Not Just Mayank! 3 other Indian batsmen who converted their maiden Test hundred into a double century

After Rohit Sharma departed for an imperious 176 on Day 2 of the Visakhapatnam Test, a hungry Mayank Agarwal carried on and converted his maiden Test hundred into a memorable double century. Resuming the day on 84 not out, Mayank and Rohit took their maiden opening partnership past the 300-run mark, before the latter played a tired shot to get stumped as India lost their first wicket at 317.

After being the supporting partner on the opening day, Mayank cut loose on Thursday and, in fact, took the lead in reverse sweeping the spinners after they adopted a negative leg-stump line. While Cheteshwar Pujara and skipper Virat Kohli fell cheaply, Agarwal went on to complete a double ton, and eventually fell for 215 to part-timer Dean Elgar as India looked to force the pace.

During his 371-ball stay at the crease, Agarwal hit 23 fours and three sixes. With the knock, Agarwal became the fourth Indian batsman to convert their first maiden hundred into a double hundred.

Rohit Sharma. Dilip Sardesai.

Here’s a look at three other Indian batsmen who achieved the rare feat before Agarwal.

#3. Dilip Sardesai

Dilip Sardesai

, known as the renaissance man of Indian cricket, was the first Indian to score a double century as his first Test hundred. He did this in the third Test of the home series against New Zealand at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, played from March 12-15 1965.

Responding to New Zealand’s competitive first innings total of 297, built around Graham Dowling’s hundred, India collapsed to 88 all out as Bruce Taylor ran through the hosts with 5 for 26. India were asked to follow on, and this is when opener Sardesai rose to the occasion.

Sardesai kept the Kiwis attack at bay in the second innings, and made exactly 200 not out with 25 hits to the fence. He found good support from Chandu Borde, who contributed 109 and Hanumant Singh, who made an unbeaten 75, as the Test ended in a draw.

Sardesai scored only one other double century in his career, the famous 212 at Kingston, during the historic 1971 tour of West Indies.

Also see – World Test Championship Schedule

#2. Vinod Kambli

Vinod Kambli with best friend Sachin Tendulkar

Once anointed as the next big thing of Indian cricket, Vinod Kambli lived up to his reputation early on, with consecutive double hundreds in only his third and fourth Test respectively. It all went downhill for him from that point.

The former southpaw scored his first Test century, 224 against England at his home ground, the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, during the third Test of the series played from February 19-23, 1993. Batting first, England managed a decent 347 on the board courtesy Graeme Hick’s 178 even as Kapil Dev and Anil Kumble finished with three wickets each.

Kapil Dev.

In response, Kambli, aided by an opening stand of 109 between Navjot Sidhu (79) and Manoj Prabhakar (44), went on to play a marathon innings. His knock of 224 featured as many as 23 fours, and he was particularly harsh on the spinners dancing down the track, and constantly hitting them over the top. Kambli batted for over 600 minutes during which he faced 411 balls.

During the course of the innings, Kambli also featured in a 194-run stand for the third wicket with childhood friend Sachin Tendulkar, who contributed 79. Pravin Amre also scored a quick 57 as India made 591 and went on to win the Test by an innings and 15 runs.

Sachin Tendulkar

Kambli went on to score 227 in his very next Test against Zimbabwe at Delhi. Who would have thought back then that he would end up playing only 17 Test matches for 1084 runs?

#1. Karun Nair

Karun Nair.

While Mumbai boys Sardesai and Kambli scored double centuries as their maiden hundreds, Karnataka batsman Karun Nair went one step ahead and converted his first Test hundred into a triple hundred.

Nair, batting at number 5, in the fifth Test of England’s tour of India, played at Chennai from December 16 to 20, 2016, blazed his way to 303 not out from 381 balls, making him only the second Indian after Virender Sehwag to register a Test triple hundred. Nair hit as many as 32 fours and four sixes during his stay at the crease. The knock acquired greater significance as it came just months after Nair narrowly escaped death in a boat tragedy in Kerala.

The memorable knock came in response to England’s first-innings total of 477. After openers Parthiv Patel and KL Rahul added 152 for the opening wicket, Nair featured in a 161-run stand for the fourth wicket with Rahul, who unfortunately was dismissed for 199. With Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja also contributing fifties, India declared on 759 for 7 declared. Jadeja then picked up seven wickets as India won the Test by an innings and 75 runs.

Parthiv Patel.

After his heroic effort at Chennai, featured in three Tests at home against Australia in March 2017. He, however, only managed a highest of 26 and hasn’t played another Test since that series.

Ravindra Jadeja (left).