How often has a five-Test series been tied at 2-2 going into the last match? asked Kerry Hamilton from England
This question was obviously sent when England looked likely to win the fourth Test in Ranchi - but India's close-run victory after an absorbing match there means there have still been only six five-Test series that were all square at 2-2 going into the final match.
Three were Ashes series, all of them in Australia. In 1884-85, England won in Melbourne to win 3-2. Ten years later, in 1894-95, England again won in Melbourne to pinch the series: in both of those they had won the first two Tests but lost the next two. And England won the first two matches again in 1936-37, only for Australia - captained by Don Bradman - uniquely to win the last three, including another decider in Melbourne.
England had a similar experience at home in 1955, when South Africa recovered from 2-0 down to 2-2, only for England to clinch the series at The Oval. And India have twice recovered to 2-2 only to lose the decider: they lost the final Test to West Indies in Bombay in 1974-75, then three seasons later in Australia went down 3-2 when the home side won the final match in Adelaide.
The six-Test series between England and West Indies in 1995 was level at 2-2 after four matches, but the last two were both drawn.
Anyway, to anticipate another question after the result in Ranchi, there have been only three previous five-Test series - the most recent well over 100 years ago - that a team won 4-1 after losing the first match. All three were Ashes series: Australia won 4-1 at home in 1897-98, and repeated the feat in the next series down under in 1901-02, then England turned the tables in 1911-12.
India passed 400 in both innings of the third Test against England. How rare is this? asked Vinod Nair from India
India made 445 and 430 for 4 declared in the third Test against England in Rajkot earlier this month. It was only the 11th instance of a team reaching 400 in both innings of a Test, something first achieved by Australia (450 and 452) against England in Sydney in 1924-25. The most recent instance before Rajkot was also by India (426 and 412 for 4), against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad in 2009-10.
The other instances were by: Australia (411 and 427 for 6 declared) at Trent Bridge vs England in 1938, South Africa (530 and 481) vs England in the timeless Test in Durban in 1938-39, Australia (458 and 404 for 3) vs England at Headingley in 1948, Australia (441 for 5 declared and 425) vs Pakistan in Melbourne in 1972-73, Australia (511 for 6 declared and 460 for 8) vs New Zealand in Wellington in 1973-74, India (407 and 407 for 9 declared) vs Pakistan in Kolkata in 2004-05, Pakistan (588 and 490 for 8 declared) vs India in Faisalabad in 2005-06, and Australia (463 and 401 for 7 declared) vs India in Sydney in 2007-08.
Sachin Tendulkar hit seven Test centuries in 2010. Was that the most in a single year? asked Ashli Ahmed from India
Back in 2010 Sachin Tendulkar was the fourth batter to score seven Test centuries in a calendar year, following Viv Richards for West Indies in 1976, Aravinda de Silva of Sri Lanka in 1997, and Australia's Ricky Ponting in 2006. However, also in 2006, Mohammad Yousuf of Pakistan piled up no fewer than nine centuries, in just 11 Tests, which remains the record.
Tendulkar does hold the record for ODIs, with nine in 1998. Sourav Ganguly made seven in 2000, David Warner seven in 2016, and Rohit Sharma seven in 2019, five of them in that year's World Cup.
In all, Tendulkar made 12 international hundreds in 1998. Ponting scored 11 in 2003, and Virat Kohli 11 in both 2017 and 2018. For that list, click here.
I noticed that Saurabh Tiwary was never out during his international career. He made 49 runs - has anyone made more without being dismissed? asked Paresh Firake from India
Saurabh Tiwary played three ODIs for India in 2010-11, when he was only 20, and scored 49 runs without being dismissed. Four players have scored more: leading the way is the Pakistan offspinner Afaq Hussain, who scored 66 runs in two Tests in the early 1960s without getting out.
Pakistan-born Mohammad Adnan scored 60 runs without being out in five T20Is for Saudi Arabia in 2019, while Yasir Mehmood made 55 in four T20Is for Cyprus in 2021. And Faiz Fazal, who announced his retirement earlier this month, played a solitary one-day international for India - against Zimbabwe in Harare in June 2016 - and scored 55 not out.
I noticed that Keith Stackpole took his best bowling figures on debut, and never improved them in 42 further Tests. Has anyone had more matches than that? asked Craig Tyson from Australia
You're right that Keith Stackpole recorded his best Test bowling figures - 2 for 33 - on debut against England in Adelaide in 1965-66. Actually he only took 13 further wickets in 42 more matches.
Among those who took at least ten wickets in Tests, only two men played more often than Stackpole without improving their debut performance. The South African allrounder Lance Klusener took 8 for 64 in his first Test, against India in Kolkata in 1996-97, and did not better that in 48 further matches. And England's Wally Hammond took 5 for 36 on debut, against South Africa in Johannesburg in 1927-28, and won 84 more caps without improving on that. Hammond is remembered now chiefly as a batter, scoring 7249 runs in Tests - but he was a handy bowler, especially early in his career, and finished with 83 wickets.
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