6 Batsmen who can beat Brian Lara's record of highest individual Test score

Sir Garfield Sobers in 1958 scored 365* against Pakistan in Kingston and he went past Len Hutton's 364 which was the highest individual score by a batsman in an innings of Test cricket. Sobers' 365* was the highest score for more than 36 years until it was broken by his own countryman Brian Lara who played a knock of 375 against England at St John's. Brian Lara's record of 375 stood until it was broken by Mathew Hayden in 2003, the Australian scored 380 against Zimambwe in Perth. Brian Lara regained back his record by scoring 400* against England at the same ground on which he scored 375 in 2004.

It has been more than 14 years since Lara scored 400* and it is still the highest score by a batsman in Test innings. Mahila Jayawardene came close to breaking it against South Africa in 2006 but he was dismissed on the score of 374.

There have been 30 occasions on which players have been able to cross the 300 run mark and 4 players have crossed this milestone twice. No batsman has been able to score three triple hundreds.

Some batsmen came close to scoring 3 but were unfortunate not to reach the milestone. Here is the list of batsmen who could have scored three triple hundreds.

In 2017 and 2018 no player scored a triple century in international cricket. Last triple centuries were scored in 2016 by Karun Nair and Azhar Ali. Before that, Kumar Sangakkara and Brendon Mccullum scored triple centuries in 2014. So in the last five years, only four players were able to score a triple century. Scoring triple centuries is not an easy task and this is demonstrated by the fact that such few batsmen have been able to accomplish this task.

These days Test cricket has changed quite a lot. Teams look to score runs at a quick pace. In the first innings Teams usually declare around a score 500-600 and don't look for huge totals of 700 plus. Batsmen also look to play too many shots and such an approach might have contributed to fewer double and triple hundreds that we witness today.

But there are players from the current generations who have the ability to break Lara's record:

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#1 Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli has been batting so well that no player in world cricket looks close to him. In the last series against West Indies, he scored 3 centuries in the first three matches and now has 38 centuries to his name in ODIs. He is behind only Sachin Tendulkar who scored 49 hundred in ODIs.

While in Tests he has 24 hundreds and out of the current active players, he is behind only Hashim Amla who has 28. Virat Kohli didn't have any double century in Tests till July 2016 and his highest score in Test was 169 which he scored in Melbourne against Australia in 2014. He scored his first double hundred against West Indies in July 2016 and by December 2017 he had scored 6 double centuries in Test with a highest of 243 against Sri Lanka. In two consecutive innings, he scored two double centuries against Srilanka in 2017, 213 in the second Test and 243 in the third Test.

In England, he batted brilliantly and showed immense patience. He left the deliveries outside the off stump and patiently controlled his innings. He is now a much more complete player and has the ability to score triple hundreds and it is just a matter of converting those double hundreds to even bigger scores.

#2 Steve Smith

Steve Smith has been one of the best batsmen of the current generations. He topped the batting ranking in Tests for a long period and now has lost the first position to Virat Kohli as he has been out of action due to the year ban he is facing for his involvement in the sandpaper scandal.

He averages 61.37 in Tests which is the highest among the current players. He has scored 23 tons, 2 of which are double hundreds. Once he was dismissed on the score 199 and missed a well deserved 200. He has the highest score of 239 which he scored against England in Perth in 2017.

He is a brilliant Test match player and has a knack of scoring big hundreds and definitely has the potential to topple Brian Lara's record.

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#3 Hashim Amla

Hashim Amla has been a fantastic player for South Africa and has played over 100 Tests and scored more than 9000 runs at an average of 47.23. He has scored 28 hundreds and has most hundred among the currently active international players. Out of 28 hundreds four times, he went on to convert them into double hundreds.

Once he even went on to score a triple hundred, 311* which he scored against England in 2012. The South African has been one of the best batsmen in the current era and he is equally effective in all three formats of the game. Off late, he has not been the best of the form but still, he has a knack of scoring big scores once he gets going.

#4 Kane Williamson

Yorkshire v Worcestershire - Specsavers Championship Division One

Kane Williamson is currently ranked number three in Test matches only after Steve Smith and Virat Kohli. He has been a brilliant player for New Zealand and has scored more than 5300 runs at an average in excess of 50. He has scored 18 hundred and 16 fifties.

The New Zealand captain has a double hundred to hundred to his name which he scored against SriLanka in 2015. In his knock of 242* he faced 438 deliveries. His knock of 242* clearly showed that if he had more time then he might hit the magical mark. The 28-years-old still has time on his side to make a mark.

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#5 Joe Root

Joe Root is currently is ranked 4th after Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, and Kane Williamson who are placed at 1,2 and 3 positions respectively. He has 41 fifties and 14 hundreds which shows that he doesn't convert his starts into big scores.

He has two double hundreds, one of them being the 252 he scored against Pakistan in 2016. He is widely viewed as one of the most talented batsmen of his generation and he is indispensable for England. If he can show little more patience, the 27-year-old certainly has the ability to pile on big scores.

#6 David Warner

David Warner is currently one of the best and one of the most destructive openers in Tests. He has the ability to counterattack the opposition by scoring runs at a brisk pace. His game is very similar to Virender Sehwag and like the legendary Indian opener, the Australian has the ability to blow away the opposition bowling attacks with his strokeplay.

David Warner has 21 hundreds and once he also went on to score a double hundred. In that knock, he scored 253 from just 286. He was so dominant in that innings that when he got out, he had scored 253 alone out of 427- which was the team's total score. Had he continued he would have easily scored a triple hundred that day. His ability to score runs quickly gives him the added advantage of scoring big hundreds in lesser number of balls.