Test cricket, as we all know, is a format that tests your skill and technique along with patience, grit, and determination. These are some of the important aspects for a batsman to succeed in this 5-day format of the game as these days grind the body mentally and physically. This helps the best of the best batsmen survive a long time in a Test match.
Surviving long means scoring big and avoiding being the owner of some of the most embarrassing individual records in Test match cricket. For example, bagging a King pair is something a batsman wouldn’t want to have in his career.
Getting out on a duck (pair) is one thing, but getting out on the first ball in both the batting knocks of a Test match (called a King Pair in cricketing terms) is rare and is something a batsman doesn’t want against his name.
So here is the list of batsmen who have had a king pair to their name at least once in their Test career.
| S.NO | BATSMAN | VS | VENUE | DATE & YEAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Attewell (England) | Australia | Sydney Cricket Ground | 29th January 1892 |
| 2 | Ernest Hayes (England) | South Africa | Newlands | 24th March 1906 |
| 3 | Albert Vogler (South Africa) | Australia | Sydney Cricket Ground | 9th December 1910 |
| 4 | Thomas Ward (South Africa) | Australia | Old Trafford | 27th May 1912 |
| 5 | Robert Crisp (South Africa) | Australia | Kingsmead | 28th February 1936 |
| 6 | Ian Colquhoun (New Zealand) | England | Eden Park | 25th March 1995 |
| 7 | Colin Wesley (South Africa) | England | Trent Bridge | 7th July 1960 |
| 8 | Bhagwat Chandrasekhar (India) | Australia | Melbourne Cricket Ground | 30th December 1977 |
| 9 | Gary Troup (New Zealand) | India | Basin Reserve | 21st February 1981 |
| 10 | David Richardson (South Africa) | Pakistan | Wanderers Stadium | 19th January 1995 |
| 11 | Adam Huckle (Zimbabwe) | Pakistan | Harare Sports Club | 21st March 1998 |
| 12 | Ajit Agarkar (India) | Australia | Melbourne Cricket Ground | 26th December 1999 |
| 13 | Adam Gilchrist (Australia) | India | Eden Gardens | 11th March 2001 |
| 14 | Javed Omar (Bangladesh) | India | Shere Bangla National Stadium | 25th May 2007 |
| 15 | Ryan Harris (Australia) | England | Adelaide Oval | 3rd December 2010 |
| 16 | Virender Sehwag (India) | England | Edgbaston | 10th August 2011 |
| 17 | Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka) | Pakistan | Sharjah Cricket Ground | 16th January 2014 |
| 18 | Dhammika Prasad (Sri Lanka) | Pakistan | Pallekele International Cricket Stadium | 3rd July 2015 |
| 19 | James Anderson (England ) | India | Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy Cricket Stadium | 16th November 2016 |
| 20 | Nuwan Pradeep (Sri Lanka) | Pakistan | Sheikh Zayed Stadium | 28th September 2017 |
| 21 | Nurul Hasan (Bangladesh) | West Indies | Sabina Park | 12th July 2018 |
| 22 | Sam Curran (England) | India | Lord’s | 12th August 2021 |
| 23 | Travis Head (Australia) | West Indies | The Gabba, Brisbane | 28th January 2024 |
Analysis from the above Table
23 – There have been 23 instances of King pairs (batsman getting out on the 1st ball of both innings ) in Test Cricket since the birth of the format way back in 1877.
0 – None of the players has bagged a King pair more than once in their Test career.
1892 – The first recorded instance of a King pair happening in a Test match, and the batsman was William Attewell of England against their arch-rivals Australia. This game took place at the SCG.
2 – The number of king pairs happened in these two iconic stadiums of Australia – Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG)
The final instance of a King pair happening was at the Gabba in 2024. This was when Travis Head went for a first-baller in both innings of a Test match against the touring West Indies.
2 – Javed Omar of Bangladesh and Virender Sehwag of India are the only batsmen who batted as an opener in that game.
6 – The number of times an Australian team has the batsman out on the first ball in both innings. This is the most by any team, and they are closely followed by India & Pakistan, whose bowlers have taken a king pair 5 times each in a Test match.
5 – The number of times a batsman from South Africa has bagged a King pair in the history of a Test match is the most among any team playing. The next on the list is the pioneers of Cricket England, who have had this dubious distinction 4 times.
2 – Pakistan and West Indies are the only countries among the Test-playing nations (min. 10 Tests) whose players have not yet bagged a King pair.
5 – Times where the batsman lost his wickets both times to the same bowler from the opposition in the Test match. Ernest Hayes of England was picked by Sinclair of South Africa, Javed Omar by Zaheer Khan, Thomas Ward (South Africa) by Matthews of Australia, Ian Colquhoun (New Zealand) to Appleyard of England, and Colin Wesley (South Africa) fell to Statham of England.
Most of the batters in the list are not best known for their batting abilities, and the number of lower-order batsmen in this group is high. So this gives us a clear picture that it is relatively difficult to get rid of a top-order batsman in this manner.
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