Annals of test cricket witnessed a unique instance of rival captains registering double hundreds in Pakistan and Sri Lanka test series of 2008/09 at Karachi. Sri Lanka’s captain Mahela Jayawardene scored 240 while Pakistan captain Younis Khan came up with a triple hundred – 313

West Indian skipper Brian Lara scored a double hundred – 216 in the second test between Pakistan and West Indies at Multan in the second test of the 2006/07 series. This double hundred has a special significance in Test Cricket as it would become the fiftieth instance of a skipper registering a double hundred in a test innings.

After Lara’s double hundred at Multan, four more occasions of captains scoring double hundreds were witnessed in tests, which has taken the number of double hundreds to 54. The following is the list of 54 instances of a skippers registering double hundreds arranged in the descending order of runs scored.

No	Runs	Batsmen	Team	Opp	Venue	Season
1	400*	BC Lara	Win	Eng	St John’s	2003/04
2	374	MJayawardene	Srl	SAF	Col/SSC	2006/07
3	334*	MA Taylor	Aus	Pak	Peshawar	1998/99
4	313	Younis Khan	Pak	Srl	Karachi	2008/09
5	333	GA Gooch	Eng	Ind	Lord’s	1990
6	311	RB Simpson	Aus	Eng	Manchester	1964
7	299	MD Crowe	NZl	Srl	Wellington	1990/91
8	285*	PBH May	Eng	Win	Birmingham	1957
9	277	GC Smith	SAF	Eng	Birmingham	2003
10	274*	SP Fleming	NZl	Srl	Col/PSS	2003
11	262	SP Fleming	NZl	SAF	Cape Town	2005/06
12	270	DG Bradman	Aus	Eng	Melbourne	1936/37
13	259	GC Smith	SAF	Eng	Lord’s	2003
14	257*	Wasim Akram	Pak	Zim	Sheikhupura	1996/97
15	249	MS Atapattu	Srl	Zim	Bulawayo	2004
16	242*	CH Lloyd	Win	Ind	Mumbai	1974/75
17	240	WR Hammond	Eng	Aus	Lord’s	1938
18	240	MJayawardene	Srl	Pak	Karachi	2008/09
19	239	GT Dowling	NZl	Ind	Christchurch	1967/68
20	237	Saleem Malik	Pak	Aus	Rawalpindi	1994/95
21	235	GS Chappell	Aus	Pak	Faisalabad	1979/80
22	234	DG Bradman	Aus	Eng	Sydney	1946/47
23	233	CL Hooper	Win	Ind	Georgetown	2001/02
24	232	GC Smith	SAF	Ban	Chittagong	2007/08
25	225	RB Simpson	Aus	Eng	Adelaide	1965/66
26	219	DS Atkinson	Win	Aus	Bridgetown	1954/55
27	217	SR Tendulkar	Ind	NZl	Ahmedabad	1999/00
28	216	BC Lara	Win	Pak	Multan	2006/07
29	215	DI Gower	Eng	Aus	Birmingham	1985
30	203*	SCChanderpaul	Win	SAF	Georgetown	2004/05
31	213	MJayawardene	Srl	Eng	Galle	2007/08
32	213	BC Lara	Win	Aus	Kingston	1998/99
33	212	DG Bradman	Aus	Eng	Adelaide	1936/37
34	211	WL Murdoch	Aus	Eng	The Oval	1884
35	211	Javed Miandad	Pak	Aus	Karachi	1988/89
36	209	BC Lara	Win	Srl	Gros Islet	2003
37	208	AD Nourse	SAF	Eng	Nottingham	1951
38	207	RT Ponting	Aus	Pak	Sydney	2004/05
39	205	L Hutton	Eng	Win	Kingston	1953/54
40	205	ER Dexter	Eng	Pak	Karachi	1961/62
41	205	WM Lawry	Aus	Win	Melbourne	1968/69
42	205	SM Gavaskar	Ind	Win	Mumbai	1978/79
43	205	AR Border	Aus	NZl	Adelaide	1987/88
44	204	GS Chappell	Aus	Ind	Sydney	1980/81
45	203	HL Collins	Aus	SAF	Johannesburg	1921/22
46	203*	MAK Pataudi	Ind	Eng	Delhi	1963/64
47	203*	Hanif Mohd	Pak	NZl	Lahore	1964/65
48	203*	Javed Miandad	Pak	Srl	Faisalabad	1985/86
49	202	BC Lara	Win	SAF	Johannesburg	2003/04
50	202	SP Fleming	NZl	Ban	Chittagong	2004/05
51	201	DG Bradman	Aus	Ind	Adelaide	1947/48
52	201	RB Simpson	Aus	Win	Bridgetown	1964/65
53	201	GS Chappell	Aus	Pak	Brisbane	1981/82
54	200*	AR Border	Aus	Eng	Leeds	1993

