Test cricket is an extremely difficult format to crack and is said to be the ultimate test of a cricketer’s technique and ability. Only batsmen who are on top of their game and are in control of their technique succeed in the purest format of the sport. As such, only four players have managed to score two triple centuries and complete the list for the most triple centuries in test cricket.
A triple century in a Test match is regarded as one of the greatest accomplishments in a batsman’s career. Only 31 triple tons have been recorded by 27 batsmen in the history of test cricket. Among those 27 players, seven players are from Australia, five from England, four each from West Indies and Pakistan, three from Sri Lanka and two from India. No player from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Ireland, or Zimbabwe has hit a triple century among the Test cricket playing nations.
Andy Sandham scored the first Test triple century against West Indies in 1930 while England’s Wally Hammond holds the record for the quickest test triple century, achieving the feat in just under five hours against New Zealand in 1932-33.
Below is the list of players with the most triple centuries in test cricket
Most triple centuries in test cricket: The list of players
| Player | Country | Matches | Innings | Runs | 300s | Average | Highest score |
| Don Bradman | Australia | 52 | 80 | 6996 | 2 | 99.94 | 334 |
| Virender Sehwag | India | 104 | 180 | 8586 | 2 | 49.34 | 319 |
| Chris Gayle | West Indies | 103 | 182 | 7214 | 2 | 42.18 | 333 |
| Brian Lara | West Indies | 131 | 232 | 11,953 | 2 | 52.88 | 400* |
Don Bradman | 2 Triple centuries
Don Bradman is the greatest Test cricketer the sport has ever seen. His Test career spanning nearly 20 years and a World War is one of the most celebrated accomplishments in any sport and such was his stature as a sportsman that he was revered as a God in Australia.
Despite playing only 52 Test matches which is lower than many on this list, Don Bradman managed two triple centuries. He got the first of his two triple tons against England in Headingley, Leeds in 1930. In typical Bradmanesque fashion, he scored a hundred in each session to end the day on 309* which remains a record for a single day’s play. He then went on to smash the world record for the highest score which was then held by Andy Sandham and went on to score 334 before the Test was eventually drawn.
What made the occasion of his second triple century even special was the fact that he was arriving to the fourth Test against England in Headingley in poor form. He had managed only 133 from the five previous innings at an average of 26.60. However, it took the Don 430 minutes to depart after scoring 304 runs, his second triple century arriving at the same venue as the first one.
He had faced 473 deliveries and had hit 43 fours and two sixes. Don Bradman not only became the first batsman to score a triple century, he is also the only one to score two overseas triple centuries. The bat that he used to smash 304 runs in the 1934 Ashes against England was sold for a record price of more than $245,000.
Virender Sehwag | 2 Triple centuries
Virender Sehwag was an outlier in a country that was obsessed with orthodox methods and a general approach of playing it safe. His philosophy of ‘see the ball, hit the ball’ might sound simple, but it was perhaps the most difficult of techniques to conquer especially in a format where there are so many variables and uncontrollable factors. While the initial phase of Sehwag’s career drew plenty of criticism for the boldness and audacity of his methods in a format as pristine as Test cricket, once he got going the longest format of the sport would never be the same again.
Virender Sehwag began his Test career with a century against South Africa in 2001 and by the time he hung up his boots, he was the fifth-highest scorer for India in this format with 8586 runs at a magnificent average of 49.34. Sehwag also finished with a strike rate of 82.23 – most cricketers have strike rates in that range in their ODI careers.
However, the crowning jewels on the crown of Virender Sehwag’s Test career are the twin triple tons he scored with plenty of panache. Sehwag stunned Multan by registering India’s first triple century in Test cricket. He punished Pakistani bowlers and got to the landmark by hitting a six off Saqlain Mushtaq while batting on 295.
March 29 is a special date in the career of Virender Sehwag and for Indian cricket. It was on this day that he became the first triple centurion from India in 2004. Lightning seemed to strike again when the dynamic opener brought up the second Test triple century on that exact day four years later.
The innings of 319 against South Africa in Chennai is not only the highest score by an Indian in Tests, but it is also the fastest triple century in the sport. Sehwag took merely 278 deliveries and it is the only instance of a batsman scoring 300+ runs at a strike rate of over 100.
Chris Gayle | 2 Triple centuries
These days, the name of Christopher Henry Gayle might be synonymous with the fast-paced adventures of T20 cricket. After all, he was at the forefront of an exciting revolution that made fans berserk all over the world and has now become the most popular format of cricket. Gayle scored the very first century in 20-over cricket to and is also the owner of pretty much every record, but make no mistake, in his prime, he was a terrific Test batsman.
7215 runs in 103 matches at an average of 42.19 is no mean feat. Gayle also wore the number 333 on his back for many of his T20 franchises – it was the highest first-class score which he registered against Sri Lanka in Galle in 2010 to become only the fourth player after Don Bradman, Brian Lara and Virender Sehwag to score two Test triple hundreds in a career. It was also the highest score by any batsman against Sri Lanka, surpassing Younis Khan’s 313 in 2009.
The first of his triple centuries arrived in 2005 against South Africa. On that occasion, he smashed 317 runs against an unsuspecting Proteas bowling attack to become only the second player from West Indies to score a triple hundred in Test cricket. However, the match was drawn as Graeme Smith and Boeta Dippenaar frustrated the Caribbean bowlers with some gritty batting on the final day.
Brian Lara | 2 Triple centuries
For most of his career, Brian Lara was regarded as a wizard and the style and flair of his batting as well as his appetite for big runs made him one of the greatest batsmen of the modern era. Blessed with a strong backlift and the classic aesthetic technique of a left-hander, he was a show-stopper. Lara was equally efficient against pace and spin and punished even the most outstanding bowlers of his generation – Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Wasim Akram – had to toil and toil to fetch his prized wicket.
Brian Lara was 24-years-old when he produced a monumental feat of scoring a whopping 375 runs against England in the fifth Test of their tour of the country in 1994. He ground down English bowlers and had answers for every question they asked. Back then, it was also the highest score in Test cricket before Matthew Hayden took the top spot with 380 runs against Zimbabwe in 2003.
Hayden’s record lasted merely a year when Brian Lara reclaimed his spot in the list by slamming 400 not out against the same opposition he had scored his first triple century against a decade earlier. Lara became the only player in the history of international cricket to touch the milestone of 400 runs and became only the second player to score two triple hundreds after Don Bradman.
FAQs
Who has scored the most triple centuries in Test cricket from India?
Virender Sehwag holds the record for scoring the most triple hundreds for India. He has achieved the feat on more than one occasion while Karun Nair is the other triple centurion from India
Who has scored the most double centuries in Test cricket?
Sir Don Bradman holds the record for scoring the most double centuries in Test cricket, having done so on 12 occasions.
Who was the first to score a triple century in Test cricket?
England’s Andy Sandham scored the first triple ton in Test cricket against the West Indies in 1930.
Who has scored the most triple centuries in first-class cricket?
Don Bradman also holds the record for the most triple hundreds in first class-cricket. He has six 300+ scores to his name.
