Twin hundreds is rare feat to achieve in test cricket. Many players over the years have achieved it but there are only three special players to have scored them thrice. These players are in a league of their own.
Sunil Gavaskar (India)
Gavaskar is said to have the most perfect technique ever in cricket and is hailed as one of the all time best batsmen to have ever played the game. He was short; he was quick and perfectly defensive.
The first of his twin hundreds came against the mighty West Indian bowling attack of the 70’s and 80’s. Gavaskar scored 124 in the first innings and great 220 in the second one. These two knocks from the little maestro helped India draw the match against a mighty side.
The second time Sunny hit twin hundreds was against the arch rivals Pakistan in a test that India lost though. Irrespective of the result, these twin hundreds just added to Gavaskar’s class as he scored 111 and 137 in first and second innings respectively against the Pakistani bowling attack which had Sarfaraz Nawaz and Imran Khan in their ranks.
The third time it came against the West Indies in Calcutta. The match resulted in a draw once again as Gavaskar scored 107 and 182 in first and second innings respectively.
Ricky Ponting (Australia)
Australia has produced fabulous players in their history of cricket. It is really hard to stand out among them because all of them are just crazily at their best all the time. Well Ricky Ponting was the one who stood out among the best of the best.
Against West Indies in 2005 Ricky Ponting scored his first twin hundreds in a test scoring 149 in the first and an unbeaten 104 in the second innings. This helped Australia win the match and Ponting was adjudged as the player of the match.
In January 2006 against South Africa he once again scored twin hundreds in a test match. This time again in a winning cause and against a much deadlier bowling line up and the thing that stands out about this performance is that one of these centuries was scored while chasing. Ponting scored 120 in the first innings and an unbeaten 143 in the second to secure his team the win and also was given the player of the match and series trophy.
For the third time Ponting scored his twin hundreds against South Africa in Durban again in a match winning cause although this time Ponting wasn’t the man of the match but his contributions of 103 and 116 in the first and second innings respectively were instrumental in his team’s win.
David Warner (Australia)
David Warner is a phenomena which we all fail to understand. He is a bully, he is on the oppositions face all the time but nevertheless he is a class act with the bat. Players of his kind are found rarely.
“A rare gem.”
Warner is right up there in this elite list. The first time Warner achieved this feat was when he scored those awesome hundreds against South Africa in 2014. This was the team when the Australian team was on the rise after they hit their all time low. Warner scored 135 in the first innings and 145 in the second innings.
The reason that this performance stands out is because that the South African team had Steyn and Philander in their ranks and that as well in South Africa. The second time Warner scored his twin hundreds was against India in 2014 at the Adelaide oval. It was a test match to be enjoyed to the full. Warner scoring twin hundreds. Then Clarke and Smith getting to their hundreds.
After these cracking performances from the Aussies Kohli stepped up and scored twin hundreds on his captaincy. For a moment everybody thought that Kohli would take away the match but then Lyon turned around everything with his 7-fer. Warner scored 145 and 102 in first and second innings respectively.
Now recently Warner recorded twin centuries for the third time against New Zealand at Brisbane. The match was no short of entertainment as Warner batted with a blistering in both the innings scoring 163 in the first innings and 116 in the second innings. The performance was instrumental in Australia’s win and it earned Warner the man of the match award.