The country wise break up of 54 double hundreds are as under

Australian	Batsmen	17	Instances
England	Batsmen	06	Instances
Indian	Batsmen	03	Instances
New Zealand	Batsmen	05	Instances
Pakistan	Batsmen	06	Instances
SouthAfrican	Batsmen	04	Instances
Sri Lankan	Batsmen	04	Instances
WestIndian	Batsmen	09	Instances
Total	Batsmen	54	Instances

Prior to the Multan Test where Lara came up with a double hundred Don Bradman and Brian Lara shared the record for most double hundreds for a test captains in a test innings – four each. With his 216 at Multan, Lara obliterated Don Bradman’s record for the most double hundreds by a captain in a test innings, as Lara registered his fifth double hundred as a captain.

1	270	Bradman	Aus	Eng	Melbourne	1936/37
2	234	Bradman	Aus	Eng	Sydney	1946/47
3	212	Bradman	Aus	Eng	Adelaide	1936/37
4	201	Bradman	Aus	Ind	Adelaide	1947/48
1	400*	Lara	Win	Eng	St John’s	2003/04
2	216	Lara	Win	Pak	Multan	2006/07
3	213	Lara	Win	Aus	Kingston	1998/99
4	209	Lara	Win	Srl	Gros Islet	2003
5	202	Lara	Win	SAF	Johannesburg	2003/04

Lara becomes the first West Indian captain to register a double hundred against Pakistan. The following is the list of five instances of a captain registering double hundred. It is noted that all the four were Australian captains and Lara with his 216 at Multan becomes the first captain other than Aussie captain to register a double hundred against Pakistan. Greg Chappell remains the only captain to register two double hundreds against Pakistan – 235 at Faisalabad in 1979/80 and 201 at Brisbane in 1981/82

1	334*	MATaylor	Aus	Pak	Peshawar	1998/99
2	235	GSChappell	Aus	Pak	Faisalabad	1979/80
3	216	BCLara	Win	Pak	Multan	2006/07
4	207	RTPonting	Aus	Pak	Sydney	2004/05
5	201	GSChappell	Aus	Pak	Brisbane	1981/82

The following list shows the captains who have scored three or more double hundreds in their test career.

No	Runs	Batsmen	Team	Opp	Venue	Season
1	400*	BC Lara	Win	Eng	St John’s	2003/04
2	216	BC Lara	Win	Pak	Multan	2006/07
3	213	BC Lara	Win	Aus	Kingston	1998/99
4	209	BC Lara	Win	Srl	Gros Islet	2003
5	202	BC Lara	Win	SAF	Johannesburg	2003/04
1	270	DG Bradman	Aus	Eng	Melbourne	1936/37
2	234	DG Bradman	Aus	Eng	Sydney	1946/47
3	212	DG Bradman	Aus	Eng	Adelaide	1936/37
4	201	DG Bradman	Aus	Ind	Adelaide	1947/48
1	277	GC Smith	SAF	Eng	Birmingham	2003
2	259	GC Smith	SAF	Eng	Lord’s	2003
3	232	GC Smith	SAF	Ban	Chittagong	2007/08
1	235	GS Chappell	Aus	Pak	Faisalabad	1979/80
2	204	GS Chappell	Aus	Ind	Sydney	1980/81
3	201	GS Chappell	Aus	Pak	Brisbane	1981/82
1	374	MJayawardene	Srl	SAF	Col/SSC	2006/07
2	240	MJayawardene	Srl	Pak	Karachi	2008/09
3	213	MJayawardene	Srl	Eng	Galle	2007/08
1	311	RB Simpson	Aus	Eng	Manchester	1964
2	225	RB Simpson	Aus	Eng	Adelaide	1965/66
3	201	RB Simpson	Aus	Win	Bridgetown	1964/65
1	274*	SP Fleming	NZl	Srl	Col/PSS	2003
2	262	SP Fleming	NZl	SAF	Cape Town	2005/06
3	202	SP Fleming	NZl	Ban	Chittagong	2004/05