While Test cricket is generally seen as a slow, patient game, the few batters who had the ability to hit opposing bowlers hard and thereby heralded the most thrilling action in the longest form of the game.
The batters were no less than kings in their double hundreds and not just kings but the quickest of them all in terms of the number of balls consumed.
Here, we will present to you the five fastest double centuries ever scored in Test cricket
5. Brendon McCullum (New Zealand): 186 balls vs Pakistan, 2014
Brendon McCullum literally killed Test cricket’s tameness with his T20-style batting. That is why he is indeed the fifth player in this ranking as he came to the hundred mark in 186 balls and then carried on with his double-hitting at the same rate.
The Third Test Match against Pakistan, Sharjah, 2014 saw him being merciless and unrelenting to the bowlers by very quickly amassing huge scores. Baz started by being the first to take over New Zealand’s innings with Tom Latham who also saw a four on the first ball he faced.
The early boundaries showed the captain didn’t even think of settling but was looking for runs. Though Latham was out in 51, McCullum kept hitting the boundaries that kept New Zealand’s run rate hovering around the 6 mark.
He scored 50 runs in 30 balls, 100 in 78 balls, and then 150 in 137 balls. The captain of the Kiwis reached the magic figure of 200 runs in 186 balls, which contained 21 fours and 11 biggies.
In another two years, he would go on to complete the fastest Test hundred scoring off only 54 balls.
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4. Virender Sehwag (India): 182 balls vs Pakistan, 2006
If ‘Bazball’ had never been invented, one man would have still been wreaking havoc on bowls the opponent’s bowlers. That man’s name is none other than Virender Sehwag.
In the rain-affected 2006 Test match against Pakistan at Lahore, the home team made the Indian bowlers work very hard indeed as they took 679 runs in the first innings.
Now it was time for Pakistan to get the uno reverse, though in the manner of Virender Sehwag. The Dayton scored with a four, though he kept finding the occasional boundaries until the close of the day’s play.
He came back to his 36-off-35 on the third day, and he steadily took it to 96 in a day that had only 15 overs bowled.
On the fourth day, Sehwag touched his century in 93 balls. After reaching his 150, Sehwag intensified his onslaught and traded in boundaries, thus reaching 200 in 182 balls.
3. Virender Sehwag (India): 168 balls vs Sri Lanka, 2009
3 years after his record, Sehwag improved it against another Asian neighboring country. Pakistan was not giving up without a fight and was in the third test at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai, they had already lost the first two matches decisively.
First, Sri Lanka had declared at 393 runs in the first innings and as a result of that, to make up for the total, Sehwag started the innings with Murali Vijay. The Nawab of Najafgargh could not make a stylish entry but found his usual tone soon.
His half-century came in 54 balls and his hundred in 101 balls with a four. As soon as Viru reached the three digits, he increased the attack.
He lost Vijay on the other end but that didn’t deter him. He kept hitting the ball past the boundary.
Sehwag hit the 150-run mark in 130 balls. The batter completed his 6th Test double century with a flurry of boundaries in 168 balls.
He was just 7 runs away from a triple ton but ran out of luck at 293.
2. Ben Stokes (England): 163 balls vs South Africa, 2016
Ben Stokes comes in second with his marvelous 163-ball double century against South Africa in 2016. Match was the second Test of the series of four in Cape Town.
England opted to bat first and were in trouble at 167 for 4. Then Ben Stokes came and along with Jonny Bairstow released England from the grip of the South African bowlers.
At first, Stokes took a slow and steady approach but then opened up with finding some boundaries with no difficulty. He got to his fifty in 70 balls and then hundred in 105 balls.
After getting his 150 in 135 balls, Stokes got into the zone, going for big shots. In 28 balls, he went from 150 to 200 in 163 balls, which is the second-fastest double century in Test cricket.
1. Nathan Astle (New Zealand): 153 balls vs England, 2002
Nathan Astle is the holder of the record for the fastest double century in the history of Test cricket. He was in total demolition mode while New Zealand was after England’s 550-run target.
Astle batted at 3 when New Zealand was facing a dire situation at 119 for 3. He was almost single-handedly fighting the battle as the partners at the other end were not of much help.
Astle got his fifty in 54 deliveries and his hundred in 114 deliveries. Then, the way he picked up his tempo, he needed only 39 balls for his next hundred runs.
Astle was the last to be dismissed from the New Zealand side, bringing their innings to a close at 451, and leaving them 98 runs short of the target. His 222 runs were scored at a strike rate of 132.14.
