It is not very often that you come across a batsman, who scores fifties for their respective sides, in each innings of a Test against India, in India. A batsman might have his way in one of the innings of a Test, and go on to score big, but generally, players find it tough to achieve that level of consistency in India.
But England opener Zak Crawley did come up with a special effort indeed, as he scored his second fifty of Test, in the Vizag encounter. After scoring 78-ball 76 in the first innings, Crawley came up with another fifty in the second, while chasing a mammoth target of 399.
Only the Third Time..
What makes this effort even more praise-worthy is the fact that it is only the third time in 10 years, that a batsman has managed to score fifties in both innings of a Test, in India. Sri Lanka’s Dinesh Chandimal had scored 57 & 61 in the Nagpur Test in 2017. The hosts went on to win the match by an innings and 239 runs.
The second instance was when New Zealand’s Tom Latham returned with scores of 95 & 52 in the Kanpur Test in 2021. That match had ended in a draw.
