Stats: AB de Villiers' streak of 98 consecutive Test matches since debut comes to an end
The South African run machine of the present generation, AB de Villiers, had the best opportunity to become the first ever cricketer to play all his team’s 100 Test matches consecutively since making his debut. But he missed on this by just two matches.
He had previously played in all the 98 Test matches South Africa played since making his debut on December 17, 2014.
AB de Villiers opted out from the ongoing Bangladesh tour and unfortunately this ended his streak. Playing 100 Test matches is a major milestone for any player, but playing all 100 matches without missing any in between is a bigger feat that that.
Anyway, AB de Villiers does hold the record of most consecutive Test matches since debut. He overcame Adam Gilchrist who played 96 Test matches – someone who did not miss any Test in his whole career from November 5, 1999 to January 24, 2008.
|
Mat |
Player |
Team |
Debut |
Till |
Last Test |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
98 |
AB de Villiers |
South Africa |
17-Dec-04 |
02-Jan-15 |
- |
98 |
|
96 |
Adam Gilchrist+ |
Australia |
05-Nov-99 |
24-Jan-08 |
24-Jan-08 |
96 |
|
94 |
Rahul Dravid |
India/World XI |
20-Jun-96 |
10-Dec-05 |
24-Jan-12 |
164 |
|
94* |
Brendon McCullum+ |
New Zealand |
10-Mar-04 |
29-May-15 |
- |
94* |
|
84 |
Sachin Tendulkar |
India |
15-Nov-89 |
15-Jun-01 |
14-Nov-13 |
200 |
|
79 |
Mike Hussey+ |
Australia |
03-Nov-05 |
03-Jan-13 |
03-Jan-13 |
79 |
|
65 |
Kapil Dev |
India |
16-Oct-78 |
28-Nov-84 |
19-Mar-94 |
131 |
|
64 |
Ian Healy |
Australia |
15-Sep-88 |
05-Oct-94 |
14-Oct-99 |
119 |
|
61 |
Rohan Kanhai |
West Indies |
30-May-57 |
14-Feb-69 |
30-Mar-74 |
79 |
|
58 |
John Reid+ |
New Zealand |
23-Jul-49 |
08-Jul-65 |
08-Jul-65 |
58 |
|
58 |
Tony Greig+ |
England |
08-Jun-72 |
25-Aug-77 |
25-Aug-77 |
58 |
|
56 |
Alistair Campbell |
Zimbabwe |
18-Oct-92 |
14-Sep-01 |
16-Nov-02 |
60 |
|
54 |
Kevin Pietersen |
England |
21-Jul-05 |
16-Jul-09 |
03-Jan-14 |
104 |
|
53 |
Gary Kirsten |
South Africa |
26-Dec-93 |
18-Mar-99 |
26-Mar-04 |
101 |
|
52 |
Frank Woolley |
England |
09-Aug-09 |
14-Aug-26 |
18-Aug-34 |
64 |
|
52 |
Rod Marsh |
Australia |
27-Nov-70 |
25-Aug-77 |
02-Jan-84 |
96 |
|
52 |
Andy Flower |
Zimbabwe |
18-Oct-92 |
15-Jun-01 |
16-Nov-02 |
63 |
|
51 |
Greg Chappell |
Australia |
11-Dec-70 |
25-Aug-77 |
02-Jan-84 |
87 |
Players with a ‘+’ behind their name did not miss any Test match in their career. Adam Gilchrist (96) Brendon McCullum (94*), Mike Hussey (79), John Reid (58) and Tony Greig (58) are those players.
Brendon McCullum’s streak is on and he has the chance to become the first player to appear in his team’s consecutive 100 test matches since debut.
Rahul Dravid’s 94 Tests included 93 for India and 1 for World XI.
Kapil Dev played his first 65 Test matches, missed one, and then played all the next 66 Test matches. In a career of 131 Test matches, he missed only one.
Like Kapil Dev, Ian Healy played 64 Tests from debut, missed one, and then played all his next 55. He also missed only the one Test.
Rahul Dravid missed only Two test matches and Andy Flower missed three. These are the only players along with Kapil Dev and Ian Healy to miss less than five matches among the names in the table.
