Flashback: First batter to hit two centuries in a Test three times

The Test format is one of the supreme formats in the cricketing sport. A cricketer always dreams of reaching the three-figure mark in the whites. Some legendary and prominent players have hit hundred in both innings of the match not only once but thrice in their respective careers and India’s Sunil Gavaskar was the first one to achieve this special feat.

Gavaskar was the first player to slam a century in both innings of a Test match three times. The first instance came in 1971 when India toured West Indies for a five-match Test series. The Asian giants batted first in the fifth and the final game at Port-of-Spain in Trinidad and Gavaskar opened the innings.

The right-handed batter struck 124, which included 11 fours in the first innings. He backed up his solid performance with a double-hundred in the second innings. The legendary batter hammered 220 with the help of 22 fours. The match got drawn but Gavaskar had a memorable outing in Trinidad.

The second instance came in 1978 against Pakistan in the third and final match of the series in Karachi. India batted first and Gavaskar slammed 111 with the help of 15 fours. The little master looked in solid touch yet again as he hammered 137 off 240 with 20 fours in the second innings. India lost the encounter but Gavaskar had doubled up his special feat.

In December 1978, the batting maestro repeated his heroics, this time against a visiting West Indian side. Skippering the side, Gavaskar cracked 107 in the third of the six-match Test series in Kolkata. He then scored an unbeaten 182 in the second innings with the match getting drawn. Australia’s duo of Ricky Ponting and David Warner are the other two cricketers to grab this outstanding feat in Test cricket.