Five players to score a century in their first and last Test
Scoring a hundred for his country in a Test Match is every batsman’s dream. Although some batsmen have found it tough to get to the triple figures in their careers, some have got there quite regularly like Sachin Tendulkar and we all know he had made 51 centuries in Tests while playing for India and after him, Jacques Kallis scored most no. of centuries and to be precise 45 and list goes on with players like Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara, Rahul Dravid and so on.
Like these players, there are many players who had scored many hundreds in their international Test careers but to score a century in a debut match and a farewell match is something special and there are only five players in Test cricket who had achieved the feet of scoring hundreds in their first and last match.
For these players, we can say that they have started their career with a mighty impression and ended with the same. So without much ado, let's have a look on five players who had scored tons in their first and farewell Test match.
Mohammad Azharuddin
Mohammad Azharuddin is a former Indian cricketer. He was renowned as an elegant middle-order batsman and captained India in 47 Tests during the 1990s. Azharuddin made his debut for the Indian cricket team in Test cricket in 1984 against England at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on 31 December 1984 and hit three centuries in his first three matches.
Azharuddin scored a total of 22 centuries in test cricket, at an average of 45. Overall, The elegant Indian Batsman started his career with a 110 against England at Kolkata in 1984 and ended with a 102 against South Africa at Bangalore in 2000.
#2 Reginald Duff
Reginald Alexander Duff, also known as Reggie Duff, was an Australian cricketer who played in 22 Tests between 1902 and 1905. made his Test debut against England at Melbourne in 1901–02 and scored 104 after being held back until No. 10 in the second innings due to a bad pitch. This innings is the first instance of a No. 10 scoring a hundred on debut and one of only four centuries from that low in the order by anyone.
He was a specialist batsman by trade and opened in the second innings of the next Test. He also went onto score 146 in his last test match against England and, in fact, set a new record for becoming the first batsman to score a century on Test debut as well as to score a century in his farewell Test match.
#3 William Ponsford
William Ponsford was an Australian cricketer, who broke into international cricket in the 1924–25 season. He played his first Test against England at the Sydney Cricket Ground(SCG). Batting at number three, Ponsford went on to score a century (110) on his Test debut followed by 128 in his second Test at Melbourne, thereby becoming the first batsman to score centuries in his first two Tests. He bid adieu with a career-best 266 against the same opponent at the Kennington Oval in London in 1934.
#4 Greg Chappell
Gregory Stephen Chappell is a former cricketer who represented Australia in both Tests and ODI's. The second of three brothers to play Test cricket, Chappell was the pre-eminent Australian batsman of his time who allied elegant stroke making to fierce concentration. Chappell scored 108 on debut against England in Perth in 1970 and finished off his 14-year-old career with 182 against Pakistan in Sydney in 1984.
#5 Alastair Cook
Playing his last international match of a glittering career, England batting legend and former captain Alastair Cook, on Monday, added another feather to his cap. By scoring a hundred in his farewell Test against India at the Kennington Oval in London, Cook became only the fifth batsman ever to score a century both in his debut and his final Test.
This was the 33rd Test ton for Cook, who is England's leading run-scorer in the longest format of the game. Cook scored a hundred (104*) on his Test debut against the same opponent, India, in Nagpur in 2006. In his final innings at Oval Cook scored 147 runs before he became a victim of Hanuma Vihari.
He is the first Englishman to achieve the rare feat and the third overall to do so against the same opposition. Incredibly, in all three instances, the last match was played at the same venue, the Kennington Oval in London.