A player is said to have secured a King Pair when he gets out for a golden duck in both innings of a Test match. Although a pair is common, it is almost rare to see a King Pair in the game. That said, so far in the history of the sport, we have witnessed 22 King Pairs. In this article, we take a look at five players who bagged a king pair against India in Test cricket history.
1) Gary Troup – New Zealand
Venue – Wellington || Year – 1981 || 1st Innings Wicket-Taker – Ravi Shastri || 2nd Innings Wicket-Taker – Ravi Shastri
Gary Troup was the ninth player in the history of the game to secure a player. The left-arm pacer was also the first person to register a King Pair against India. For a cricketer, who had seven ducks in 18 innings, the only pair was against the men in blue.
It was the current coach of the Indian Team Ravi Shastri who took Troup’s wicket in both innings. While Sunil Gavaskar helped Shastri complete the wicket with the catch in the first innings, it was city-mate Dillip Vengsarkar who assisted Shastri in the second. Yet, India lost the game by 62 runs.
2) Adam Gilchrist – Australia
Venue – Kolkata || Year – 2001 || 1st Innings Wicket-Taker – Harbhajan Singh || 2nd Innings Wicket-Taker – Sachin Tendulkar
Adam Gilchrist is one of the very few batsmen who secured a King Pair in the history of the game. The player had just started his career in the lower middle-order of Australia and had to endure an embarrassment. Incidentally, this event occurred in the famous Eden Gardens game, which India won by 171 runs.
The attention was on VVS Laxman, who scored 281 runs, but Harbhajan was terrific with 13 wickets in the game. While Gilly fell to Bhajji in the first innings, Sachin Tendulkar took his scalp in the second. On both occasions, the Aussie wicket-keeper was out LBW.
3) Javed Omar – Bangladesh
Venue – Dhaka || Year – 2007 || 1st Innings Wicket-Taker – Zaheer Khan || 2nd Innings Wicket-Taker – Zaheer Khan
While it is understandable that the lower-order batsmen secure a King Pair, it is almost unforgivable when an opener gets out for a golden duck in both innings. Javed Omar was the unlucky batsman in this event.
Many openers have been troubled by Zaheer Khan at the start of the innings. In this game, Javed Omar had to endure two unplayable deliveries. Dinesh Karthik took the catch in the first innings, while MS Dhoni helped Zaheer with the catch in the second. India won this game convincingly by an innings and 239 runs.
4) James Anderson – England
Venue – Visakhapatnam || Year – 2016 || 1st Innings Wicket-Taker – R Ashwin || 2nd Innings Wicket-Taker – Jayant Yadav
James Anderson, who had already had two pairs in his career, registered another when the England Team toured India in 2016. This time, though, the highest Test wicket-taking pacer secured a King Pair. Hence, he is one of the players who bagged a King Pair against India in Test cricket history.
Anderson is known for his fragile defence and, understandably, he got out for zero in both innings. In the game, which eventually India won, Anderson was out LBW in both innings on his first delivery. R Ashwin and Jayant Yadav were the bowlers in this case.
5) Sam Curran – England
Venue – London || Year – 2021 || 1st Innings Wicket-Taker – Ishant Sharma || 2nd Innings Wicket-Taker – Mohammed Siraj
The recent Lord’s Test match between India and England witnessed a King Pair after almost three years. Sam Curran was the player who got out on the first ball in both innings. The all-rounder became popular after he troubled India in the lower order in 2018. However, in this tour, the youngster is yet to leave a similar impact.
India incredibly won the game after they were staring at a loss at the start of Day 5. It was the pacers who were at the top of their mark with 20 wickets in their bank. In Curran’s case, while he edged one to Rohit Sharma off Ishant’s bowling in the first innings, he then knicked one back to Pant off Siraj‘s bowling in the second.
