Highest Test scores by an Indian player every year since 2013 

India started playing Test cricket from the year 1932 with England being their first opponents. India had to wait for 20 years for their first test victory and it happened against the mighty English men at Madras. The Indian cricket has evolved a lot since then with a total of 294 players playing for India.

There are a lot of teams who play cricket but only 12 teams are awarded the test status which proves the vitality of the format. Among the 12 teams, only a few teams have been dominant and have been able to face the tough challenges that the format offers. India can hold their heads high as they are one of those teams.

They have produced some excellent players who have played memorable and breath-taking knocks in Test cricket. Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, and Virender Sehwag are some of the players who made our country proud by playing some spectacular innings that tested both mental and physical skills. After the retirement of those stalwarts, India escaped the dip and has been able to sustain with new players who have taken the responsibilities on their shoulders.

We list you the highest test score by an Indian player since 2013:

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#1 2013 – MS Dhoni 224 vs Australia, Chennai

Dhoni recorded his highest Test score against Australia in 2013

India vs Australia has always been an exciting contest, irrespective of the place it happens. It was the first test between the teams in that series. Michael Clarke, the captain of Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. An excellent century from the captain assisted by a good start from David Warner and Ed Cowan helped the score of Australia reached 380 in the first innings. Though restricting the visitors below 400 was a good thing, it was indeed a challenging total from them.

India in reply got to a poor start as both openers were dismissed for 10 and 2 runs respectively. Kohli made a century and progressed India forward. The real hero who made the difference between the teams was MS Dhoni. Kohli got dismissed when the score was 324 and he didn’t get much support from the other end. Harbhajan Singh was the 8th wicket to fall when the lead was just 26. Fortunately, the debutant Bhuvneshwar Kumar joined hands with Dhoni and helped the team in extending the lead.

Dhoni hit his first double century in Test career and continued to accelerate the innings without any pause. He brought his slogging skills to play as he hit 224 runs off just 265 balls with 24 fours and 6 sixes. It was one of the finest innings to be played by a captain.

Australia couldn’t survive long and they were bowled out for 241 in their second innings with a paltry lead of just 49 which was chased easily by India. MS Dhoni was named the man of the match for his captain’s knock and he remained the top scorer in an innings as none of the other could surpass it.

#2 2014 – Kohli 169 vs Australia, Melbourne

Kohli's knock in Melbourne was one of a kind

Winning an overseas tour has always been a distant dream for India. Though being a team to reckon at home, they have failed miserably in the overseas tours. India toured Australia at the end of 2014 and they were defeated in the first two matches thus repeating the history. India had to win the 3rd test to survive in the series.

Australia opted to bat first after winning the toss. Riding on Steve Smith’s century which was supported by crucial half-centuries from others, Australia scored a mammoth 530 in the first innings. India in reply kept losing wickets until Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane joined at the crease. Virat Kohli played a sensible inning by respecting the good balls and punishing the bad deliveries and he was aptly supported by Rahane from the other end.

Kohli was expected to convert the century to a double hundred but he fell as the 8th wicket after scoring 169 runs. His innings of 169 came in 272 balls with 18 of them rolling across the rope. India was all out for 465 as the last 7 wickets fell for just 57 runs. The match ended in a draw which extended India’s search for overseas victory yet again. Dhoni announced retirement immediately from Test cricket which shocked the fans all over the globe.

It was the last test match of the year and Kohli remained the top scorer as it was a forgettable year for India in tests. They could win only 1 in 10 Tests they played drawing 3 other matches.

#3 2015 – Dhawan 173 vs Bangladesh, Fataullah

The game ended in a draw

India didn’t get to play more Tests in 2015 as the 11th World Cup happened at New Zealand and Australia. India played Bangladesh in a one-match Test series at Fataullah. The series didn’t have much hype and it was seen just as a practice for the succeeding series against Srilanka and South Africa.

India won the toss and elected to bat first. Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay gave a strong start as the hosts had to wait for more than 2 sessions for the first wicket. Shikhar Dhawan smashed boundaries at ease. He was compared with Sehwag for the flying starts he gave like Sehwag and Dhawan yet again confirmed the same with some extraordinary shots all over the ground.

