Published: Sep 09, 2015, 06:30 AM (IST)
Edited: Sep 08, 2015, 11:06 PM (IST)
Cheteshwar Pujara carried his bat through the Indian innings in the third Test against Sri Lanka at SSC. It was the 49th such occasion in the history of Test cricket. Bharath Seervi lists all instances and related trivia and facts.
Obviously, only openers can achieve the distinction of carrying the bat through a completed innings. It is quite an achievement for them, for it shows his durability and willingness to stand firm as his teammates perish around him.
So far in the 138 years of Test cricket history there have been 49 such instances of a batsman carrying his bat through a completed innings. The latest addition to this list was Cheteshwar Pujara in the third Test between India and Sri Lanka at Colombo (SSC). He remained not out scoring 145 runs in India’s total of 312.
The first to do so was Bernard Tancred for South Africa against England at Cape Town in 1889. Tancred was left stranded on 26 out of a total of 47.
The first to score a century and carry his bat was Bobby Abel (132 not out for England in a total of 307 against Australia at SCG in 1892).
The first to score a double-century and carry his bat was Bill Brown (206 for Australia in a total of 422 against England at Lord’s in 1938).
The highest individual score by a batsman carrying his bat is 223 by Glenn Turner for New Zealand against West Indies at Sabina Park in 1972. Tancred’s 26 remains the lowest. Ishant Sharma has best bowling figures by Indian pacer in Test matches in four away
Double century and carrying the bat in Tests
| Batsman | Runs | Total | Inns | Team | Opposition | Ground | Date | Result |
| Glenn Turner | 223 | 386 | 2 | New Zealand | West Indies | Sabina Park | 16-Feb-72 | Drawn |
| Marvan Atapattu | 216 | 428 | 2 | Sri Lanka | Zimbabwe | Bulawayo | 18-Nov-99 | Drawn |
| Bill Brown | 206 | 422 | 2 | Australia | England | Lord’s | 24-Jun-38 | Drawn |
| Len Hutton | 202 | 344 | 2 | England | West Indies | The Oval | 12-Aug-50 | Lost |
| Virender Sehwag | 201 | 329 | 1 | India | Sri Lanka | Galle | 31-Jul-08 | Won |
– Len Hutton scored 2 in the other innings of the Test. England lost the Test by an innings and 56 runs. It is one of the five instances of a team losing a Test by an innings in which a batsman carried his bat.
– Virender Sehwag scored 50 in the other innings.
Carrying the bat and scoring 150s (less than 200)
| Batsman | Runs | Total | Inns | Team | Opposition | Ground | Date | Result |
| Warren Bardsley | 193 | 383 | 1 | Australia | England | Lord’s | 26-Jun-26 | Drawn |
| Frank Worrell | 191 | 372 | 2 | West Indies | England | Trent Bridge | 04-Jul-57 | Drawn |
| Saeed Anwar | 188 | 316 | 3 | Pakistan | India | Kolkata | 16-Feb-99 | Won |
| Mark Taylor | 169 | 350 | 2 | Australia | South Africa | Adelaide | 30-Jan-98 | Drawn |
| Chris Gayle | 165 | 317 | 3 | West Indies | Australia | Adelaide | 04-Dec-09 | Drawn |
| Tino Mawoyo | 163 | 412 | 1 | Zimbabwe | Pakistan | Bulawayo | 01-Sep-11 | Lost |
| Warwick Armstrong | 159 | 309 | 3 | Australia | South Africa | New Wanderers | 18-Oct-02 | Won |
| Ian Redpath | 159 | 346 | 3 | Australia | New Zealand | Auckland | 22-Mar-74 | Won |
| Len Hutton | 156 | 272 | 2 | England | Australia | Adelaide | 02-Feb-51 | Lost |
| Graeme Flower | 156 | 321 | 1 | Zimbabwe | Pakistan | Bulawayo | 14-Mar-98 | Drawn |
| Graham Gooch | 154 | 252 | 3 | England | West Indies | Leeds | 06-Jun-91 | Won |
| Mudassar Nazar | 152 | 323 | 1 | Pakistan | India | Lahore | 23-Jan-83 | Drawn |
– Saeed Anwar scored a duck in the first innings and carried his bat scoring 188 in the second.
