Sir Don Bradman…Everton Weeks, Sunil Gavaskar, and Saud Shakil. Four names picked from a list. Today, another name has been added to that list. The spot left blank is his. The batsman who scored the most runs in the first 8 tests of his test career:
There are few names on this list. So, it’s not that hard to search and find. Let’s keep the suspense and reveal —jaiswal , the successful one.
In the history of Test cricket, among batsmen who scored the most runs in their first 8 tests, this 22-year-old opener from India has secured his place. Right after Sir Don Bradman! Bradman alone has achieved more runs in the first 8 matches of his Test career than jaiswal , but only in batting. Jaiswal has brought a bright spark of talent to international cricket, it seems! Bradman, with an extraordinary batting average (99.94) in Tests, scored 6996 runs with 29 centuries in his career of 52 Tests. At the end of the first 8 Tests, he had scored 1210 runs. In that period, Bradman had seen 5 instances of ‘double’ and ‘triple’ centuries, bringing his century count to 5. In 1930, he had the opportunity to bat in both innings in the seventh test of his career at Headingley and the eighth test at Old Trafford. So, even though he played 8 Tests, Bradman didn’t get a chance to bat in both innings in one match. Despite playing only 2 innings, he scored 1210 runs in just 8 Tests.
Last July, against the West Indies, jaiswal , who was inducted into Tests, ranked second in this list with 971 runs in 8 Tests against the West Indies. Compared to Bradman, jaiswal has played one inning more — 15. In debut Tests and the ongoing Test series against England, jaiswal has scored a total of 3 centuries including two ‘double’ centuries, but has undoubtedly lagged behind Bradman in his batting average until now. At the end of 8 Tests, jaiswal’s batting average was 69.35. Bradman’s batting average at the end of his first 8 Tests was 93.07! Everton Weeks, another legend of Caribbean cricket, had a fantastic start to his career. He also holds the record for the most centuries in a single innings in Test cricket with 5 innings out of 5. In 1948, debut was inducted into Test cricket and scored 968 runs in his first 8 Tests.
Surprisingly, that was only in 11 innings! Among the top five players who scored the most runs in their first 8 Tests, Weeks had the fewest innings played. At the end of 8 Tests, his batting average with 5 centuries was 88.00! Among the top five batsmen, Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, the ‘Little Master’ of Indian cricket, is the only one who got the opportunity to bat in all innings in his first 8 Tests. That’s 16 innings in 8 Tests — with a total of 938 runs. Gavaskar also had a terrific start with 4 centuries including two ‘double’ centuries and an average of 72.15 at the end of 8 Tests. Saud Shakil seems to have followed Gavaskar’s path, at least in batting average.
This middle-order batsman from Pakistan was inducted into Tests in 2022 and has played 10 Tests to date. In his first 8 Tests, he scored 927 runs. He had the opportunity to bat in 15 innings on this path. He has scored two centuries, including one ‘double’, in two centuries on this path. At the end of 8 Tests, Saud’s batting average was a bit higher than Gavaskar’s, 77.25. At the end of the first 8 Tests, Saud was fifth in the list of highest run-scorers.
These five cricketers have had a fantastic start. Three of them have become cricketing giants later on. The other two are Saud Shakil and the successful jaiswal . Their careers have just begun. It’s all about seeing how well they can do in the future!
