Credit: BCCI
Several great Indian cricketers with highest individual scores in test matches have dominated many cricketing forces from around the world. And many of these teams have laboured and strived against India despite being backed with immense firepower with the red-ball. But in the tug of war between the bat and the ball, the end result has come to lean towards the batters given their skill and artistry, the desire to excel and the power to persevere.
Therefore, let us now take a look at some of the leading Indian cricketers with highest individual scores in Test matches and also, at the same time, try and understand what has made their heroics with the bat special and one of a kind:
List of Indian cricketers with highest individual scores in Test matches
Virender Sehwag (319 vs South Africa)
During a Test match in the year 2008 against the mighty South African unit at Chennai, the dashing and uncompromising Virender Sehwag scored a cracking 319. Not that it was the first time that he had scored a triple century, his previous (the-then) highest individual Test score being the 309 against Pakistan at Multan that came off just 375 deliveries.
So at the back of a whirlwind triple hundred, and that too, against a full strength South African unit that featured bowling greats of its time in Makhaya Ntini along with a rising force in the form of Dale Steyn and Morne Morley Sehwag for all his brilliance and dominance rose to the top of the table that reads seven Indian cricketers with highest individual scores in Test matches. It remains, as on date, the highest individual Test score ever scored by an Indian in all these decades of playing five day red-ball cricket. A truly momentous occasion belonging to a cricketer who played for Delhi and later, Haryana in Ranji but became not long after his incredible performances for India, a household name.
VVS Laxman (281 vs Australia)
VVS Laxman scored a memorable 281 against Australia while following-on in the iconic Kolkata Test in 2001 at the Eden Gardens, helping India to register a famous victory after coming from behind. He batted alongside Rahul Dravid for the entirity of day four, putting together a 376-run stand in the Indian second innings, to help them set a competitve target of 384 runs for Australia to chase on the fifth and final day.
India went on to win the Test match by 171 runs despite being bowled out for 171 runs in response to Australia's first innings total of 445 runs.
Rahul Dravid (270 vs Pakistan)
What can one say about Rahul Dravid: after all, here’s one man with several decorations. He was - and is still - called the wall for possessing a watertight technique that could withstand earthquakes and floods. He conducted himself akin to a monk with infinite reserves of patience. Moreover, he was as great and humble a cricketer despite all his greatness in Test match cricket as he’s remained a pleasant ambassador of the game beyond the 22 yards.
And The Wall, who by the way is also known as “Mr Dependable” by many fans, finds himself in the elite list of Indian cricketers with highest individual Test scores in Test matches. His great knock of 270 versus Pakistan in the year 2004 came off 495 deliveries and stands to this day as an epitome of patience and hardwork. His resolve to grind the Pakistan bowlers to dust and to score runs from an end were hallmarks of a cricketer possessing great forbearance and patience, the latter, often identified as his most central trait.
Shubman Gill (269 vs England)
Here is a young man hugely respected in different cricketing circles of India and someone in whose able shoulders rests the bright future of Indian cricket, not just the classic long format game.
Having just recently scored a vital 147 at Leeds, Shubman Gill, despite entering the Edgbaston Test with the understanding that his team was under pressure having lost the series opener, batted with the calmness of a monk and the responsibility of a dazzling talent who wishes to do well with the country?
The end result? A sparkling 269 versus England in the ongoing second Test match being played at Edgbaston in the city of Birmingham which sees him just one level below the great Dravid but above even Kohli in terms of being one among the several Indian cricketers with highest individual scores in Test matches.
Virat Kohli (254 vs South Africa)
Here’s a point of cricketing knowledge that tends to highlight the sheer batting talent and genius of the man called Virat Kohli. While the great Brian Lara scored nine Test double hundreds, one of India’s most loved sons, Virat Kohli scored seven in the game’s longest format. That’s quite an achievement in that several of his double hundreds have come against easy or lame looking bowling units or line ups. As a matter of fact, Kohli belongs to the list of Indian cricketers with highest individual scores in Test matches by sheer weight of runs.
His 254 versus South Africa on home soil, which remains his best ever Test knock in terms of volume of runs in a single Test outing, came at the revered Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium at Pune. India won that match by an innings and 137 runs and Kohli was the captain of the side back then with several A-listers well the bat in that side including Agarwal, Pujara, Rahane, and Rohit.
Sachin Tendulkar (248* vs Australia)
In scoring a majestic and patient 248 not out in the year 2004 versus Bangladesh not only did Sachin Tendulkar reach what has since then remained his highest individual score in Test matches cricket but also among the most dominant knocks ever scored by a cricketer from India against a tricky and at times, daunting sub-continental side.
But having said that and we all know about the genius of a great cricketer considered the batting maestro in wider cricketing circles, there was more to Sachin’s genius with the bat in hand.
And it’s simply the great fact that during the course of his glorious double hundred, Tendulkar had, at that time, equalled the world record set by Sir Sunil Gavaskar in terms of the most Test centuries by an India - it being 34.
Therefore, Sachin Tendulkar also, gladly, belongs to the list of Indian cricketers with highest individual scores in Test matches.
MS Dhoni (224 vs Australia)
The great MS Dhoni is definitely one of the most enterprising and incredible names in the list of Indian cricketers with highest individual scores in Test matches because of the simple reason that the man described affectionately as “Captain Cool” was responsible for scoring a fantastic and stunning 224 against Australia back home in India at the famed Chepauk stadium in Chennai.
That Dhoni’s only career double ton, and his best Test knock in terms of pure impact, came off just 265 odd innings highlighted his great ability with the bat and the unflappable powers of concentration. To bat in Test cricket is one thing but to do so by maintaining a consistent tempo of runs is something quite different.
