Batsmen with most triple hundreds in Test matches
Scoring hundred is a great a feat in Test matches. Sachin Tendulkar with 51 centuries tops the list with most Test hundreds. It requires immense concentration and application to convert a hundred into big hundreds and double hundreds. Sir Donald Bradman with 12 double hundreds tops the list of most double hundreds in Test matches. Sangakkara with 11 double hundreds is on the second spot.
There have been occasions when batsmen have been able to convert the double hundreds in triple hundreds. On 30 occasions, batsmen have crossed the 300 run mark in a Test inning. Karun Nair from India and Azhar Ali from Pakistan are the latest players to join the club. Nair scored 303* against England in Chennai in 2016 and Azhar Ali scored 302* against West Indies in Dubai in 2016.
Legendary cricketers have not been able to achieve this feat. From the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis who were among the best batsmen of the last decade are eluded of this feat. Many players like Viv Richards, Alastair Cook, Martin Crowe came very close to scoring one. C
rowe was unlucky as he was dismissed on 299 against Sri Lanka in 1991. Viv Richards and Ram Naresh Sarwan were dismissed on 291 against England in 1976 and 2009 respectively. Alastair Cook missed the triple hundred when he was dismissed on 294 against India in 2011. Ross Taylor missed it in 2015 against in 2015 when he got out on the score of 290. Many other players scored between 270-290 and missed their chances to score a triple hundred.
There have been 26 players who have scored more than 300 in a Test inning. 22 players have scored a triple hundred only once. The list of players who have scored triple hundred in Test matches includes names of some of the best batsmen from the likes of Don Bradman, Kumar Sangakkara, Brian Lara, Mahela Jayawardene and many more. Some players who have been known for playing attacking cricket also have scored a triple century, Sanath Jayasuriya, Chris Gayle, Virender Sehwag, Mathew Hayden, and Bredon McCullum are few of those in the list.
4 players have scored more than 300 in a Test inning twice. No player has been able to score 3 triple hundreds in Test matches. Let us look at the players who have scored two triple hundreds in Test matches.
#1 Don Bradman
Don Bradman is one of the best Test batsmen in cricket history. His records speak about the kind of player he was. He had a knack of scoring big hundreds. He still holds the record of most double hundreds in Test matches. He crossed the 200 run mark 12 times and out of them twice he went on to cross the 300 run mark.
In 1930, in the third test of the tour of England in Leeds in the first innings, Bradman played one of his finest knocks. He scored 334 from just 448 balls at a strike rate close to 75. His knock included 46 fours. After the first days play he was batting on 309* which is a record in itself. He became the second batsmen after Andy Sandham to score a triple hundred in Test matches.
Four years later in the same ground, after England's poor show in the first innings, getting bowled out for 200, Australia lost three early wickets. Bradman along with Bill Ponsford built a partnership of close to 400 runs. Ponsford got out on 181 and Bradman carried on to score his second triple hundred. He got out on the score of 304 when Bill Bowes got clean bowled him. His knock included 43 fours and 3 sixes.
Bradman was the first man to score two triple hundreds.