Doubling up

Australia's lack of any penetrating bowlers means that they face a tough task to save the Test in Delhi. Although they have reached 50 without loss by the close, they need another 364 just to avoid the follow on. The pitch is decent, as Gambhir and Laxman proved by both making double-hundreds, but it appeared that Kumble was getting the ball to spit a bit near the close and it may well deterioriate quickly. Bad toss to lose.

All credit to India's batsmen. I'd thought that having two men scoring double hundreds in the same innings was relatively rare, but while this is the first time it has happened for India it is actually the fourteenth occasion in Test history. The list is below.

It reminds me of a story I heard about one of the English journalists covering England's tour to India in 1985. This chap, who I won't name, was apparently a keen gambler but absolutely hopeless at backing a winner. Finally, he thought his luck had paid off with a bet on Graeme Fowler being England's top-scorer in the Madras Test. Fowler made 201 and the chap began ordering drinks all round, only to watch in horror and disbelief as Mike Gatting, who began the day 100 runs behind Fowler, ended up making 207...

List of instances where two men have scored double-hundreds in a Test innings

1. Ponsford (266) and Bradman (244) Aus v Eng at The Oval, 1934
2. Barnes (234) and Bradman (also 234!) Aus v Eng at Sydney, 1946
3. Hunte (260) and Sobers (365*) Windies v Pakistan in Jamaica, 1958
4. Lawry (210) and Simpson (201) Aus v Windies in Bridgetown, 1965
5. Nazar (231) and Miandad (280*) Pakistan v India in Hyderabad, 1983
6. Fowler (201) and Gatting (207) Eng v India in Madras, 1985
7. Umar (206) and Miandad (203*) Pakistan v Sri Lanka in Faisalabad, 1985
8. Jayasuriya (340) and Mahanama (225) Sri Lanka v India in Colombo, 1997
9. Ijaz Ahmed (211) and Inzamam (200*) Pakistan v Sri Lanka in Dhaka, 1999
10. Atapattu (249) and Sangakkara (270) Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe in Bulawayo, 2004
11. Hinds (213) and Chanderpaul (203*) WI v South Africa in Guyana, 2005
12. Sangakkara (287) and Jayawardena (374) Sri Lanka v South Africa in Colombo, 2006
13. McKenzie (226) and Smith (232) South Africa v Bangladesh in Chittagong, 2008
14. Gambhir (206) and Laxman (200*) India v Australia in Delhi, 2008