5 Indian Batsmen with Most Double Hundreds in Cricket

Sunil Gavaskar

Indian Batsmen with Most Double Hundreds

Cricket is a world-famous sport with a lot of twists and turns. It is a game of patience which can test even the best of the best in the business. Much like other games, a sustained effort from the team is required to win the game. Each Batsman tries to score more and more runs in an innings.  A century occurs when a batsman score 100 runs or more in an innings and is known as a century. There are approx. 84 Indian players who have scored centuries in Test Matches. And when the batsman hits more than 200 runs, it is often known as the double century. A double century in One Day International has been scored on ten occasions by eight completely different batsmen from five of the twelve Test-Cricket playing nations. In this article, we bring you the list of top Indian Batsmen who have scored a double century in an innings: –

#1 Sachin Tendulkar

Double Hundred of Sachin Tendulkar

A man who needs no introduction, Sachin Tendulkar is one of the best players in world cricket. He has played many match winning knocks during his career. The most memorable knock was his 241 not out against Australia in Sydney. 248 not out against Bangladesh was his highest knock at Dhaka. Tendulkar has scored 51 centuries during his Test career, of which six were converted into double centuries. He scored two double centuries against Australia and one each against Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, and Bangladesh. He has now retired and is widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of his generation. After his 114-run knock against Bangladesh, Sachin became the primary and solely cricketer to score 100 international centuries.

He has scored the greatest number of centuries in Test matches and One Day International matches. Tendulkar has scored six double centuries and remained undefeated on fifteen occasions. His centuries have originated in 30 different cricket grounds, with 27 of them being recorded in venues outside India. Tendulkar has been dismissed nine times between scores of ninety and ninety-nine. Sachin Tendulkar was the first man to score a double century in One Day International with the score 200 not out against South Africa at Captain Roop Singh Stadium, Gwalior on 24th February 2010.

#2 Virender Sehwag 

Double Hundred Virender Sehwag 

He is also known as Sultan of Multan and was amongst the rare breed of batsmen. He is also one of the batsmen who used to score big while playing an aggressive brand of cricket. He used to play with supreme authority while batting and care little about the reputation of the bowler. And during his entire career, Sehwag scored six double centuries. His highest score was of 319 runs not out against South Africa at Chennai.

He scored three double centuries against Pakistan, two against Sri Lanka and one against South Africa. Sehwag has two triple hundreds to his name as he converted two of the double centuries into triple centuries one each against Pakistan and South Africa. In 2001, he became the eleventh Indian player to get a century on Test debut, with 105 runs against South Africa. His centuries are scored at fourteen cricket grounds, eight of which were outside India. He has created six scores of second-century runs or more, of which a record three have come against Pakistan.

One such inning, the 254 in Lahore, had him involved in a 410-run partnership with Rahul Dravid, which came within three runs of flouting the record for the highest first-wicket company in Tests, set by Pankaj Roy and Vinoo Mankad. The innings took only 247 balls and was the best score at quicker than a run a ball. Sehwag is the primary Indian to groove a triple century, and has completed so twice—309 against Pakistan in Multan in 2004 and 319 against South Africa in Chennai in 2008. The latter is the wildest triple century in Test cricket, his 300 came off just 278 balls. He is an Indian cricketer whose aggressive batting has found success at the top of the batting order. He has scored centuries or more on 23 occasions in Test cricket and 15 One Day International (ODI) matches. Sehwag has scored centuries in test matches against all the Test-cricket playing nations except Bangladesh and Zimbabwe and is sixth on the list of leading Test century makers for India.

#3 Virat Kohli

Double Hundred of Virat Kohli

He is a modern-day great batsman and has scored runs all over the world. He is one of the best batsmen of the current era and is churning out hundred after hundred for India. According to the assumptions of the cricket experts, Kohli is likely to break many batting records during his career. He has scored six double centuries so far, and his highest score is of 243 runs against Sri Lanka at Delhi. He has scored two double centuries against Sri Lanka and one each against England, Bangladesh, West Indies, and New Zealand. Off late, Kohli has developed a knack of scoring daddy hundreds. He seldom gets out immediately after scoring a hundred.

The captain of the men’s national team has made 66 centuries in International cricket out of which 25 has come in Test Cricket and 41 in One Day international as of March 2019. Kohli made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in August 2008 and scored his first century the following year when he made 108 against the same team at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. His 86-ball 133 not out against Sri Lanka in February 2012 led India to the second highest run-chase by any team in Australia. Former Australian cricketer Dean Jones pronounced the innings as “one of the extreme ODI knocks of all time.” Kohli’s highest score of 183 came against Pakistan during the 2012 Asia Cup; India successfully chased a target of 330 set by Pakistan and Kohli was adjudged man of the match.