Apart from playing consecutive Test matches since debut, four players have played over 100 matches consecutively at any point of their career. AB de Villiers finds his place in the fifth position in the table below of most consecutive test matches.
|
Batsman |
Team |
Matches |
Start |
End |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Allan Border |
Australia |
153 |
10-Mar-79 |
25-Mar-94 |
|
Alastair Cook |
England |
115* |
11-May-06 |
- |
|
Mark Waugh |
Australia |
107 |
03-Jun-93 |
19-Oct-02 |
|
Sunil Gavaskar |
India |
106 |
23-Jan-75 |
03-Feb-87 |
|
AB de Villiers |
South Africa |
98 |
17-Dec-04 |
02-Jan-15 |
|
Adam Gilchrist |
Australia |
96 |
05-Nov-99 |
24-Jan-08 |
|
Brendon McCullum |
New Zealand |
94* |
10-Mar-04 |
- |
|
Rahul Dravid |
India |
93 |
20-Jun-96 |
10-Dec-05 |
|
Mahela Jayawardene |
Sri Lanka |
93 |
08-Nov-02 |
03-Jan-13 |
|
Gundappa Viswanath |
India |
87 |
19-Mar-71 |
30-Jan-83 |
|
Matthew Hayden |
Australia |
86 |
31-Mar-00 |
02-Jan-08 |
|
Garry Sobers |
West Indies |
85 |
11-Apr-55 |
20-Apr-72 |
|
Sachin Tendulkar |
India |
84 |
15-Nov-89 |
15-Jun-01 |
|
Mike Hussey |
Australia |
79 |
03-Nov-05 |
03-Jan-13 |
|
Mark Boucher |
South Africa |
75 |
14-Feb-98 |
11-Aug-04 |
Allan Border missed three matches, missed one and then played all the next 153 matches. He also missed only one Test in his career of 156 matches.
Alastair Cook also missed only one Test in his career. He played the first two, then missed one, and played in all the next 115. Cook's streak, therefore, is still on.
|
Player |
Matches |
From |
Till |
|---|---|---|---|
|
AB de Villiers |
98 |
17-Dec-04 |
02-Jan-15 |
|
Mark Boucher |
75 |
14-Feb-98 |
11-Aug-04 |
|
Hashim Amla |
68 |
27-Apr-06 |
14-Oct-13 |
|
Jacques Kallis |
60 |
26-Dec-97 |
02-Jan-03 |
|
Mark Boucher |
54 |
13-Jan-05 |
06-Feb-10 |
|
Gary Kirsten |
53 |
26-Dec-93 |
18-Mar-99 |
AB de Villiers and Gary Kirsten are the only South Africans to play over 50 consecutive matches from their debut.
Mark Boucher has two different sequences of 50+ consecutive Test matches in his career but not from his debut. Kapil Dev and Ian Healy are the only others with two sequences of 50+ consecutive Test matches in career.
|
Team |
Player |
Matches |
From |
Till |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Australia |
Allan Border |
153 |
10-Mar-79 |
25-Mar-94 |
|
England |
Alastair Cook |
115* |
11-May-06 |
- |
|
India |
Sunil Gavaskar |
106 |
23-Jan-75 |
03-Feb-87 |
|
New Zealand |
Brendon McCullum |
94* |
10-Mar-04 |
- |
|
Pakistan |
Javed Miandad |
53 |
14-Dec-77 |
02-Jan-84 |
|
South Africa |
AB de Villiers |
98 |
17-Dec-04 |
02-Jan-15 |
|
Sri Lanka |
Mahela Jayawardene |
93 |
08-Nov-02 |
03-Jan-13 |
|
West Indies |
Garry Sobers |
85 |
11-Apr-55 |
20-Apr-72 |
|
Zimbabwe |
Alistair Campbell |
56 |
18-Oct-92 |
14 Sep 200 |
No player has played 50+ consecutive tests for Bangladesh.
Javed Miandad is the only player to play 50+ consecutive tests for Pakistan.
For Australia 16 players have played 50+ consecutive matches, 11 for England, 10 for India, 4 for New Zealand, 5 for South Africa, 2 for Sri Lanka, 5 for West Indies and 2 for Zimbabwe.