– Mark Taylor and Graeme Flower scored 6 in the other innings of the match.
– In this instance, too, Hutton’s team suffered a big loss; by 274 runs.
Carrying the bat and scoring 100s (less than 150)
| Batsman | Runs | Total | Inns | Team | Opposition | Ground | Date | Result |
| Rahul Dravid | 146 | 300 | 2 | India | England | The Oval | 18-Aug-11 | Lost |
| Cheteshwar Pujara | 145 | 312 | 1 | India | Sri Lanka | SSC | 28-Aug-15 | Won |
| Desmond Haynes | 143 | 382 | 3 | West Indies | Pakistan | Queen’s Park Oval | 16-Apr-93 | Won |
| Bobby Abel | 132 | 307 | 2 | England | Australia | SCG | 29-Jan-1892 | Lost |
| Pelham Warner | 132 | 237 | 3 | England | South Africa | New Wanderers | 14-Feb-1899 | Won |
| Simon Katich | 131 | 268 | 3 | Australia | New Zealand | The Gabba | 20-Nov-08 | Won |
| Sunil Gavaskar | 127 | 286 | 3 | India | Pakistan | Faisalabad | 03-Jan-83 | Lost |
| Jackie McGlew | 127 | 292 | 1 | South Africa | New Zealand | Kingsmead | 08-Dec-61 | Won |
| Nazar Mohammad | 124 | 331 | 2 | Pakistan | India | Lucknow | 23-Oct-52 | Won |
| David Warner | 123 | 233 | 4 | Australia | New Zealand | Hobart | 09-Dec-11 | Lost |
| Imran Farhat | 117 | 223 | 1 | Pakistan | New Zealand | Napier | 11-Dec-09 | Drawn |
| Russell Arnold | 104 | 231 | 2 | Sri Lanka | Zimbabwe | Harare | 04-Dec-99 | Drawn |
| Gary Kirsten | 100 | 239 | 1 | South Africa | Pakistan | Faisalabad | 24-Oct-97 | Won |
– Pujara scored a duck in the second innings. He is the only batsman on the above list to carry his bat in the first innings and score a duck in the second.
– Rahul Dravid’s 146* in the first innings couldn’t avoid an innings defeat of 32 runs for India.
– Abel scored just 1 in the second innings after carrying his bat in the first innings.
– Pakistan won by an innings and 43 runs in which Nazar Mohammad carried his bat scoring 124. It is the only occasion of a team winning a Test by an innings in which its opener carried the bat.
Carrying the bat and scoring 50s (less than 100)
| Batsman | Runs | Total | Inns | Team | Opposition | Ground | Date | Result |
| Geoff Boycott | 99 | 215 | 4 | England | Australia | WACA | 14-Dec-79 | Lost |
| Michael Atherton | 94 | 228 | 2 | England | New Zealand | Christchurch | 14-Feb-97 | Won |
| Desmond Haynes | 88 | 211 | 3 | West Indies | Pakistan | Karachi | 20-Nov-86 | Drawn |
| Javed Omar | 85 | 168+ | 3 | Bangladesh | Zimbabwe | Bulawayo | 19-Apr-01 | Lost |
| Desmond Haynes | 75 | 176 | 2 | West Indies | England | The Oval | 08-Aug-91 | Lost |
| Bill Woodfull | 73 | 193+ | 4 | Australia | England | Adelaide Oval | 13-Jan-33 | Lost |
| Alec Stewart | 69 | 175 | 3 | England | Pakistan | Lord’s | 18-Jun-92 | Lost |
| Mark Dekker | 68 | 187 | 4 | Zimbabwe | Pakistan | Rawalpindi | 09-Dec-93 | Lost |
| Jack Barrett | 67 | 176 | 3 | Australia | England | Lord’s | 21 Jul 1890 | Lost |
| Sidath Wettimuny | 63 | 144 | 2 | Sri Lanka | New Zealand | Christchurch | 04-Mar-83 | Lost |
| Conrad Hunte | 60 | 131 | 3 | West Indies | Australia | Queen’s Park Oval | 14-May-65 | Lost |
| Bill Lawry | 60 | 116+ | 4 | Australia | England | SCG | 09-Jan-71 | Lost |
| David Boon | 58 | 103 | 3 | Australia | New Zealand | Eden Park | 13-Mar-86 | Lost |
| Trevor Goddard | 56 | 99 | 3 | South Africa | Australia | Newlands | 31-Dec-57 | Lost |
| Bill Lawry | 49 | 107 | 3 | Australia | India | Kotla | 28-Nov-69 | Lost |
| Glenn Turner | 43 | 131 | 4 | New Zealand | England | Lord’s | 24-Jul-69 | Lost |
| Billy Zulch | 43 | 103 | 2 | South Africa | England | Newlands | 11-Mar-10 | Lost |
| Bill Woodfull | 30 | 66+ | 4 | Australia | England | The Gabba | 30-Nov-28 | Lost |
| Bernard Tancred | 26 | 47 | 2 | South Africa | England | Newlands | 25 Mar 1889 | Lost |
+ It was a completed innings but not all ten wickets fell due to a few batsmen absent hurt or retired hurt.