Dhawan had never hit a double hundred and this was expected to be a good chance for him to reach that mark. But, he was dismissed at 173 after giving a return catch to Shakib-Al-Hasan. He had already made the damage as the team was scoring at a rate of more than 4 an over. His innings of 173 came in just 195 balls with 23 boundaries.

India declared at 462-6 and in reply Bangladesh were bowled out for 256. As almost 3 days of play was spoilt by rain, India couldn’t win the game even after enforcing the follow-on. India played 7 more Tests in 2015 and none of the other players could breach Dhawan’s 173 and it remained the top score by an Indian in 2015.

#4 2016 – Karun Nair 303* vs England, Chennai

Nair became the 2nd Indian to enter the 300-club

Indians have always used the home conditions very well. 2016 was the year where they replicated it again. India played 12 matches in total among which 8 were played in India with India winning 7 of them. The final test match of the year and India vs England tour happened at Chennai. England won the toss and opted to bat first. England who had lost the series played for pride and displayed some fine batting with Moeen Ali leading from the front. They were bowled out for 477 with Moeen Ali scoring 148 runs. In reply, India continued their good batting in the series. KL Rahul missed his double hundred by 1 run and other batsmen displayed some good batting show.

Then came the batsman who stole the show by playing a gem of an innings. Karun Nair who had played only 2 tests played the innings of the decade. Nair’s slowly converted his fifty to hundred and continued to torment the English bowler with his elegant batting display. He converted his century to double century and kept going. Both the Indian and England unit was surprised by Karun Nair’s show. India already had achieved a healthy lead.

He converted his 200 to 300 and thus joined the elite list of Indian players to hit 300 which only Virender Sehwag was part of it. India declared immediately after Nair reached the triple century and a humongous score of 759-7 on the board. Nair’s innings of 303 came in 365 deliveries with 32 fours and 6 sixes.

England was bowled out for just 207 runs in their second innings thus losing the match by an innings and 75 runs. Karun Nair’s 303 became the highest score of the year as well as the decade which remains to be broken.

#5 2017 – Virat Kohli 243 vs Sri Lanka, Delhi

Kohli's highest score of 243 came at his home ground

India continued its fine run in Tests in 2017 as they won 7 of 11 matches played with only a minor blip against Australia at Bangalore. Kohli had already become the face of Indian cricket with some breath-taking innings. India faced Sri Lanka at Delhi which was the final test of the series. Playing in India, Indian batting never faced any challenges from the weak Srilankan bowling. Kohli who was in form of his life continued to mock them with some great batting.

He already had hit a double century against Bangladesh earlier and this became his second double century of the year. He also crossed 1000 run mark in 2017 with that double century. His inning of 243 was calm and composed which came in 287 balls with 25 fours in that excellent innings. In reply to India’s 536 in first innings, Srilanka played some good cricket when compared to 373 with Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews scoring centuries.

The match ended in a draw after Srilanka survived the Indian bowling while chasing 410 in the fourth innings. Kohli was awarded the man of the match as expected who ended his year on high with a total score of 1059 runs in 10 matches.

#6. 2018 – Virat Kohli 153 vs South Africa, Centurion

153 at Centurion was one of Kohli's best innings in testing conditions

It’s Kohli again who topped the list of high scores this year and is appearing for the 3rd time in this list. 2018 was not the year for India in Test cricket but can be happy for the intent shown by the Indian team which offers a lot of hope for the future. The statement may go wrong as India is set to play 3 more tests against the Australians before entering 2019. India has played 11 tests in this year and has won 5 them.

India toured South Africa at the beginning of the year. South Africa won the toss and opted to bat first. India bowled pretty well that they were all out for 335 runs in their first innings. India batting looked weak with Kohli being the exception. Except for Kohli, none of the other batsmen could convert their starts. Kohli stood tall for India at one side, playing one of the greatest innings in South Africa. He made sure India get close to South Africa’s first innings score.

Kohli made 153 runs off 217 balls with 15 boundaries and he was the last wicket to fall at 307. Considering the situation he played, the opponents and the ground, Kohli’s innings is one of the finest innings to be played in overseas. India lost the match by 135 runs after failing miserably in the fourth innings while chasing 287 against the challenging Proteas bowling.