India have dominated the ongoing Test match against England at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala. After bowling out the visitors for just 218 runs in the first innings yesterday, the home team gained an enormous lead of 255 runs by reaching 473/8 at stumps on day 2.
It was a fantastic display of batting from the home team as the top five batters chipped in with a half-century each. Fans should note that this is not the first instance. Here’s a list of the total four instances when each of the top five Indian batters scored 50+ in the same Test innings.
(Stats Credit: Shebas)
1. India vs England, 2024
Starting the list with the most recent entry, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan and Devdutt Padikkal scored 50+ in the first innings of the Dharamsala Test against England. Gill and Sharma even went on to complete their respective centuries in the game.
2. India vs Sri Lanka, 2009
The last instance happened in 2009 during a Test against Sri Lanka. The elite five batters were Murali Vijay, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman. It was one of the strongest batting lineups in the world.
3. IND vs. New Zealand, 1999
Back in 1999, when the New Zealand team came to Mohali for a Test, the home side reached 505/3 dec. in the second innings as Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar scored a century, while Devang Gandhi, Sadagoppan Ramesh and Sourav Ganguly finished with 50+ scores.
4. IND vs. Australia, 1998
In the second Test of the 1998 Test series between IND and AUS hosted by Kolkata, VVS Laxman, Navjot Sidhu, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar scored a half-century. Number five batter and captain Mohammad Azharuddin smacked a ton as India reached 633/5 dec.
