5 best hundreds by Australian batters in India
Australian batter Usman Khawaja dominated India in the first innings of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy series match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Opening the innings for Australia, Khawaja batted for 10 hours in the middle, scoring 180 runs off 422 deliveries.
Khawaja batted patiently, maintaining a strike rate of 42.65, and smashed 21 balls to the boundary rope. Many cricket fans consider it as one of the best hundreds by a visiting batter on Indian soil.
Speaking of best hundreds against India in India, here's a list of the top five Test centuries from Australian batters at Indian stadiums.
#1 Highest score by an Australian in Tests in India: Dean Jones - 210
Dean Jones owns the record for the highest score by an Aussie player in Test matches on Indian soil. He accomplished the feat in only the third Test match of his career in 1986.
Jones batted at number three for Australia and aggregated 210 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. His double hundred guided the visitors to 574/7 in the first innings. His 330-ball knock consisted of 27 fours and two sixes. It is pertinent to note that Jones had not even scored a half-century in his Test career before his 210-run innings against India.
#2 Matthew Hayden - 203
Matthew Hayden is among the two Australians who have scored a double ton on Indian soil. Incidentally, even Hayden's double century came at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Hayden achieved the feat during Australia's tour of India in 2001. Opening the batting for the visitors, Hayden scored 203 runs off 320 deliveries, hitting 15 fours and six sixes. His double hundred ended in a losing cause though, as India won that Test by two wickets.
#3 Usman Khawaja - 180
Usman Khawaja's century in Ahmedabad ranks third on this list. The Pakistan-born batter dominated the Indian bowlers at the Narendra Modi Stadium and scored 180 runs for his team.
Khawaja had played six innings in India before the Ahmedabad Test, but in those six knocks, he managed only 153 runs. In the ongoing Test, he batted patiently and only attacked the bad deliveries offered by the bowlers. The strategy helped him build a big knock and register his maiden Test hundred on Indian soil.
#4 Steve Smith - 178*
The last Australian batter to register a Test hundred on Indian soil before Usman Khawaja was Steve Smith. He scored a brilliant 178* in the Ranchi Test match during Australia's tour of India in 2017.
Smith took his time and faced 361 deliveries for his 178 runs. He came out to bat when the team's score was 50/1 in the first innings and remained unbeaten till the end. Smith's knock consisted of 15 fours.
#5 Marcus North - 128
Marcus North did not have a long Test career for Australia, but he managed to smash a hundred on Indian soil during the two Tests he played in India. North achieved the feat at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium in 2010.
Australian batters Tim Paine, Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting crossed the 50-run mark in that match, but none of them could touch triple digits. Marcus North held one end and aggregated 128 runs for the visitors. He hit 17 fours and a six in his 240-ball knock. Despite his century, Australia lost by seven wickets.