Fastest Test double centuries: It is an adage in Test cricket that batters need to respect the bowling and the conditions. Batsmen often score at a rate of 3 per over in Test cricket. In challenging conditions even this scoring rate is highly appreciated. But there are a few outliers who drift away from the norm. They play their own brand of cricket paying little heed to conventional wisdom. This set of batsmen completely played a different tune smashing their way to record books.
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We look at 5 fastest Test double centuries:
#5 Brendon McCullum – 186 balls
The game was played in the aftermath of the Philip Hughes incident. Pakistan won the toss on a placid Sharjah wicket. They posted a sizeable score of 351. A score of 351 is enough on most occasions in the sub-continent but New Zealand had other ideas.
Brendon McCullum turbocharged the Kiwi innings. He blazed his way to 202 of 188 balls comprising 21 boundaries and 11 sixes. 150 runs of his knock came in boundaries. McCullum reached his double hundred in 186 balls. It is the fifth fastest double hundred in Tests.
#4 Virender Sehwag – 182 balls
Pakistan and India played out one of the most batting-friendly Test series in Pakistan in 2006. Lahore, the venue for the second Test dished up another featherbed. Pakistan posted a huge score of 679-7 in the first innings. Younis Khan top-scored for the hosts with 199. India in reply came out all guns blazing.
Virender Sehwag lit up the Gaddafi stadium with breathtaking stroke play. He stitched a record-opening partnership of 410 with Rahul Dravid. Sehwag finished on 254 off 247 balls. His knock contained 47 boundaries and 1 six. He reached his double hundred off just 182 balls.
#3 Virender Sehwag – 168 balls
He is the only batter who finds a mention twice on this list. It was Mumbai this time that witnessed Virender Sehwag’s magic. Sri Lanka scored 393 runs batting first in their first essay. It looked like a tall score in Indian conditions. But once again Sehwag stole the show with effortless ball striking.
He narrowly missed out on scoring a third triple-century. Sehwag was dismissed out on 293 off 254 balls. His knock comprised 40 boundaries and 7 sixes. He reached the double-figure mark in 168 balls. It remains his fastest double century in Tests.
#2 Ben Stokes – 163 balls
He is the other half of the Bazball. Ben Stokes went into beast mode in the 2nd Test against South Africa in Cape Town. He joined forces with Jonny Bairstow to forge a record 6th wicket partnership. Ben Stokes smashed a career-best 258 off just 198 balls. His strike rate of 130 is one of the highest for a batter who has scored 250+ in Tests. Stokes smashed 186 runs in boundaries (30 boundaries and 11 sixes). He reached his double century in just 163 balls.
#1 Nathan Astle – 153 balls
It remains one of the most iconic knocks in Test cricket. New Zealand had thrown in the towel and the result appeared a mere formality. The home side was chasing a gargantuan score of 550 in the final innings in Christchurch. Nathan Astle walked in at 119-3 and he was the last man dismissed with the team score reading 451. He smashed the fastest double century off just 153 balls. Astle was eventually dismissed on 222 off 168 balls. His knock comprised 28 boundaries and 11 sixes – totalling 178 runs in boundaries.
