Are left-handers better and when will Root catch Tendulkar? Cricket Q&A

Are left-handers better and when will Root catch Tendulkar?Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Stuart Broad took 604 Test wickets for England – but how good was he at using the DRS system? Read on for the answerPublished16 minutes agoDuring England’s first Test against Pakistan, we asked BBC Sport readers to send statistical questions for our colleagues at CricViz.Our new feature, Ask CricViz, is here to help and we can reveal the first selection of answers below. Please note that all stats in Tests are inclusive of the recent Australia v Bangladesh Test in MacKay, but do not include stats from the ongoing Sri Lanka v India Test in Colombo.Graham, Hastings: Against Pakistan, Josh Tongue took two wickets in two balls but missed out on his hat-trick. What is the ‘conversion rate’ from having two in two, to going on and getting the hat-trick?CricViz: In Tests where such data is available in our database, there have been 1,355 occasions where a bowler has taken wickets in two consecutive balls, with only 43 (3.2%) of them converted to a hat-trick.There have been a total of 49 hat-tricks in Test history but we have the ball-by-ball details for 43 of them.Across his Test career, Josh Tongue has had two wickets in two balls on four occasions and yet no hat-tricks. The four instances include the two occasions in the last Test versus Pakistan at Headingley, once in the Ashes Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in December 2025, and against India at Headingley in June 2025.Here’s another interesting bit: Australia’s Mitchell Starc has taken wickets in two consecutive balls on 17 occasions in Tests but is yet to register a hat-trick.Figure caption, Tongue troubles Pakistan but falls short of hat-trickCharles Dennett, Lichfield: When Joe Root was involved in a 50-run partnership with Jordan Cox, it made me think that he must be close to being the player involved in the most 50-run partnerships with the greatest number of distinct batting partners. Is this true?CricViz: You’re spot on with your observation. In the partnership of 150 with Jordan Cox at Headingley, Joe Root has now registered 50-plus run partnerships with 45 distinct partners in Test, the joint-most – tied with Shivnarine Chanderpaul from West Indies.Also interestingly, that partnership with Jordan Cox was the 88th time Joe Root has been involved in a 100-plus partnership, the joint-most in Test history on par with Rahul Dravid from India.Harvey, Dartford: After hearing about Ollie Robinson’s terrific stats with balls bowled hitting the stumps, can you tell us the bowler (seamer or spinner) who has the highest percentage of their balls bowled that would go on to hit the stumps?CricViz: In the ball-tracking era (since 2006) former Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez has the highest percentage of balls projected to hit the stumps at 41%. When considering only pace bowlers, Paul Collingwood leads the way with just under 19% of his deliveries hitting the stumps.Tests in Bangladesh have the highest percentage of deliveries hitting the stumps at 27%, no surprise considering the amount of spin bowled. The fast and bouncy pitches of Australia have historically seen just 12% of deliveries hit the stumps however, the lowest for any nation.Ben, Llangrannog: Which batter has had the greatest success with decision review system (DRS) reviews?CricViz: Of the 35 batters to have taken 15 or more reviews in all Tests since the start of 2016, Bangladesh’s Liton Das has the highest success rate with 68.8% (11 out of 16) of his DRS reviews overturned by the umpire, followed by India’s Cheteshwar Pujara with 60% (9 out of 15) and West Indies’ Kraigg Brathwaite with 55.6% (10 out of 18).If you look at this from a bowler’s perspective, of the 58 bowlers to have taken 15 or more reviews in all Tests since the start of 2016, West Indies’ Kemar Roach has the highest success rate with 35% (14 out of 40) of his DRS reviews overturned by the umpire, followed by England’s Chris Woakes with 29.4% (10 out of 34) and Stuart Broad with 29.1% (16 out of 55).Jack, Tanzania: If he continues at his current rate, when is Joe Root predicted to beat Tendulkar’s run record in Test matches?CricViz: Joe Root is currently on 14,180 Test runs, 1,741 runs behind Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of 15,921. In Tests since the start of 2024, Root has scored 2,794 runs in 32 Tests and 58 innings, scoring 47.6 runs per innings on average. If he continues scoring at the same rate, he will need another 37 innings to go past Tendulkar’s run record. That could approximately be around 20 Tests.As of now, until the end of the next home summer in England, Root has another 14 Tests to go, with two more Tests left in this current series against Pakistan, three away Tests in South Africa in December and January 2027, two away Tests in Bangladesh in February 2027, a one-off 150th Anniversary Test match versus Australia at the MCG in March 2027, followed by one home Test versus Bangladesh at Lord’s in May 2027, and the five Ashes Tests in June and August 2027.It could be 15 Tests until the end of the next summer if England convert their slim chance qualify for the final of the World Test Championship (WTC).Current World Test Championship standings