Credit: BCCI
The list of cricketers with most consecutive centuries after captaincy debut in Test cricket is actually now a much-vaunted and classy list in that it features those cricketers who helped the world identify their greatest cricketing strenghts by virtue of their conduct on the 22 yards. While it is one thing to be the Test captain of a unit and a great batter of that unit being another skill, there are always those heartening and special occasions where a cricketer combines two distinct roles all thanks to his class and reslience. Which is why those cricketers with most consecutive centuries after captaincy debut in Test cricket have exemplified the art of batting and that of leading the team responsibly by becoming an example themselves for their unit. What do you reckon?
For slaying bowlers soon as they were made captains to showing their team the right path to follow, some cricketers are already a cult-like figure in terms of hardly taking much time, whatsoever, to ooze sheer class with the bat. But remember, immediately upon being made Test captains of their respective units!
List of cricketers with most consecutive centuries after captaincy debut in Test cricket
Sir Alastair Cook (5 Centuries)
Let us remember and be clear about one thing, in particular. The name is not Alastair Cook, but Sir Alastair Cook. One of the most gifted, accomplished, patient and most hardworking of English cricketers of all time, captaincy, it can be clearly noticed got the best out of Sir Alastair Cook. How was that? He scored, soon as he became the captain of the Test side of England, a a batter with a precious world record and that too, of scoring 5 consecutive Test hundreds as the leader in charge of his unit.
While during March of 2010, he hit his then very important 173 against Bangladesh that happened at Chittagong, he would also score knocks like the 109 not out at Mirpur, which would be followed by a 176 vs India at Ahmedabad, a 122 at Mumbai against the same opponent and then that emphatic 190 at Kolkata. The last three Test centuries actually came as quickly as from the period of 15 November, 2012 to December 5 of that same year.
Really, a dizzying height, isn't it?
Virat Kohli (3 Centuries)
Can there be an astonishingly vital list that talks of pioneering batters and their world beating feats that does not feature Virat Kohli? Highly unlikely, right? Which is why Virat Kohli, the man with more than 9,000 Test runs to his name and several double centuries in Test cricket, finds a notable mention in the great list of cricketers with most consecutive centuries after captaincy debut in Test cricket. He scored fantastic and fighting centuries in the longest format but away from home conditions in Australia - remember the three centuries on the bounce? The 115 and 141 at Adelaide in 2014-15 series were followed by an emphatic 147 at Sydney.
Steve Smith (3 Centuries)
The Kogarah-born cricketer from Australia is without much of a doubt a batting legend where it comes to Test match cricket. For his ability to understand pressure and bat and respond accordingly, for that knack of staying at the wicket and then to engage in captivating pyrotechnics whilst he bats, hops, jumps and even leaves the cricket ball, Smith is a legend. He will always be.
For someone who has already struck 36 career centuries in Test match cricket and hence, finds himself level with the great Dravid of India and having already overtaken the Prince of Trinidad Brian Charles Lara, Smith is in a league of his own.
But soon after making his Test debut, Steve Smith scored three consecutive centuries, which included - 133 v India at Brisbane, followed by a 192 at Melbourne and that incredible 117 at Sydney. This was a decade back in the day in the 2014-15 series.
Sunil Gavaskar (2 Centuries)
The great legend of the game, the man who traumatised even the best and most scary of all West Indian fast bowlers, during the devastatingly challenging periods of the seventies, finds a useful and great mention in the list of cricketers with most consecutive centuries after captaincy debut in Test cricket.
Soon upon being made the Test captain of India, the remarkably gritty Maharashtra batter, Sunil Gavaskar, scored two consecutive Test hundreds, one each against the New Zealand side, a 116 at Auckland, which was followed by an immensely valuable 205 against the mighty West Indies in Mumbai, at his home ground.
Shubman Gill (2 Centuries)
Shubman Gill is undoubtedly now among the great list of Cricketers with most consecutive centuries after captaincy debut in Test cricket. And this is a rather remarkable list to which now the "Prince of Punjab" belongs and with rich aplomb.
Gill has already cracked two centuries on the bounce ever since he was annointed with the huge responsibility of leading India in its ongoing Test tour to England. Gill's bat oozed a fighting 147 in the series-opening contest at Headingley in Leeds but he would stun England, inspire all of India in what was to come. And what did come was like a prized offering for the classic cricket fan - a dominant and gritty 269 despite facing much pressure at Edgbaston.
It now remains to be seen as to what more can the able right hander do in the second innings, while the fan and the team would want India to not have one and drag England under all sorts of pressure by scuttling them out early so as to enforce the follow-on. But well, as they say, you never now in cricket - do you?
