KARACHI, Nov 24: Inzamamul Haq, affectionately known as Sultan of Multan, has become only the 11th captain to score century in each innings of a Test during his record-breaking display in the drawn second Test against England on Thursday.
The 35-year-old Multan-born right-hander eclipsed compatriot Javed Miandad as Pakistan’s highest scorer of Test hundreds after recording his 24th in the second innings of the Faisalabad Test.
Inzamam’s 109 and 100 not out made him the 49st member of the twin-century club and the fifth Pakistani after countrymen Hanif Mohammad, Miandad, Wajahatullah Wasti and Yasir Hameed.
Overall, Inzamam’s was the 59th instance of a batsman making hundred in each innings of the same Test.
Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar is the only man ever to achieve the feat thrice while Australians Greg Chappell, Allan Border and Matthew Hayden, England’s Herbert Sutcliffe, George Headley and Clyde Walcott of West Indies, Sri Lankan Aravinda de Silva and India’s current skipper Rahul Dravid have all done it twice.
Apart from Inzamam, the other 10 captains in this exclusive club are Don Bradman, Bobby Simpson, Ian and Greg Chappell, Allan Border and Ricky Ponting of Australia, English pair of Graham Gooch and present skipper Michael Vaughan, Gavaskar and South Africa’s Alan Melville.
Greg Chappell, the current India coach, is the only one among this group to score two centuries in his first Test as captain.
Inzamam’s 24th century in 104th Test appearance puts him at par with Matthew Hayden (75 Tests), Greg Chappell (87 Tests) and Vivian Richards (121 Tests) at the ninth position in the all-time scorers of centuries.
Gavaskar (125 Tests) and Sachin Tendulkar (123) head the list with 34 centuries followed by Steve Waugh (32 in 164 Tests), Brian Lara (30 in 120), Bradman (29 in 52), Border (27 in 156), Garfield Sobers (26 in 93) and Ponting (25 in 96).
Century in each innings as captain
A. Melville (189 and 104*) South Africa v England Trent Bridge 1947
D.G. Bradman (132 and 127*) Australia v India Melbourne 1947-48
R.B. Simpson (153 and 115) Australia v Pakistan Karachi 1964-65
I.M. Chappell (145 and 121) Australia v New Zealand Wellington 1973-74
G.S. Chappell (123 and 109*) Australia v West Indies Brisbane 1975-76
S.M. Gavaskar (107 and 182*) India v West Indies Kolkata 1978-79
A.R. Border (140 and 114*) Australia v New Zealand Christchurch 1985-86
G.A. Gooch (333 and 123) England v India Lord’s 1990
M.P. Vaughan (103 and 101*) England v West Indies Lord’s 2004
R.T. Ponting (149 and 104*) Australia v West Indies Brisbane 2005-06
Inzamamul Haq (109 and 100*) Pakistan v England Faisalabad 2005-06
Century in each innings for Pakistan:
Batsmen Scores Opponents Venue Season
Hanif Mohammad 111 and 104 England Dhaka 1961-62
Javed Miandad 104 and 103* New Zealand Hyderabad 1984-85
Wajahatullah Wasti 133 and 121* Sri Lanka Lahore 1998-99
Yasir Hameed 170 and 105 Bangladesh Karachi 2003-04
Inzamamul Haq 109 and 100* England Faisalabad 2005-06
Note: Yasir is one of only two batsmen to make century in each innings on Test debut following the feat of West Indian Lawrence Rowe (214 and 100*) v New Zealand at Kingston in 1971-72.
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