4 Best Test Debut Hundreds by Indian Batsmen
The talk around the town is about Prithvi Shaw. Prithvi Shaw became the 15th Indian player and the youngest Indian to score a century on debut. Shaw scored the third quickest century on debut as his century came off 99 balls.
On this grand occasion, we look back at the 4 best debut hundreds scored by Indian batsmen in Tests.
#1 Mohammad Azharuddin
England was led by David Gower on their tour of India in 1984. India won the first Test match at Mumbai by 8 wickets. England came back in the second Test at Delhi winning by a similar margin of 8 wickets. India should have drawn the second Test but two reckless shots by Sandeep Patil and Kapil Dev led to the collapse in the second innings.
After the second test, both Sandeep Patil and Kapil Dev were dropped from the team. Mohammad Azharuddin was brought into the team as a replacement for Sandeep Patil.
The third Test at Eden Gardens in which Azhar made his debut started in a tense ambiance. The Indian fans could not take the omission of Kapil Dev from the team kindly. There were banners all around the city with slogans that read “No Kapil No Test”.
India batted first and lost both the openers Gavaskar and Gaekwad quickly. Azhar walked to the wicket with the score reading 126 for 3. Vengsarkar left at 124.
Ravi Shastri joined Azhar, who opened his account in Test cricket with an elegant back foot cover-drive. Azhar had his share of luck when wicket-keeper Paul Downton missed an easy stumping chance. Azhar slowly settled down and played a few wristy strokes. He reached his century with the help of 10 fours. Azhar and Shastri put on 214 runs for the fifth wicket. The match ended in a draw.
Azhar went on to score two more hundreds in the next 2 matches at Chennai and Kanpur. Sadly India lost that home series badly.