It was a day of records in the ongoing first Test between Bangladesh and New Zealand in Sylhet. The skipper of the home team Najmul Hossain Shanto became the first ever player from Bangladesh to notch up a Test ton on captaincy debut even as he became the 32nd cricketer overall to achieve this feat.
Earlier in the day, New Zealand skipper Tim Southee also created a unique double after scoring 35 runs with the bat, the knock that helped the visitors sneak a 7-run lead in the first innings. During his innings, Southee also completed 2000 runs in Test cricket and became the third Kiwi cricketer to achieve a unique double of 2000 runs and 300 wickets in the longest format of the game.
Before him, Richard Hadlee and Daniel Vettori had completed this unique double before with the former being the fastest among the overall list as well. While Hadlee achieved this record in just 61 Tests, Vettori did it in the 94th match of his career. Southee is the slowest among them having done it in 95 Tests.
New Zealand players to score 2000+ runs and pick 300+ wickets in Tests
| Player |
Tests taken to complete the double |
| Richard Hadlee |
61 |
| Daniel Vettori |
94 |
| Tim Southee |
95 |
If the Indian cricketers are considered, four of them have achieved this unique record. Kapil Dev, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble and Ravichandran Ashwin amassed more than 2000 runs and picked more than 300 wickets during their Test career. Perhaps, Ashwin is still playing with 489 wickets and 3185 runs to his name in 95 Tests so far even as he will be part of the upcoming Test series against South Africa and then will also feature in five Tests against England at home.
Indian cricketers to achieve the double of 2000+ runs and 300+ wickets in Tests: Kapil Dev, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Ravichandran Ashwin
