The much anticipated Border-Gavaskar series has begun. India have suffered an embarrassing 8-wicket defeat in the first Test. Australia’s skipper, Tim Paine has received appreciation for leading from the front and scored a crucial half-century in the second innings. Though, it’s not the first time when a captain led the way and took his team to a great position in the match.
In the history of Border-Gavaskar series, we have been witnessed to some wonderful knocks from the captains. Michael Clarke currently holds the record for scoring the highest individual score as a captain in Border-Gavaskar series. In this article, we look at most centuries by captains in Border-Gavaskar series:
1. Steve Smith: 6 centuries
Australia’s former skipper, Steve Smith has an outstanding record in the Border Gavaskar series. He holds the record for scoring most runs in a single edition of the Border-Gavaskar series. The 2014-15 series saw him notching 769 runs in 4 Tests. He hit 4 centuries in that series. Smith has scored 6 centuries as captain in the Border-Gavaskar series.
2. Michael Clarke: 4 centuries
Michael Clarke will always be remembered for his heart-warming 329-run knock in Sydney in 2011-12 series. The innings remains as the highest individual score by a skipper in Border-Gavaskar series. The former Australian skipper has hit 4 centuries as captain in the Border-Gavaskar series. Overall, he has scored 2049 runs in 22 matches at an average of 53.92 in the Border-Gavaskar series.
3. Virat Kohli: 4 centuries
Virat Kohli remains central to the Border-Gavaskar series for the last few years. He has played some breathtaking knocks against Australia in his Test cricket career. Virat Kohli entered his name in the record books after leading India to its ever Test series win in Australia against Australia in 2018.
With 4 centuries to his name, Virat has hit the third-most number of centuries as captain in the Border-Gavaskar series. So far, he has scored 1682 runs in 20 matches at an average of 48.05 against Australia in Tests.
4. Ricky Ponting: 2 centuries
It’s quite surprising to see Ricky Ponting at number four with just two centuries against India as captain in the history of Border-Gavaskar series. For the unversed, Ricky Ponting is the second-highest run-scorer in the history of Border-Gavaskar series. He amassed 2555 runs in 29 matches at an average of 54.36.
Though, he didn’t have a great record as captain against India in the BG series. Ponting led Australia in 11 Tests against India and could only manage to win 2 games out of them.
5. Steve Waugh: 2 centuries
Former Australian skipper, Steve Waugh has often rescued Australia from precarious situations against India in Tests. He has hit 2 centuries as captain in the Border-Gavaskar series and thus sits at fifth place in the list. He played 13 Tests against India since the start of Border-Gavaskar series in 1996, scoring 1005 runs at an average of 47.85.
Waugh led Australia in 10 Tests against India between 1999 and 2004 in the BG series. Of them, the team managed to win five games and lose three.
Steve Smith is hailed as one of the prolific run-scorers for Australia in Test cricket. Waugh amassed 10,927 runs in 168 Tests at an average of 51.1 for Australia.
