One of the difficult places to bat, especially for a visiting batter is India. This is because, the pitches in the country are conducive for spinners and traditionally the Indian team has produced some of the best spinners known. Hence even best of batters have struggled to get going in the country.
They either may lack in solid technique to combat the spin test of India or they might not have temperament to stay focused for long periods in these conditions. That’s why, historically we have not seen big scores posted by not just the individuals but also by the team on a consistent basis. Still there are batters who have shown their true class even on challenging Indian conditions.
Big scores in Test means a double century or more and we will list down the instances of 200s by away batters in India.
Test Double Centuries by Away Batters in India
| Player | Score | Venue | Year | Match Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bert Sutcliffe (NZ) | 230* | Delhi | 1955 | Match Drawn |
| Rohan Kanhai (WI) | 256 | Kolkata | 1958 | West Indies won by an innings & 336 runs |
| Clive Lloyd (WI) | 242* | Mumbai | 1975 | West Indies won by 201 runs |
| Faoud Bacchus (WI) | 250 | Kanpur | 1979 | Match Drawn |
| Graeme Fowler (ENG) | 201 | Chennai | 1985 | England won by 9 wickets |
| Mike Gatting (ENG) | 207 | Chennai | 1985 | England won by 9 wickets |
| Dean Jones (AUS) | 210 | Chennai | 1986 | Match Tied |
| Andy Flower (ZIM) | 232* | Nagpur | 2000 | Match Drawn |
| Matthew Hayden (AUS) | 203 | Chennai | 2001 | India won by 2 wickets |
| Younis Khan (PAK) | 267 | Bengaluru | 2005 | Pakistan won by 168 runs |
| AB de Villiers (SA) | 217* | Ahmedabad | 2008 | South Africa won by an innings & 90 runs |
| Mahela Jayawardene (SL) | 275 | Ahmedabad | 2009 | Match Drawn |
| Hashim Amla (SA) | 253* | Nagpur | 2010 | South Africa won by an innings & 6 runs |
| Brendon McCullum (NZ) | 225 | Hyderabad | 2010 | Match Drawn |
| Joe Root (ENG) | 218 | Chennai | 2021 | England won by 227 runs |
Key Stats:
15 – This is the number of times a batter has scored 200 or more in a Test innings in India and all none of the batter has scored more than one double century.
61 – In fact, there have been only 61 instances of a 150 score breached by a foireign batter in a Test innings while batting in India.
Bert Sutcliffe was the first ever overseas batter to score a double century in India and he did it during the 1955 New Zealand’s tour of India. The game ended in a draw.
Graeme Fowler and Mike Gatting of England scored double centuries in the same innings and it gave their team a resounding 9 wicket win over the host at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai back in 1985.
8 – Apart from these duo mentioned, six other double centuries by visiting batters have resulted in a win for their respective sides and five other 200+ scores have ended up in a draw.
1 – One of the two tied Test matches in history happened at Chennai when Dean Jones (210) struck a double century during Australia’s 1985 tour to India.
275 – Mahela Jayawardene holds the record of the highest individual score by a visiting batter in India and is followed by Pakistan’s Younis Khan who scored 267 at Bengaluru in 2005. Rohan Kanhai, Faoud Bacchus and Hashim Amla are the only others to score 250 plus score in an innings in India.
6 – There have been six overseas batters who have scored between 190 and 200 in a Test innings batting in India. Gary Sobers (198), Ollie Pope (196), Everton Weekes (194), Gardon Greenidge (194), Vivian Richards (192*) and Alastair Cook (190) are the one’s who narrowly missed out on a double ton in India. While Pope was the most recent addition, Richards is the one batter who remained unbeaten in a 190+ score.
