What is the most number of balls taken to score one Test run?
Many consider Test cricket as the sport's most challenging format as the players need to master their skills and have proper stamina levels to succeed. Hence, cricketers with a patient mindset achieve more success in Tests.
Since the batsmen have to negate the swinging and the spinning balls a lot more in Test cricket than ODIs and T20Is, they need to play more dot balls and settle down in the middle before trying to dominate. Sometimes, a win is out of reach, and the team on the backfoot need to play for a draw.
In such a situation, the batsmen need to frustrate the bowlers and play as many dot balls as possible. Although it is a difficult task, Hanuma Vihari produced a fine example of a match-saving knock in the third India-Australia Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Vihari scored few runs, and his strike rate remained in the range of 10. He played 17 dot balls before getting off the mark. However, that is not even close to the world record for facing most deliveries to scor a run in a Test innings.
Ravi Shastri and Cheteshwar Pujara among top Indian players who took the most balls to score a Test run
The Indian record for facing the most deliveries to score a Test run is in Ravi Shastri's name. The current Team India coach faced 69 consecutive dot balls when he was 9* during a Test against South Africa in 1992. Cheteshwar Pujara went without scoring for 53 balls in the 2018 Johannesburg Test match versus the Proteas before opening his account.
Stuart Broad batted 103 minutes against New Zealand in 2013 before adding a run to the team's total on the 63rd delivery he faced. Meanwhile, Broad's compatriot John Murray holds the record for facing the most dot balls (79) before scoring a run in a Test innings.