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Home  » Cricket » Tons on captaincy debut: Kohli, Smith do a first in same series!

Tons on captaincy debut: Kohli, Smith do a first in same series!

By Rajneesh Gupta
Last updated on: December 19, 2014 21:23 IST
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Steven SmithHow rare is it for two players to score hundreds on captaincy debut in the same series?

Virat Kohli got two when he led India in the first Test against Australia in Adelaide. Now, Steven Smith got one in his first Test as captain in the ongoing second Test at Brisbane. Rajneesh Gupta says it is the first instance in cricket history.

Virat Kohli led India in the first Test against Australia at Adelaide, in place of regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and made his captaincy debut a memorable one by scoring hundreds – 115 in the first innings and 141 in the second.

He thus became only the second player in Test cricket to score hundreds in both innings of the first Test as captain, emulating Australia’s Greg Chappell.

- Scorecard

At 26 years and 238 days Kohli also became the youngest captain to score two hundreds in a Test, wresting the record from Zimbabwean Brendan Taylor, who was incidentally the last player to score a hundred on captaincy debut before Kohli.

In the second Test at Brisbane, it was Australia’s turn to miss out on the services of regular captain Michael Clarke.

- Photos from Day 3

Steven Smith was given the responsibility to lead the side and ended up with the highest innings by an Australian captain on debut since Warwick Armstrong’s 158 in 1920.

At 25 years and 200 days he also became the youngest Australian captain to score a hundred on captaincy debut.

Twin hundreds for Kohli at Adelaide and a hundred for Smith at Brisbane! How rare is it to see two players score hundreds on captaincy debut in the same series?

Well, it is the first instance in Test chronicles.

A total of 29 players have now scored hundreds while leading their respective sides for the first time. The list includes nine Australians, five Englishmen, four New Zealanders, four Indians, three West Indians, two South Africans and two Zimbabweans.

Two players -- New Zealand’s Graham Dowling and the West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul --  turned their tons into double hundreds.

Australia's Bill Murdoch and Harry Trott scored a century in the second innings of the match after getting a duck in the first innings. Apart from Greg Chappell and Kohli, India's Vijay Hazare also went on to score centuries in his first two innings as captain (in two separate Tests, though).

Kohli's match aggregate of 256 is the highest for any player on debut Test as captain.

Zimbabwea's Dave Houghton is the only player to have done so in his country’s first-ever Test.

A hundred on captaincy debut in Test cricket

Scores

Player

Vs

Venue

Season

0 & 153*

Bill Murdoch (Aus)

Eng

The Oval

1880

0 & 143

Harry Trott (Aus)

Eng

Lord's

1896

109 & 50*

Archie MacLaren (Eng)

Aus

Sydney

 1897-98

133 & 22

Monty Noble (Aus)

Eng

Sydney

 1903-04

191  

Clem Hill (Aus)

SA

Sydney

 1910-11

109 & 8

Herbie Taylor (SA)

Eng

Durban

 1913-14

12 & 158

Warwick Armstrong (Aus)

Eng

Sydney

 1920-21

112

Lindsay Hassett (Aus)

SA

Johannesburg

 1949-50

164*

Vijay Hazare (Ind)

Eng

Delhi

 1951-52

10 & 104

Jeff Stollmeyer (WI)

Aus

Sydney

 1951-52

107 & 68

Geoff Rabone (NZ)

SA

Durban

 1953-54

104* & 48

Jackie McGlew (SA)

Eng

Manchester

1955

239 & 5

Graham Dowling (NZ)

Ind

Christchurch

 1967-68

126

Bevan Congdon (NZ)

WI

Bridgetown

 1971-72

30 & 163

Clive Lloyd (WI)

Ind

Bangalore

 1974-75

123 & 109*

Greg Chappell (Aus)

WI

Brisbane

 1975-76

116 & 35*

Sunil Gavaskar (Ind)

NZ

Auckland

 1975-76

7 & 102

Graham Yallop (Aus)

Eng

Brisbane

 1978-79

120*

Jeff Crowe (NZ)

SL

Colombo SSC

 1986-87

10 & 102

Dilip Vengsarkar (Ind)

WI

Delhi

 1987-88

119 & 10

Allan Lamb (Eng)

WI

Bridgetown

 1989-90

121 & 41*

Dave Houghton (Zim)

Ind

Harare

 1992-93

203*

Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI)

SA

Georgetown

 2004-05

30 & 128

Andrew Strauss (Eng)

Pak

Lord's

2006

100 & 13

Kevin Pietersen (Eng)

SA

The Oval

2008

173 & 39

Alastair Cook (Eng)

Ban

Chittagong

 2009-10

71 & 105*

Brendan Taylor (Zim)

Ban

Harare

2011

115 & 141

Virat Kohli (Ind)

Aus

Adelaide

 2014-15

133

Steven Smith (Aus)

Ind

Brisbane

 2014-15

The following table lists the highest scores on captaincy debut for each country.

It is really surprising that despite having 30 captains, the highest score on captaincy debut for Pakistan is just 78. Similarly, the record of highest score on captaincy debut for Sri Lanka is held by a leg-spinner!

Highest scores on captaincy debut for each country

Country

Score

Player

Vs

Venue

 Season

Australia

191

Clem Hill

SA

Sydney

 1910-11

England

173

Alastair Cook

Ban

Chittagong

2009-10

South Africa

109

Herbie Taylor

Eng

Durban

 1913-14

West Indies

203*

Shivnarine Chanderpaul

SA

Georgetown

 2004-05

New Zealand

239

Graham Dowling

Ind

Christchurch

 1967-68

India

164*

Vijay Hazare

Eng

Delhi

 1951-52

Pakistan

78

Ramiz Raja

SL

Peshawar

 1995-96

Sri Lanka

52

Somachandra de Silva #

NZ

Christchurch

 1982-83

Zimbabwe

121

Dave Houghton

Ind

Harare

 1992-93

Bangladesh

96*

Shakib Al Hasan #

WI

St.George's

 2009

# in second innings 

-RAJNEESH GUPTA

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