Team-Wise Most Double Centuries Scored In Test Cricket

Scoring centuries in Test cricket is already a challenging job; scoring double centuries an even demanding task. As the conditions become more difficult for batting with every passing day, the pitch deteriorates providing more assistance to the bowlers especially in the last two days of the game, notching up double hundreds in Test cricket is a mighty but career-defining achievement for any batsman.

The first man to score a Test double hundred is Australia’s Billy Murdoch, in 1884; the latest entrant to this club is the Johannesburg-born New Zealand opening batsman Devon Conway, who recorded this landmark in his debut Test, at Lord’s against England.

Here, in this list, we look at the number of Test double hundred(s) a team has seen getting registered so far.

Team-Wise Most Double Centuries Scored In Test Cricket:

Afghanistan-1

Earlier in March this year, Hashmatullah Shahidi became the first Afghanistan batsman to notch up a double century. It was only the sixth Test in Afghanistan’s history – they made their maiden appearance in 2018 – and Shahidi, a solid middle-order batsman, has featured in five of them.

He recorded this feat against Zimbabwe in Abu Dhabi. Shahidi’s unbeaten 200, and Asghar Afghan’s 164, helped the side to their third Test victory. Afghanistan’s rise as a cricket nation will be boosted by Shahidi’s milestone knock.

Zimbabwe – 4

An indication of the struggles of Zimbabwe cricket is that their last Test double century came in the year 2000, from the bat of Andy Flower, after the country made its Test debut in 1992. There were three other batters – Guy Whittall Dave Houghton and Grant Flower – who notched up double hundreds between that period. Zimbabwe’s last Test series win came in 2011, and before that in 2003/04; if they are to win more matches and break the winless series rut, their batsmen have to step up.

Bangladesh – 5

Mushfiqur Rahim leads the way for Bangladesh in this list with 3 double centuries to his name; senior players Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal also have one each. One of Rahim’s effort is away from home – in Galle against Sri Lanka – while Shakib’s only double-century came in Wellington against the Kiwis four years ago.

Bangladesh, in the recent years, have become a powerhouse in home conditions with Test match victories over England and Australia; its senior players are significantly responsible for their home success.

South Africa – 29

15 different players have hit 29 double centuries for South Africa; former skipper Graeme Smith has hit the most – 5 – followed by Hashim Amla (4) and Gary Kirsten (3).

Five other batters, including the likes of AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis, have two each, while 7 others have 1 each.

New Zealand – 29

Both Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson have carved out 4 Test double tons – the former did it towards the end of his career while the latter recorded those before he aged 31. They are two of the 17 batsmen who have combined scored 29 Test doubles.

Stephen Fleming, Ross Taylor – with three each – and Mathew Sinclair and Glenn Turner – with two each – are next on the list. As mentioned earlier, Devon Conway is the latest Kiwi to hit a double hundred – he did that on his debut, at Lord’s.

Sri Lanka – 36

Out of the total of 36 Test double hundreds in Sri Lanka’s history, former captain Kumar Sangakkara, who retired with a superb average of 57.40, has done it on 11 occasions – which is only next to Sir Don Bradman’s tally of 12.

Other legendary batsmen and former captains, Mahela Jayawardene, Marvan Atapattu, and Sanath Jayasuriya tallied 7, 6, and 3 respectively of those. Overall 11 Sri Lankan batters, the last one being opener Dimuth Karunaratne against Bangladesh in April this year, have reached the 200 run mark.

Pakistan – 44

Legendary former Pakistan batters Javed Miandad and Younis Khan racked up 6 Test double tons each, and 4 each came from the bats of Mohammad Yousuf and Zaheer Abbas. Opening batsman Abid Ali recently, in May this year, notched up his maiden Test double-century, versus Zimbabwe in Harare, and is the 22nd Pakistani batsman to do so.

Others include Shoaib Malik, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali, Imtiaz Ahmed, Mohammad Hafeez. Even pacer Wasim Akran has his name in the 44 Test doubles in Pakistan’s history – he blasted an entertaining 257* versus Zimbabwe in 1996, smashing a record 12 sixes in his innings.

West Indies – 53

‘The Prince’ Brian Lara has registered a record 9 scores of 200 or more in his enterprising career – only two batters have hit more. His record of the highest individual score by a batsman – 400*vs England – a feat which he achieved in 2004 still stands.

Gordon Greenidge has 4 of those to his name; Viv Richards and Chris Gayle has three, of which two are triple hundreds. Overall 29 West Indies batters, including the likes of Jason Holder, Marlon Samuels, Kyle Mayers, who recently smashed his knock of debut in an epic 3-wicket win over Bangladesh, have combined to register 53 Test double centuries.

India – 55

A total of 24 Indian batsmen have chalked up a total of 55 double tons in Test cricket. Current captain Virat Kohli has the most amongst Indians with 7 in his bag. Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag have 6 each, followed by Rahul Dravid (5), Sunil Gavaskar (4), and Cheteshwar Pujara (3). Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal were the last Indian batters to hit the double, in the 2019 home season.

England – 61

Both Alastair Cook and Joe Root have made 5 Test double hundreds, which is 2 less than England’s record-holder Wally Hammond, who recorded those in the pre-World War II era. Leonard Hutton (4) and Kevin Pietersen (3) are next on the catalogue. Overall 36 different England batsmen have tallied a total of 61 Test innings with a score of 200 or more.

2 of Root’s 5 double hundreds came this year itself – on difficult batting tracks against Sri Lanka and India, the English captain delivered a masterclass of batting against spinners, helping England register a series win in Galle and a Test match victory in Chennai. Ben Stokes batted at a strike rate of 130.30 in his entertaining 198-ball 258-run dash against South Africa in 2016.

Australia – 75

Sir Don Bradman holds the record for most Test double centuries, having recorded 12 of those from the total 75 in Australia’s cricket history. Those 75 knocks came from 38 different batters – after Bradman’s 12, it is former skipper Ricky Ponting with 6 to his name, followed by 4 each from Greg Chappell and Michael Clarke, three each from Justin Langer, Bob Simpson, and Steve Smith.

Others which include Mark Taylor, Matthew Hayden, David Warner have 2 double hundreds, while the likes of Brad Hodge, Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Marnus Labuschagne, and even pacer Jason Gillespie, have a solitary Test double century.

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