Don Bradman, Virender Sehwag, Chris Gayle and Brian Lara hold the joint record for most triple centuries in Test cricket. These four players have scored two triple centuries in the longest format.
Among them, Lara is credited with the record for scoring the highest individual score in Tests after he made an unbeaten 582-ball 400 against England in 2004. Interestingly, his other 300-plus score also came against England, albeit some 10 years before he became the only player to smash a quadruple century in international cricket.
During the fifth Test of England’s tour of West Indies in 1994, the former Windies captain scored 375 to power his team to 593/5d. The match was eventually drawn.
Meanwhile, Don Bradman was the quickest player to score two triple centuries in Test cricket. The former Australia captain did so in a mere 52 matches. He could have become the only player to score three triple tons in Test cricket, but had to settle for an unbeaten 299 when Australia beat South Africa in the fourth Test in 1932.
Bradman’s highest Test score was, in fact, his first triple century. The top-order batter scored 334 against England in 1930. Four years later, he got his second triple hundred, scoring 304 against England in Leeds.
Chris Gayle, on the other hand, scored his first triple ton against South Africa in 2005. The hard-hitter smashed 317 runs to take his team to 747. The match was drawn after Graeme Smith and Boeta Dippenaar frustrated the Windies bowler with some stubborn batting on the final day. His second triple ton came against Sri Lanka in November 2010, with the southpaw scoring 333 in a match that was also drawn.
Lastly, Virender Sehwag, who scored a century on his Test debut, made his first triple ton (309) against Pakistan in 2004 and second (319) against South Africa in 2008.
It is interesting to note that as many as 27 players have accounted for a total of 31 triple centuries in Test cricket.
A whopping seven players from Australia are among those 27 players followed by five from England, four each from West Indies and Pakistan, three from Sri Lanka and two from India. Apart from Sehwag, Karun Nair is another Indian to score 300-plus runs in Tests.
Most triple centuries in Test cricket
| Player | Team | Matches | Innings | 300s | High score |
| Don Bradman | Australia | 52 | 80 | 2 | 334 |
| Virender Sehwag | India | 104 | 180 | 2 | 319 |
| Chris Gayle | West Indies | 103 | 182 | 2 | 333 |
| Brian Lara | West Indies | 131 | 232 | 2 | 400* |
Featured photo: AFP / Gordon Brooks
