sehwag (1462 runs in 2008) and Sunil Gavaskar (1407 in 1979) are ahead of him. Tendulkar also needs 165 runs to complete 1,000 runs on South African soil. He will become the first Indian and only the second batsman after England’s Wally Hammond (1447) to achieve the feat.
Harbhajan Singh requires just five wickets to complete 50 wickets against South Africa. He will become the third Indian to do so after Anil Kumble (84) and Javagal Srinath (64). Additionally, Bhajji needs 84 runs to reach 2,000 runs in Test cricket. He will also complete the all-round double of 2,000 runs and 200 wickets.
South African middle-order batsman Jacques Kallis, needs 73 runs to complete 6,000 runs on South African soil. He will become first South African and only the fifth batsman after Ricky Ponting (6860), Tendulkar (6547), Brian Lara (6217) and Mahela Jayawardene (6070) to aggregate 6,000 runs on home soil. Jacques Kallis needs 2 more wickets to complete 150 wickets on South African soil, becoming only the fourth bowler to do so.
South African Wicketkeeper Mark Boucher needs 4 dismissals to complete fifty dismissals against India. He will become the fifth keeper after Adam Gilchrist (75), Jeff Dujon (60), Wasim Bari (55) and Alan Knott (54) to complete the accomplishment. is now just 8 runs short of notching up 3,000 runs in Test cricket. If he does so in India's first innings, he will become the third fastest to do so for India by taking a mere 65 innings en route. Only Virender Sehwag (55 innings) and Mohammad Azharuddin (64 innings) are ahead of him.
Indian opening batsman Gautham Gambhir
One more century stand from Gambhir and Virender Sehwag will equal the Indian record of most 100-plus partnerships by an opening pair. Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan together put on 10 century stands for India.
Virender Sehwag has 84 sixes in Test Cricket under his belt and is on par with Viv Richards. While still considerably far behind Adam Gilchrist who has 100 sixes to his credit, Sehwag can surpass Chris Cairns (87) and Brian Lara (88) to take second place in the list of six-hitters. .
The Wall Rahul Dravid, requires just 11 more runs to outrun Brian Lara's tally of 11,953 runs and consequently move to third place in the list of top run-scorers after Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting. Plus, if Dravid takes one more catch, he will become the first cricketer in the history of the Tests to pouch 200.
Sachin Tendulkar is 67 runs shy of creating a new Indian record of most runs in a calendar year. He currently has 1,396 runs from 12 Tests in 2010. Fellow teammate Virender Sehwag (1462 runs in 2008) and Sunil Gavaskar (1407 in 1979) are ahead of him. Tendulkar also needs 165 runs to complete 1,000 runs on South African soil. He will become the first Indian and only the second batsman after England’s Wally Hammond (1447) to achieve the feat.
Harbhajan Singh requires just five wickets to complete 50 wickets against South Africa. He will become the third Indian to do so after Anil Kumble (84) and Javagal Srinath (64). Additionally, Bhajji needs 84 runs to reach 2,000 runs in Test cricket. He will also complete the all-round double of 2,000 runs and 200 wickets.
South African middle-order batsman Jacques Kallis, needs 73 runs to complete 6,000 runs on South African soil. He will become first South African and only the fifth batsman after Ricky Ponting (6860), Tendulkar (6547), Brian Lara (6217) and Mahela Jayawardene (6070) to aggregate 6,000 runs on home soil. Jacques Kallis needs 2 more wickets to complete 150 wickets on South African soil, becoming only the fourth bowler to do so.
South African Wicketkeeper Mark Boucher needs 4 dismissals to complete fifty dismissals against India. He will become the fifth keeper after Adam Gilchrist (75), Jeff Dujon (60), Wasim Bari (55) and Alan Knott (54) to complete the accomplishment. is now just 8 runs short of notching up 3,000 runs in Test cricket. If he does so in India's first innings, he will become the third fastest to do so for India by taking a mere 65 innings en route. Only Virender Sehwag (55 innings) and Mohammad Azharuddin (64 innings) are ahead of him.
