7 Indian batsmen whose Test centuries have never resulted in defeat

Mumbai Sports And Fitness

India has produced one of the finest Test cricketers in the history of world cricket. Indian had a rich history of batsmen par excellence which includes the likes of Dilip Vengserkar, Polly Umrigar, Vijay Hazare, Dilip Sardesai, Lala Amarnath, Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and the list continues.

Amidst all of these great cricketers, there have many other names who have proved to be quite instrumental in Test cricket for the Indian and enjoy some unique records in Test cricket.

Thus, in this article, we will look into 7 Indian greats who proved to be the invincibles of the Indian Test team - India never lost a Test match when these seven greats scored a Test century.

Note: The batsmen with Test centuries less than five are not considered for the list.


#1 Pankaj Roy

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Pankaj Roy played for India from 1951-1960

Roy was one of the best Indian openers in the pre- Sunil Gavaskar era. Indeed, till Gavaskar came along and redefined Indian batsman-ship, Roy had the most runs among Indian openers. Pankaj Roy hailing from Kolkata was one of the most prolific Test batsmen at that time. Born on May 31, he 1928, played 43 Tests for India. Roy's Test career was full of contrasts; a brilliant series would be followed by a run of poor scores, which would then be followed by a string of good ones.

Roy was best known for his world record opening partnership of 413 with Vinoo Mankad. The record stood for 52 years and was broken only in 2008 when Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie made 415 runs for the opening stand against Bangladesh.

Roy has been one of the few Indian batsmen upon whose scoring a hundred India never lost a Test match. Roy made five centuries during his Test career, amassing 2442 runs in 79 innings at an average of 32.56 with the highest score being 173. He was honored with the Padma Shri as well. He also led India in a Test match in England in 1959, a game that England won by 8 wickets.

#2 Dilip Sardesai

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Dilip Sardesai, a Goan prodigy, was one of the best Test batsmen that India had ever produced. Sardesai played 30 Tests for India spanning from 1961 to 1972.

Famous for his spin-tackling skills, Sardesai was the best in the world against spin bowling. Sardesai was, and remains, the only Goa-born cricketer to represent the Indian men's national team.

Sardesai made five centuries during his Test career, scoring 2001 runs in 55 innings at an average of 38.48 with the top score being 212. Also, India never lost a Test match when Sardesai scored a century.

#3 Gundappa Viswanath

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Gundappa Viswanath, popularly known as Vishy, was one of the few batsmen whom Sunil Gavaskar admired a lot and also considered Vishy a grade higher than himself.

Born on Feb 12, 1949, in Mysore, Vishy made his debut in 1969 against Australia. He played fast bowlers and spinners with equal ease. Vishy started his Test career with a duck but shut his critics in the very next innings with a knock of 137 against Australia at Kanpur in 1969. He thus became the first cricketer to score a duck and a century on Test match.

Viswanath made 14 centuries in his Test career of 155 innings, amassing 6080 runs at an average of 41.93 with the highest score being 222. His debut Test match ended in a draw, and he hit 13 more centuries after his debut match and India didn't lose a single of those 13 matches.

#4 Sourav Ganguly

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An absolute God on off-side, Sourav Ganguly has been one of the greatest players in the history of world cricket. Popularly known as Dada, Ganguly had an illustrious Test career.

Ganguly was and remains the only Indian player in the history of cricket to score his debut Test match century at Lord's. He became the only third player after England's Harry Graham and John Hampshire to score his debut Test century at Lord's.

Ganguly made 16 centuries in his fantastic Test career of 188 innings, scoring 7212 runs at an average of 42.18 with the top score being 239. He had a reputation of bailing India out of difficult circumstances. Hence, the record of India not losing a Test match whenever Ganguly scored a Test century.

#5 Gautam Gambhir

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Gautam Gambhir, the batting wizard of the Indian team, was the go-to-go batsman for the Indian team. Born on October 14, 1981, in Delhi, made his debut against Australia in November 2004. Gambhir struggled to score in his debut match against Australia. However, he managed to come to the fore with his debut Test century that came against Bangladesh.

Thus far, Gambhir has made nine centuries in his Test career of 104 innings, amassing 4154 runs at an average of 41.96 with the highest score being 206. India never lost a single match under Gambhir's century and hence making him a part of the list.

#6 MS Dhoni

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MS Dhoni took the Indian cricket to whole together to a different level. Born in Ranchi on July 7, 1981, Dhoni became the first-ever Indian wicket-keeper to score a double century in Test cricket.

Like Ganguly, Dhoni too had a reputation of a go-to-go man for the Indian team in difficult circumstances. Hence, the record of India to never lose a Test match when Dhoni scored a century.

Dhoni made six centuries in his Test career of 144 innings, scoring 4876 runs at an average of 38.09 with the highest score being 224.

#7 Ajinkya Rahane

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Ajinkya Rahane, the crisis-man of the Indian Test team at overseas tours, has been one of the best batsmen in the longest format of the game. Rahane made his debut against Australia in 2013.

Rahane begin to grow as the crisis-man when he scored his maiden Test hundred on the tour to New Zealand on a seaming surface. Months after that, Rahane produced one of his finest innings in Test cricket at Lord's which paved the way for India's first Lord's victory in 28 years with a composed 103, getting himself on the honors board in the process.

Thus far, Rahane has made nine centuries in his Test career of 75 innings, amassing 2883 runs at an average of 43.68 with the highest score being 188.

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