In Stats: Shami’s Sensational Six-For Wrecks Australia at Perth

No Indian pacer had taken six wickets in an innings in Australia since Ajit Agarkar in the Adelaide Test of 2003.

Mohammed Shami’s career-best 6/56 gave India a fighting chance in their second Test against Australia, with the visitors being set a 287-run target at Perth to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Shami’s explosive burst during the second session on Day 4 on Monday, 17 December, led to a collapse which saw Australia fold for 243 all out after having been 192/4.

The 28-year-old fast bowler snared four wickets for just 11 runs in a five-over burst after Lunch. A look at some numbers from Shami’s fiery spell at Perth Stadium.

• The figures of 6/56 are Shami’s best in Test cricket, surpassing his 5/28 against South Africa at Johannesburg earlier in 2018.
• This was Shami’s fourth five-wicket haul in Tests, but the first time he has taken more than five wickets in an innings.
• Three of Shami’s four five-wicket hauls in Test matches have come outside Asia, with the effort at Perth his second such return in Australia (also took 5/112 at Sydney in 2015).
• Shami’s 6/56 are the fourth-best figures for an Indian fast bowler in Tests in Australia (Kapil Dev 8/106 Adelaide 1985, Ajit Agarkar 6/41 Adelaide 2003, Syed Abid Ali 6/55 Adelaide 1967).
• The right-arm pacer’s effort at Perth, in fact, is only the fourth instance of an Indian quick taking six wickets in an innings in a Test match Down Under.
• In Tests outside Asia, this is only the 14th instance of an Indian fast bowler returning with a six-wicket haul in a single innings.