In an incredible batting assault, Rohit Sharma led India to the fastest team fifty ever in Test cricket, before Yashasvi Jaiswal took them to the fastest team hundred as the home side pushed to make up for lost time in the rain-hit Kanpur Test against Bangladesh.
India break England's fastest team fifty record
In a new-ball blitz that could put some T20 starts to shame, India smashed England's record from July, taking just 18 balls to reach their team fifty, the fastest ever in Test cricket.
England had taken 4.2 overs against the West Indies at Trent Bridge, making the Kanpur raid the first instance of a team reaching fifty in Tests under 20 balls. Consequently, India cut into England's monopoly at the top as the owners of the top three spots on the list.
Before this, India's fastest fifty record was off 33 balls, during the famous 2008 Chennai Test against England, when they chased down 387, the biggest target chased down in India.
Rohit Sharma set the tone with two sixes off the first two balls: the first one was a majestic hit down the ground off Khaled Ahmed off the first ball he faced, and another off the very next, pulling a trademark six over deep midwicket. He raced to 23 off nine, before a close lbw call seemingly broke his rhythm, losing his stumps to a sharply-turning Mehidy Hasan delivery the ball after.
Jaiswal leads India to fastest team hundred
Even as Rohit departed, Yashasvi Jaiswal continued to make merry. He reached his fifty off just 31 balls in the ninth over. Indi areached 90 at the end of nine overs and were in with a real chance of getting to 100 inside 10 overs. The first ball of the over, bowled by Miraz, was smashed for six, but India could only manage three more of the next five balls.
Off the first ball of the 11th over, Jaiswal smashed a boundary off Khaled Ahmed to take India past 100 and break their own world record which they set against the West Indies in Port of Spain last year, in the process.
Fastest team fifties in Test cricket
1: 18 balls – India vs Bangladesh, Kanpur, 2024
2: 26 balls - England vs West Indies, Nottingham, 2024
3: 27 balls - England vs South Africa, The Oval, 1994
4: 30 balls - England vs Sri Lanka, Manchester, 2002
5: 32 balls - Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, Karachi, 2004
Fastest team hundreds in Test cricket
Team | Opponents | Year | Overs | Venue |
India | Bangladesh | 2024 | 10.1 | Kanpur |
India | West Indies | 2023 | 12.2 | Port of Spain |
Sri Lanka | Bangladesh | 2001 | 13.2 | SSC Colombo |
England | South Africa | 1994 | 13.3 | The Oval |
Bangladesh | West Indies | 2012 | 13.4 | Mirpur |
England | Pakistan | 2022 | 13.4 | Rawalpindi |
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