December 25th
is celebrated across the world as the day when the saviour of the world and the
human race, Jesus Christ, was born. With the excitement and exhaustion of
Christmas Day over, the Boxing
Day Test at the MCG is one of Australia's most popular sporting events. Boxing Day test match was played first in
1950 and has been played over every year since 1980 except 1989. However not
too many matches were played on the Christmas Day. Even though the Christmas
day fell in between the start and end of tests, normally it was made a rest
day. The test match between England and South Africa at Johannesburg, which
began on 23 Dec 1922, was the first one in which a Christmas Day fell between
the playing days of a test. In this article we will see across all the tests,
ODIs, T20Is and the associated records played on a Christmas Day.
Test matches played on a Christmas Day
|
Teams
|
Venue
|
Start Date
|
Day
|
Result
|
|
Aus -WI
|
Adelaide
|
22-Dec-51
|
Day 3
|
WI won by 6
wkts
|
|
Aus-Ind
|
Adelaide
|
23-Dec-67
|
Day 2
|
Aus won by
146 runs
|
|
Ind-Aus
|
Madras
|
24-Dec-69
|
Day 2
|
Aus won by 77
runs
|
|
Ind-Eng
|
Delhi
|
20-Dec-72
|
Day 5
|
Eng won by 6
wkts
|
|
Ind-Pak
|
Kanpur
|
25-Dec-79
|
Day 1
|
Draw
|
|
Pak-Ind
|
Karachi
|
23-Dec-82
|
Day 3
|
Pak won by an
inngs & 86 runs
|
# The test match between Australia & West Indies at
Adelaide in 1951 was the first occasion of a test match day’s play coincided
with that of a Christmas Day.
# The test match
between India & Pakistan at Kanpur was the first occasion of a test match beginning
on a Christmas Day.
ODIs played on a
Christmas Day
|
Teams
|
Date
|
Venue
|
Result
|
|
Ind – Ban
|
25-Dec-1990
|
Chandigarh
|
Ind won by 9
wkts
|
|
Pak – Zimb
|
25-Dec-1993
|
Rawalpindi
|
Pak won by 6
wkts
|
|
Ind – SL
|
25-Dec-1997
|
Indore(NS)
|
No result
|
|
Pak – SL
|
25-Dec-2013
|
Abu Dhabi
|
Pak won by 8
wkts
|
# In
the India – Sri Lanka ODI at Indore in 1997, after the third over both the captains
felt that the pitch was dangerous for the players to play on. The match referee
then called off the match.
Highest scores
in test matches
played on a Christmas Day
|
Player
|
Team
|
Vs
|
Year
|
Runs Scored
on Dec 25
|
Final Score
|
Venue
|
|
Mudassar Nazar
|
Pak
|
Ind
|
1982
|
25
|
119
|
Karachi
|
|
Bob Cowper
|
Aus
|
Ind
|
1967
|
7
|
92
|
Adelaide
|
|
Farokh
Engineer
|
Ind
|
Aus
|
1967
|
89
|
89
|
Adelaide
|
|
Rusi Surti
|
Ind
|
Aus
|
1967
|
70
|
70
|
Adelaide
|
|
Tony Lewis
|
Eng
|
Ind
|
1972
|
53
|
70
|
Delhi
|
|
Chandu Borde
|
Ind
|
Aus
|
1967
|
69
|
69
|
Adelaide
|
|
MAK Pataudi
|
Ind
|
Aus
|
1969
|
59
|
59
|
Madras
|
# Mudassar
Nazar and Tony Lewis started their innings on Dec 24 and completed on the
Christmas Day of the respective years.
Highest scores
in ODIs played on a
Christmas Day
|
Player
|
Score
|
Team
|
Vs
|
Venue
|
Date
|
|
Mohammed Hafeez
|
113*
|
Pak
|
SL
|
Abu Dhabi
|
25-Dec-13
|
|
Navjot Sidhu
|
104*
|
Ind
|
Bang
|
Chandigarh
|
25-Dec-90
|
|
Alistair Campbell
|
74
|
Zimb
|
Pak
|
Rawalpindi
|
25-Dec-93
|
|
SMA Priyanjan
|
74
|
SL
|
Pak
|
Abu Dhabi
|
25-Dec-13
|
|
Asif Mutaba
|
61
|
Pak
|
Zim
|
Rawalpindi
|
25-Dec-93
|
|
Dave Houghton
|
57
|
Zimb
|
Pak
|
Rawalpindi
|
25-Dec-93
|
|
Faruk Ahmed
|
57
|
Bang
|
Ind
|
Chandigarh
|
25-Dec-90
|
|
K Sangakkara
|
51
|
SL
|
Pak
|
Abu Dhabi
|
25-Dec-13
|
Five wicket
hauls in test matches
played on a Christmas Day
|
Player
|
Team
|
Vs
|
Venue
|
Wkts taken
on Dec 25
|
Innings
started on
|
Final
Figures
|
|
Imran Khan
|
Pak
|
Ind
|
Karachi
|
5
|
25-Dec-82
|
8/60
|
|
Syed Abid Ali
|
Ind
|
Aus
|
Adelaide
|
3
|
24-Dec-67
|
6/55
|
|
EAS Prassanna
|
Ind
|
Aus
|
Madras
|
3
|
25-Dec-69
|
6/74
|
|
Ehteshamuddin
|
Pak
|
Ind
|
Kanpur
|
3
|
25-Dec-79
|
5/47
|
|
Sikander Bakht
|
Pak
|
Ind
|
Kanpur
|
5
|
25-Dec-79
|
5/56
|
|
Ashley Mallet
|
Aus
|
Ind
|
Madras
|
5
|
25-Dec-69
|
5/71
|
|
Kapil Dev
|
Ind
|
Pak
|
Karachi
|
4
|
25-Dec-82
|
5/102
|
# Sikander
Bakht & Ehteshamuddin took 5 wickets each in the same innings.
Most wickets in
ODIs played on a Christmas Day
|
Player
|
Team
|
Vs
|
Venue
|
Date
|
Figures
|
|
Saed Ajmal
|
Pak
|
SL
|
Abu Dhabi
|
25-Dec-13
|
4/39
|
|
Umar Gul
|
Pak
|
SL
|
Abu Dhabi
|
25-Dec-13
|
3/37
|
|
Mark Dekker
|
Zimb
|
Pak
|
Rawalpidi
|
25-Dec-1993
|
2/16
|
|
Kapil Dev
|
Ind
|
Bang
|
Chandigarh
|
25-Dec-1990
|
2/17
|
|
Venkatapathy
Raju
|
Ind
|
Bang
|
Chandigarh
|
25-Dec-1990
|
2/27
|
|
Wasim Akram
|
Pak
|
Zim
|
Rawalpidi
|
25-Dec-1993
|
2/32
|
|
Junaid Khan
|
Pak
|
SL
|
Abu Dhabi
|
25-Dec-13
|
2/42
|
|
Waqar Younis
|
Pak
|
Zim
|
Rawalpidi
|
25-Dec-1993
|
2/46
|
The only T20I to be played on a Christmas
Day was between India and Pakistan in 2012 at Bangalore. India’s score of 133
was chased down by Pakistan in 19.4 overs. Mohammed Hafeez (61) and Shoaib
Malik (57*) were the top scores of the match while Umar Gul (3/21) and
Bhuvaneshwar Kumar (3/9) were the chief wicket takers.
 |
| Action bw Yuvraj & Afridi in the Ind-Pak T20I in 2012 |
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