Azharuddin's unique feat

Scoring a century on Test debut is an outstanding feat, even if the list does keep growing. But getting a hundred in the first two Tests is extremely rare. Until 1984-85, only three players - Bill Ponsford, Doug Walters and Alvin Kallicharran - had achieved this. But in the same season, a young stylist from Hyderabad went one step further and accomplished a feat that is unique in the annals of Test cricket even today - he got a hundred in each of his first three Tests.

The talent of Mohammed Azharuddin was spotted early by imaginative state and zone selectors, who pushed him into the Hyderabad side at 18 and the South Zone team at 20. A double century on debut in the Duleep Trophy in 1983-84 was his way of repaying their confidence. Playing for the under-25 side against the English team the next year, Azharuddin hit 151. His elevation to the India cap was now only a matter of time. For the third Test at Calcutta, Sunil Gavaskar was in favour of Krish Srikkanth, but the selectors overruled the captain and opted for Azharuddin; their will prevailed.

Azharuddin walked in at number five late on the first evening with the score on 126 for three. A fourth wicket fell a run later, but Azharuddin and Ravi Shastri then proceeded to initiate a recovery process that culminated in a record Indian fifth-wicket partnership of 214 runs. Azharuddin was fifth out at 341 after scoring 110, compiled in 382 minutes. He faced 288 balls in becoming the seventh Indian to score a century in his first Test for India.

In the next Test at Madras, Azharuddin scored 48 in the first innings and made it two in two by getting 105 in the second. This was a strokefilled knock, taking no more than 225 minutes, despite the grim situation that India was in. He faced 175 balls, hit 18 fours, and the 105 was compiled off just 40 scoring strokes.

Could Azhar make it three in three was the question on the eve of the final Test at Kanpur. It did not seem possible, considering that the feat had never been performed in over 1000 Tests over a 108-year period. But a week before his 22nd birthday, Azharuddin did achieve the impossible, only to be hailed with descriptions of "an absolute diamond" and a "cricket prophet." This time, he was promoted to number three and walked in with the score on 19 for one. He shared the spotlight with Srikkanth as the two put on 150 runs for the second wicket. Srikkanth was out for 84 and then Mohinder Amarnath for 15. But Azharuddin carried on and, at close on the first day, was unbeaten on 98 in a total of 228 for three.

The next morning, Azharuddin kept his date with cricketing history. He first guided a ball from Cowans to third man for a single and then turned a ball from Foster behind square-leg for a brace to go from 99 to 101. He was fourth out at 277 for 122. He had batted 374 minutes and faced 270 balls, hitting 16 of them to the ropes. He added an unbeaten 54 in the second innings before Gavaskar declared. Till today, though more than 550 further Tests have been played, no batsman has come anywhere near emulating Azharuddin, further highlighting out uniqueness of the feat.