5 best second innings Test batsmen of all time

The inherent beauty of Test cricket is that it gives you another chance to rectify your mistakes. If the willpower is intact, there have been instances when a player has forged an almost heroic comeback to complete a heist, despite being banished in his first innings of the same match.

This is where the worth of the longest format of the game shines out, this is where the second innings holds such importance. It offers batsmen a chance to overcome their shortcomings, it gives them the opportunity to not only stamp their authority over the match but march into folklore.

An ideal Test surface deteriorates as the game progresses and more often than not, it becomes tricky for the batsmen to assert themselves.

However, these very circumstances entice the true fighters to dig in and scrape out runs.

Now, let's take a look at five such batsmen, who ignored all the rulings about a deteriorating surface, and scored runs for fun even in the third and fourth innings.

Not all the efforts transpired into victories, but often the scars endured on the battlefield become a greater souvenir than the triumph itself.

#5 Allan Border (4,371 runs)

The era of Australian dominance in the world of cricket began in 1984, when 'Captain Cranky' Allan Border, took over the reigns of a team undergoing a rebuilding phase.

Between 1978 and 1994, Border scored 4,371 runs in 132 Tests, while batting for the second time in a five-day game, the highest for a cricketer from Down Under.

The Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1981, scored 11 tons and 24 fifties in the third or fourth innings of a five-dayer.

Border, who retired as the most-capped and highest run-scoring cricketer in history, accumulated 163 runs against India in the third innings of a 1985 Test in Melbourne and ended up winning the Man of the Match award for his heroics.

The match-saving ton from Border was his highest while batting for the second time in a Test encounter.

#4 Kumar Sangakkara (4,569 runs)

Kumar Sangakkara, who was known to make the opposition's bowlers work like Trojans, was one of the most dependable batsmen in Sri Lanka's arsenal for over a decade.

Considered to be one of the most stylish batsmen in the history of cricket, Sangakkara amassed 4,569 runs from his second innings of the 109 Test he played between 2000 and 2015.

The left-hander, whose tally of international runs is only behind Sachin Tendulkar, hit 14 centuries and 23 half-centuries while batting for the second time in a five-dayer.

The wicket-keeper batsman's highest score in the third or fourth innings of a five-day game came in a 2011 match against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi.

Sangakkara scored 211 in the fourth innings as the match ended in a draw.

#3 Sachin Tendulkar (4,621 runs)

India worshipped Sachin Tendulkar. He symbolized hope, he was the epitome of dreams materialising into reality.

The Master Blaster, whose records continue to be a benchmark when it comes to judging the capabilities of a modern-day Test batsman, scored 4,621 runs in 147 five-dayers while batting for the second time, between 1989 and 2013.

The man, who played 200 Tests in his 24-year long career, scored 13 out of his 51 tons in the longest format of the game, in the third or fourth innings.

In a 2002 Test match against the West Indies in Kolkata, Tendulkar scored 176, his best while batting for the second time in a five-day game, in the fourth innings and saved the match for the hosts.

#2 Jacques Kallis (4,726 runs)

Regarded as one of the greatest cricketers of all time, Jacques Kallis earned a lot of praise for his orthodox batting technique.

South Africa's leading run-scorer in Tests, scored 4,726 runs in 127 five-dayers between 1996 and 2013, to claim the second spot on this list.

The all-arounder hit 11 tons and 26 fifties in the third or fourth innings of a Test match.

Kallis' highest score on the second attempt in a five-day game came in a 2007 Test against New Zealand at Johannesburg.

Although Dale Steyn was the star of that duel, in the third innings of the match and South Africa's second, Kallis scored 186 to set up a massive target for the visitors.

Consequently, the hosts won the match by a colossal margin of 358 runs.

#1 Alastair Cook (4,754 runs)

Alastair Cook became the sixth batsman to score 12,000 Test runs on the fourth day of the recently-concluded fifth Ashes Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The 33-year-old, who scored 244 not out in the fourth Test in Melbourne, sits atop this elite list as he scored 4,754 runs in his second innings from 124 five-dayers, so far.

Cook, who poses a serious threat to Sachin Tendulkar's Test records, has scored 14 tons and 22 fifties while batting for the second the time in a five-day encounter.

The left-handed opening batsman brought up his highest score on the second outing in a Test match when he remained unbeaten in a 2010/11 Ashes encounter against Australia in Brisbane.

The man, who led England to Ashes glory in 2015, brought up his double ton in the third innings of the match, that ended in a stalemate.