– Geoff Boycott is the only opener to score 99 while carrying his bat.
– Michael Atherton (118) and Alec Stewart (69) are the only instances of a batsman scoring more runs in the other innings than to the one in which he carried his bat.
– Mark Dekker scored 68 in each innings. He carried the bat in one of them.
– In the cases of Javed Omar, Trevor Goddard and Tancred, their team lost by an innings.
– In this list of batsmen carrying their bat scoring less than 100 runs only Atherton’s (94) feat resulted in a win for his side and Desmond Haynes’ (88) in a draw. The rest resulted in defeats.
– Bill Woodfull (30) and Boycott (99) scored ducks in the first innings and carried their bat in the second innings like Anwar (188). Ravichandran Ashwin and others with four Man of the Series awards
Result summary of batsmen carrying their bats in Tests
| Total | Won | Lost | Drawn |
| 49 | 13 | 24 | 12 |
– Of the 13 victories, 1 was by an innings.
– Of the 24 defeats, 5 were by an innings.
Batsmen carrying their bat more than once
| Batsman | Instances |
| Desmond Haynes | 3 |
| Bill Lawry | 2 |
| Bill Woodfull | 2 |
| Glenn Turner | 2 |
| Len Hutton | 2 |
For each team
| Team | Instances |
| Australia | 13 |
| Bangladesh | 1 |
| England | 8 |
| India | 4 |
| New Zealand | 2 |
| Pakistan | 4 |
| South Africa | 5 |
| Sri Lanka | 3 |
| West Indies | 6 |
| Zimbabwe | 3 |
Against each team
| Team | Instances |
| Australia | 6 |
| England | 12 |
| India | 4 |
| New Zealand | 8 |
| Pakistan | 8 |
| South Africa | 3 |
| Sri Lanka | 2 |
| West Indies | 3 |
| Zimbabwe | 3 |
– No such instances against Bangladesh.
Venues with more than one instance of a batsman carrying his bat
| Venue | Instances |
| Lord’s | 5 |
| Adelaide | 4 |
| Bulawayo | 4 |
| The Oval | 3 |
| Newlands | 3 |
| Newlands | 2 |
| SCG | 2 |
| Queen’s Park Oval | 2 |
| Faisalabad | 2 |
| The Gabba | 2 |
| Christchurch | 2 |
| New Wanderers | 2 |
Innings-wise
| Total | 1st Inn | 2nd Inn | 3rd Inn | 4th Inn |
| 49 | 9 | 16 | 17 | 7 |
– 25 times in team’s first innings and 24 times in team’s second innings. India vs Sri Lanka 2015, and teams winning a three-Test series after losing the first Test
(Bharath Seervi is a cricket statistician who is obsessed with digging numbers, facts and records related to the game. An active member of Society of Cricket Statisticians of India, he blogs at www.cricketseervistats.blogspot.com. He can be followed on Twitter at @SeerviBharath and on Facebook here)
