4 Indian batsmen who scored a century in their first Test as opener

Test cricket is generally considered the hardest format of cricket because of the amount of physical endurance and mental strength required to remain fit and focused for five days. Getting a spot in the national Test squad is a watershed moment for any player, especially if it comes as a reward for consistent performances in the domestic circuit.

Opening the batting is probably the toughest job in modern-day Test cricket, as evidenced by the statistics from the last few years. The new ball bowlers have dominated this format in recent times, mainly due to the lack of technique and experience against good old-fashioned swing bowling.

A combination of temperament and cool head is needed to score big in your very first game as an opener in Test match cricket. Many batsmen do not get the desired results when first thrust into the role, while a few impress in their first go itself.

In this article, we look at four Indian batsmen who scored a century in their first Test match as an opener:

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#4 Rohit Sharma (176 vs South Africa)

Rohit Sharma

The latest addition to this list is India’s white-ball champion Rohit Sharma. KL Rahul was having a terrible time in red-ball cricket and Prithvi Shaw was not available for selection so Rohit, who is arguably the best opener of this generation in limited-overs cricket, was asked to open in the ongoing Test series against South Africa.

Test cricket is very different from ODI and T20 cricket, which made people skeptical about Rohit's success. But he responded in fine fashion to prove the doubters wrong.

Rohit played cautiously in the beginning, did a good job of seeing off the new ball. Once he got set, he did not take time to start attacking the bowlers. South African off-spinner Dane Piedt came in for special attention as he was hammered mercilessly.

Rohit ended up with 176 and stitched together an excellent opening stand with Mayank Agarwal, who went on to score a double-century in the same innings.

The right-hander followed this knock with an exemplary ton in the second innings. Rohit smashed 33 fours and 13 sixes in the entire match, leaving nobody in doubt of his intentions.

The twin centuries by Rohit played a major part in India's win. The Mumbai-born player, who had also scored a hundred on his Test debut, bagged the ‘Man of the Match’ award for his worthy contribution.

Also see – World Test Championship Schedule

#3 Prithvi Shaw (134 vs West Indies)

Prithvi Shaw

India were back home after a disappointing tour to England in 2018, and the opening issues were in the limelight as always. The Indian openers had had a horrid time in the last two overseas series – South Africa and England.

The youngster Prithvi Shaw was called up during the later stages of the England tour, but he had to wait for his international debut. Shaw was then confirmed to make his Test debut for India in the series against West Indies.

In first class cricket before his debut, Shaw had accumulated 1418 runs in 26 innings at an excellent average of 56.72. Suffice to say there were a lot of expectations from him.

At Rajkot, the Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first. The debutant displayed his attacking style right from the word go as he went after the bowling.

The talented youngster broke a plethora of records with his free-flowing knock. He became the 15th Indian to score a century on Test debut, the second youngest Indian after Sachin Tendulkar to score a hundred and the third-fastest centurion on debut.

He finished his innings at the score of 134 as he was caught and bowled by Devendra Bishoo.

Since that knock, Shaw has been in and out of the Indian squad. An ankle injury in Australia and a dope test failure have forced him to miss a few games, and he will be looking to make a strong comeback soon.

#2 KL Rahul (110 vs Australia)

K. L. Rahul

During India’s 2014-15 tour to Australia, KL Rahul made his Test debut under the captaincy of MS Dhoni in the Boxing Day match. But Rahul didn’t bat at his usual position and failed to make much of an impression.

In his next game at Sydney, he was promoted to open in Virat Kohli’s first match as permanent Test captain. Although all eyes were on Kohli for obvious reasons, Rahul also wanted to make a name for himself.

The Karnataka-born player had scored tons of runs in the domestic circuit before bursting into the national team. In 44 first-Class innings before his Test debut, Rahul had amassed 2100 runs at an average of exactly 50.

Facing the likes of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, the right-hander scored a fine century to set the Indian innings up. Rahul stitched a stand of 97 runs with Rohit Sharma for the second wicket and a huge partnership of 141 runs with the skipper Kohli for the third wicket.

Despite significant efforts by Rahul, Kohli and Murali Vijay (in the second innings), India couldn't win the match. But Rahul, who is the only Indian to score a ton away from home in his first innings as an opener, ensured that he got a long run as opener.

#1 Shikhar Dhawan (187 vs Australia)

Shikhar Dhawan

Like Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan also received his first cap in the longest format of the game against the Aussies. India were struggling to find a suitable partner for Murali Vijay at the top and Dhawan, who represents Delhi at the domestic level, was in the middle of a good run before getting an opportunity in the national team.

In 133 first-class innings, Dhawan had piled up 5860 runs at an average of about 46 before donning the Test whites.

The opening batsman announced his arrival to Test cricket in a fearless manner. At Mohali, Dhawan scored a brutal hundred in his very first game. He smacked runs all around the park, with the cover region being his favourite, as he scored 69 runs in that area.

Dhawan’s wonderful innings came to an end as he was caught by Ed Cowan at silly point off Nathan Lyon’s bowling. The swashbuckling knock consisted of as many as 33 fours and a couple of sixes.

The Dhoni-led team won the third match of the series to seal the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The southpaw was presented with ‘Man of the Match’ award for his incredible knock of 187 runs off just 174 balls.