Stats: Indian batsmen who have scored 150+ on the first day of a Test match

Shikhar Dhawan could have scored 200+ on the first day had rain not intervened

On the first day of the Fatullah Test match against Bangladesh, Shikhar Dhawan scored an unbeaten 150 runs off 158 balls. The day was spoiled by rain and only 56 overs of play was possible. India scored 239 runs without losing any wicket in the 56 overs as Dhawan’s opening partner Murali Vijay was unbeaten on 89.

If the rain had not arrived, Dhawan might well have reached a double century before the close of play if not even more. But he had to be satisfied with a score of 150, which he reached off what turned out to be the final ball of the day.

While it was the 12th occasion that an Indian batsman has scored 150+ runs on the opening day of a Test match, Dhawan was only the 9th Indian player to do so. Virender Sehwag is the only Indian to have reached 200 on the opening day of a Test and Dhawan could have perhaps emulated him if the rain had not interrupted.

Below is the list of all the 12 instances of Indian batsmen scoring 150 or more runs on the first day of a Test match.

150+ runs by Indians on the first day of a Test match

Runs	Batsman	Final score	Position	Against	Venue	Date	Result
228	Virender Sehwag	309	2	Pakistan	Multan	28-Mar-04	Won
195	Virender Sehwag	195	2	Australia	MCG	26-Dec-03	Lost
192	Wasim Jaffer	202	1	Pakistan	Eden Gardens	30-Nov-07	Drawn
180	Virender Sehwag	180	2	West Indies	St Lucia	10-Jun-06	Drawn
177	Rahul Dravid	177	3	Sri Lanka	Ahmedabad	16-Nov-09	Drawn
176	Vinod Kambli	227	3	Zimbabwe	Delhi	13-Mar-93	Won
173	Virender Sehwag	173	2	New Zealand	Ahmedabad	04-Nov-10	Drawn
170	Budhi Kunderan	192	2	England	Madras	10-Jan-64	Drawn
169	Yuvraj Singh	169	6	Pakistan	Bangalore	08-Dec-07	Drawn
167	Gautam Gambhir	167	1	Sri Lanka	Kanpur	24-Nov-09	Won
155	Sachin Tendulkar	155	4	South Africa	Bloemfontein	03-Nov-01	Lost
150	Shikhar Dhawan	150*	2	Bangladesh	Fatullah	10-Jun-15	-

During the innings when Sehwag became the first Indian to reach a double century on the first day of a Test match, against Pakistan at Multan in 2004, he also went on to become the first triple centurion from India. He scored 228 runs on the first day and went on to add another 81 runs the next day, eventually getting out for a dazzling 309.

The first ever Indian to score more than 150 runs on the opening day of a Test match was wicketkeeper Budhi Kunderan, against England at the Corporation Stadium in Madras in 1964. He was eventually out for 192 on the next day. His 192 was also the highest individual score by an Indian wicketkeeper in Tests until MS Dhoni made 224 against Australia at Chepauk in Chennai in 2013.

Out of 12 instances listed above, 10 have come since 2000 and 4 of those by Virender Sehwag. Only three in the above list have come outside Asia – Sehwag’s 195 at MCG in Australia, 180 at St Lucia in West Indies and Tendulkar’s 155 at Bloemfontein in South Africa.

Yuvraj Singh (169) and Sachin Tendulkar (155) are the only Indians to score 150+ runs on the opening day of a Test match despite not batting at the top of the order (1-3). While Yuvraj was batting at number 6, Tendulkar’s innings came while batting at number 4.

India have lost only two Test matches when a batsman has scored 150+ on the first day of a Test match – against South Africa at Bloemfontein in 2001 and against Australia at MCG in 2003.

# Most runs on the first day of a Test match amongst batsmen of all teams is 309 by Donald Bradman in his innings of 334 against England at Leeds in 1930. It is the most runs on any day of a Test match.

# Most runs on any day of a Test match by Indians is 284 by Virender Sehwag in his innings of 293 against Sri Lanka at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai in 2009. It was the second day of the match and India batted only 79 overs in the day as Sri Lanka had batted 5.4 overs earlier in the day.

# There are four instances of an Indian scoring 200+ runs in a day in Test match – three by Virender Sehwag and once by MS Dhoni. No doubt, Shikhar Dhawan could have achieved it if rain had not spoilt the situation.