Most double centuries in Test cricket

In 145 years of its history, Test cricket has seen many incredible individual performances by some of the finest players of the red-ball game. However, getting a double ton demands a lot of skill, attention, and good batting surfaces to support the batter. Hence, it is not surprising that very few have scored several double centuries in men’s Test cricket. Let us have a look at three players who have the most double centuries in the traditional format:

3. Brian Lara

Lara excelled at playing lengthy innings and had nine double centuries to his name. His most celebrated knocks are the ones against England. Lara’s best innings came against England, not just once but twice. He smashed 375 runs against the opponents in the year 1994 and set a world record for the highest individual score in the format. Matthew Hayden surpassed him to score 380, but Lara’s unbeaten 400* against England in 2004 helped him gain the top spot back.

2. Kumar Sangakkara

The legendary batter from Sri Lanka had 11 double centuries in 134 matches. Sangakkara’s 319 against Bangladesh in 2014 was the best knock of his career as it also came just a year before he announced his retirement. But throughout his career, the wicketkeeper-batter had gone near to striking a triple ton many times. Sangakkara was a prolific batter and his knocks were a treat to the eyes.

1. Don Bradman

Former Australian cricket legend Don Bradman has 12 Test double tons to his name, the most by any player in the history of the game. His first one came against England in June 1930 at Lord’s, and the last came in December 1946 at Sydney Cricket Ground. He added 10 more in between, including two triple hundreds and an unbeaten 299. No batter has come close to Bradman’s lifetime batting average of 99.94, and thus he is recognized as the best ever to have ever played Test cricket.