Friends, Test cricket is about protecting your wicket and grinding it out in the middle to wear down the opposition, but there have been some exceptions to this theory in the history of Test cricket. Some of them played with hit them all attitude even before the arrival of modern cricket. Looking into such exceptions, here are a few batsmen to have scored the most centuries in less than 100 balls in test cricket:
1 Virender Sehwag- 7 centuries. He has scored the most number of Test centuries under 100 balls. He did on seven different occasions in his Test career. He was known for his fearless batting, and did not use to shy away from taking the attack to bowlers, even in Test cricket.
He did for the first time in Lahore in 2006, against Pakistan. He got to his 11th Test century in just 93 balls and ended up scoring 254 off 247 balls. Next, he scored 180 of 190 deliveries against the West Indies in an away Test in 2006, where he completed his century in just 78 balls. Next, he scored 87 balls century against Sri Lanka in 2008. His 4th century under 100 balls came against Sri Lanka in the home series in 2009, when he scored 97 ball century. His 5th came against South Africa in 2012 when he scored 87 ball century. His next came against Sri Lanka in 90 balls, and his last(7th) was against England in 2012, when he scored 90 balls century.
2 Adam Gilchrist- 6 Centuries. He first did against India in 2001 when he smashed 84 balls century. His second came in away Test against South Africa when he scored 91 balls century. 3rd time was against England in 2003, this century came in 93 balls. His 4th came against Zimbabwe in 2003. 5th against New Zealand in 2005 when he scored 86 ball century. His 6th came against England in 2006 when he smashed a century in just 55 balls.
3 David Warner, Chris Gayle, and Brendon McCullum- 4 centuries.
David Warner score his first against India in 2012, when he smashed 69 ball century. His 2nd came against South Africa in 2012, as 93 ball century. Next came against West Indies in 2016, which was 82 ball century. His last was against Pakistan , which was 78 ball century.
Brendon McCullum scored his first under 100 ball century against Zimbabwe, which he completed in 94 balls. 2nd was against Pakistan in 2015, which was 78 ball century, his 3rd was against Sri Lanka. In 2016, against Australia, he scored his fastest century in just 54 balls.
Chris Gayle scored two of his four centuries under 100 balls against South Africa, his first was 79 ball century in 2004, and next was 96 ball ton in 2005. He scored 80 ball century against England in 2004, and his 4th came against Australia in 2009 which was 70 ball century.
4 Ian Botham, Shahid Afridi- 3 centuries
Ian Botham scored 86 ball century and 87 ball century against Australia in 1981. His third was against New Zealand in 1983, when he scored 99 ball century.
Shahid Afridi has scored two 78 ball centuries in his career. He scored one against West Indies in 2005, and the other against India in 2006. His third also came against India in 2006, which was a century in 99 balls.
5 Ross Taylor- 2 centuries
He hit a Test century in less than 100 balls on two occasions. He did for the first time against Australia in 2010, when he scored 81 ball century. Second, he scored against India in 2012 which was 99 ball century.
So these are 8 players who have scored sub 100 ball centuries on more than one occasion. An Indian batsman Virender Sehwag is topping the list when he scored a sub 100 ball century on seven occasions.
Waiting for your views on this blog.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
19th March 2022.