India are presently hosting Australia in a four-Test match series which will be played over the course of a month and a week. With two talismanic captains locking horns against each other on flat batting wickets here expect some records to be shattered.
The Australian skipper though got out for only 27 in the first innings of the ongoing Test at Pune, he has been in quite brilliant form of late. In three Test matches prior to this against Pakistan Smith scored two big hundreds, 130 and 165 not out. Therefore we should expect him to deliver yet again in this series too.
On the other hand, you have Virat Kohli who is perhaps in the form of his life. Kohli’s recent records have been quite staggering where he has notched four double hundreds in four consecutive Test series.
Against England, he scored 655 runs at an astonishing average of 109.16 from five matches but could not quite manage to get to the top of the list of the most runs in a series by a captain.
Here in this list, we look at the top five cricketers.
#5 Gary Sobers (722 runs in 5 Tests)
West Indies were touring England in 1966 and in those days they were quite a force to reckon with. From the very first Test Sobers was at his very best. In the first innings, Sobers carried on from where Conrad Hunte (135) left off.
The flashy left-hander first got to a dismissive fifty and then went on to score a massive 161. West Indies won the game by an innings and 40 runs and from then on Sobers hardly put a foot wrong. Sobers then got a 163 not out in the second game which ended in a draw.
In the next, Sobers got out after scoring just 3 in the first innings but followed it up with a brilliant 94 which helped his side win the game by 139 runs. The legendary batter again scored a 174 in the fourth Test where the West Indies triumphed again by an innings and 55 runs.
England finally had something to cheer about as they won the last Test but there too he came up with a dazzling 81. He was, however, dismissed for zero the second time around.
#4 David Gower (732 runs in 6 Tests)
Australia toured England in 1985 and David Gower had a ball in the series. However, in the very first Test which England won by five wickets, Gower failed with the willow.
In the second Test Australia made a strong comeback and beat England by four wickets. Gower scored 86 in the first innings but then failed again.
In the drawn third Test, Gower finally came into his own as he smashed a dazzling 166 and a 17. The fourth game was also drawn and the series was still locked at 1-1. The elegant left-hander captaining the English knew he would have to deliver in the next two outings to get hold of the Ashes crown and boy! Did he deliver!
Gower slammed a 215 in the penultimate Test which resulted in England winning the contest by an innings and 118 runs. And then again in the last game, the skipper got a brilliant 157 to clinch the issue and with it the Ashes.
#3 Sunil Gavaskar (732 runs in 6 Tests)
West Indies in the 1970 and 80s were known for being a ruthless side with tear away quicks. It is still quite astonishing to believe that Gavaskar faced them without a helmet. To have the audacity to that and yet score 732 runs against such a side is mind boggling.
West Indies toured India in 1978 and in the very first Test, the little Mumbaikar showed why he was called world class by slamming a double hundred.
However, his temperament deserted him in the next game as he was dismissed for a duck. In the third match, however, Gavaskar got back to his form again as he smashed a 107 in the first innings and then followed it up with a dazzling 187. India almost won the game but West Indies somehow defended for their lives and clinched a draw.
Gavaskar surprisingly failed in the fourth game but India won it by three wickets. The Indian skipper then got to a 120 and a 40 in the next two ties where both ended in stalemates and India clinched the series 1-0.
#2 Graham Gooch (752 runs in 3 Tests)
India toured England in July 1990 where they were welcomed by English captain Graham Gooch with a few morale breaking knocks.
In the very first Test match, Gooch clobbered his way through to an outstanding 333 runs and then in the second innings smashed 123.
Even though India battled hard in the Test match, scoring 472 in the fourth innings proved to be a very tough ask as they were bowled out for 224.
In the second Test which ended in a draw Gooch once again got to a century in the first innings but then scored just 7 in the second.
In the third Test courtesy of an 187 from Ravi Shastri and 110 from Kapil Dev, India scored a massive 606 in Kennington Oval. But then Gooch came up with fighting 85 and 88 to help England save the Test match and with it clinch the series 1-0.
#1 Donald Bradman (810 runs in 5 Tests)
England travelled to Australia for the Ashes in 1936/37 to be greeted by a side led by the legendary Donald Bradman.
In the first Test at the Gabba, England were all over the Aussies with Bradman scoring 38 and 0 in both innings. The visitors quite easily clinched the contest by 322 runs.
England continued their victory march at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the second Test as once again Bradman failed with the bat. In the second innings, however, he came up with a brisk 82 but it was in a lost cause. Many critics believed the series was over for the Australians and that England would be worthy winners. But the best batsman of his time had other ideas.
In the third game, Bradman got 13 in the first innings but then suddenly out of nowhere struck a scintillating 270. His innings gave England a mammoth target of 689 runs which they failed to achieve.
In the fourth Test, it was the same story, after falling cheaply in the first knock, Bradman came up with another double hundred to help his side win the game.
In the fifth and final Test, Bradman once again came up with a superlative performance of 169 runs to help his side get to a massive 604 runs. Australia then bowled brilliantly to win the game by an innings and 200 runs.
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