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Several bright and big names have fetched much joy to Indian cricket. Many have, since the time they began batting, become timeless legends. Their deeds and records are subjected to much reverence wherever cricketing tales and folklores are recited with pleasure.
But only a few, a handful of selected Indian talents have gone on to become such big and promising names as to have become fervent legends. And they've done great deeds such as scoring a Test century in each innings of a Test match, the very same match.
But some, truth be told, have done the rare feat on more than one occasion. Let us talk about these timeless wonders of Indian cricket:
Vijay Hazare
One of the great legends of Indian cricket, a fine batter with 7 Test centuries from 30 Tests, did the great job of scoring two hundreds in a single Test match by hitting one century each in successive innings. And he was the first-ever batter from Team India to have ever done that, making the great Hazare a one of a kind talent.
Mr. Vijay Hazare scored a dogged 116, following it up with a 148 against Australia in the year 1948 and that was just a year after the country got independence.
A great act with the bat and a timeless one at that!
Sir Sunil Gavaskar
No other batter from India has done what Sir Sunil Gavaskar has achieved for the sport and at a time where the game featured some remarkably genius and threateningly quick fast bowlers. Scoring on three different occasions consecutive hundreds in a Test match, Sir Gavaskar made the pitch his temple and run-making his gospel truth or you can say, his second nature.
First up, in the year 1971, he made scores of 124 and 220 against the mighty West Indies. That was when the Windies were quite frankly at the peak of their powers.
Next up, he hit scores of 111 and 137 against Pakistan in the year 1978, seven years after making a world record of being the second-Indian (at that time) to ever hit two hundreds in the same Test.
Next, he hit two magnificent hundreds, 107 and 182 and that too, in the very same year as his Pakistan centuries and also, against the mighty West Indies.
No other batter barring Sir Vivian Richards ruled the roost back in those days and with such grit and determination as India's Sir Gavaskar. What a legend!
Rahul Dravid
The Wall, as he's called, was known for his great powers of concentration and the ability to stay put when the chips were down and where India needed great respite from mounting pressure. In Test cricket, it's one thing to make lots of runs but something quite different to score them under pressure with the team's back against the wall. Dravid in 2011-12 tour to England did just that, in scoring 461 runs including 3 centuries, one at Lord's - at a time where India were going downhill. That's ample evidence of his class and ability to stand guard for India's defiance.
But he also twice hit centuries in the same Test match. Not once, but twice!
First up, in New Zealand's Hamilton in the year 1999, he hit a big 190 and followed it up with a 103 not out in the same game.
Next up, he hit 110 and 135 versus Pakistan a few years later to stun fans who may have trolled him for batting slow and for maybe not being as good as Tendulkar, the icon.
But truth be told if one were to ask Sachin about Dravid's contributions toward India's cause, the great man too, would tip his hat to The Wall.
Rishabh Pant
Pant made 252 remarkable runs, hitting 134 and 118 in the same contest in Leeds's at Headingley where India are currently tackling the great English challenge. Rishabh Pant now also holds the record for striking the most number of Test centuries by a wicketkeeper batter for India and the way his form is going, there's trouble brewing for England. The series has only just started and one of India's key batters is in sublime form out there.
Rohit Sharma
The great Rohit Sharma who took a decision to retire from Test cricket was able to score north of 4000 runs in the red ball format. This included a fine double hundred as well. However, his peak in Test match cricket came at a time where he hit 176 and 127 at home against none other than South Africa.
And although Faf, Elgar and de Kock all made fine runs with the bat on that occasion, that particular Test match in Vizag belonged to India's former captain who scored 303 runs on his own from that one single game.
What ought to be noted is that the right hander came up against the likes of Philander, Maharaj and Rabada and was able to dominate some of the best bowlers in red ball game.
Virat Kohli
Big runs never left Virat Kohli alone and nor did the artistry of making them in a sublime manner. In his maiden assignment as India's Test captain, and that too, away in Australia, under unfamilair conditions and intense pressure, the former Test great scored gritty hundreds - 115 and 141 in the same inning.
This was in Adelaide after the legendary Dhoni sat out with an injury thus leaving Kohli to answer the pressure by leading by an example.
Ajinkya Rahane
One of the great lovers of Test match cricket as also its devoted student, Rahane, who has had the pleasure of leading India as captain against difficult opponents like Australia once scored 127 and 100 not out. His heroic Test hundreds came in the same Test match against South Africa, which was played in 2015. A decade has passed since and the dogged right hander continues to pile on the runs in the domestic sphere.