Following that in 2013, he finished his first century as a captain while playing against the West Indies in a tri-nation tournament. In the mutual series against Australia in October 2013, Kohli made two centuries in successful run-chases. The first of the two, 100 not out, was scored off 52 balls and was also the fastest ODI century by an Indian. The next century, which derived off 61 balls, remains the third-fastest by an Indian as of March 2019. He was selected as the captain of the Test team during the series and became the first player to notch centuries in each of his first three Test innings as captain. In 2016, Kohli became the fifth player to groove three or more double centuries in a calendar year.

#4 Rahul Dravid

One of the most elegant batsmen that India has ever produced is Rahul Dravid. His exploits in alien conditions have won him many accolades during his illustrious career. Dravid is a much-acclaimed coach nowadays. He has coached India under-19 sides and India A sides. Dravid scored five double centuries during his entire Test career. His knock of 270 against Pakistan was his highest score. He scored one double century each against Australia, England, Pakistan, New Zealand, and Zimbabwe.

He is now a retired Indian International Cricketer and was also nicknamed as “The Wall” for his ability to fend off the fiercest, the fastest and the wiliest of bowlers around the world. He has scored 36 centuries in Test cricket and 12 in One Day International in his illustrious career. He was named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2000, as well as the ICC Test Player of the Year and ICC Player of the Year in 2004.

Rahul Dravid

Dravid scored his first Test century in January 1997 against South Africa. In a man-of-the-match performance, he finished with 148 runs studded with nine hours and took India to their only draw of the series. He completed centuries in both innings of a match when he recorded 190 and 103 not out in the final Test of the 1998–99 series against New Zealand. He recreated the feat in March 2005 when he counted 110 and 135 against Pakistan in another man-of-the-match performance, leading India to triumph in the second of the three-match series.

Scoring 180 in a fifth-wicket partnership of 376 with VVS Laxman, in the Second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2001, Dravid lead India to victory by 171 runs despite being requested to follow-on by the Australians. His partnership with Laxman was the third-highest for the fifth wicket in Test cricket history. Dravid’s peak Test score of 270, achieved in April 2004 in Rawalpindi, helping India to an innings victory against Pakistan.

#5 Sunil Gavaskar

He is a former international cricketer and captained the Indian cricket team. He is famous for his patience and big knocks and also was the first world-class batsman to emerge from India. During his entire test career, Sunil Gavaskar had scored four times double centuries in which one was scored against England and three were scored against West Indies. His highest score was 236 runs not out against West Indies. His exploits against fearsome pace battery of West Indies is the stuff of a legend. Gavaskar ended his career with mammoth 34 centuries.

He has scored the third highest number of centuries in Tests for India. He is described as one of the greatest opening batsmen in his career span over 16 years in cricket history. During his entire career, he made 35 centuries at the international level. Gavaskar frolicked 125 Test matches and recorded 10,122 runs. He was the foremost batsman to score 10,000 Test runs and apprehended the record for most runs until Allan Border surpassed it. Gavaskar’s history of 34 Test centuries stood for almost two decades before Tendulkar surpassed it in December 2005. He was named the Indian Cricket Cricketer of the Year in 1971 and as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1980. In February 2012, the International Cricket Council (ICC) inaugurated him into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Sunil Gavaskar

As of 2012, he is the third-highest run scorer for India in Test cricket, after Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. Gavaskar recorded his first century in the third Test of the same series. In the final Test at Port of Spain, he counted centuries in both innings of the match with scores of 124 and 220, becoming the second Indian player to perform the feat. He became the first player to score two centuries in a Test match for the third time when he made 107 and 182 not out in a game against the West Indies in December 1978. Gavaskar’s highest Test score of 236 not out came against the West Indies at Chennai in 1983, an Indian record at that time. He has scored 150 or more runs in a Test match innings on twelve occasions. Gavaskar was most successful against the West Indies and Australia scoring 13 half-centuries and eight centuries respectively.

Apart from the above famous Indian cricketers, few other Indian batsmen have also scored a double century in the game. For example, Rohit Sharma in 2014 scored his highest score in ODI of 264 runs against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Some of the other name includes Cheteshwar Pujara who scored 206 runs not out against New Zealand at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Hyderabad in 2012, Vinoo Mankad who scored 231 runs against Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Vinod Kambli who scored 227 runs against England at Wankhede Stadium, Bombay on 19th February 1993, V. V. S. Laxman who scored 281 runs against Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground on 02nd January 2000, Dilip Sardesai who scored 212 runs against New Zealand at Brabourne Stadium, Bombay, and Wasim Jaffer who scored 212 runs against England at VCA Ground, Nagpur.

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