AN Cook’s 64 not out at the third day of the Birmingham test against Pakistan was his 76^th fifty – {27 C + 49 HC} and now he owns the record for most fifties by an opening batsman in the annals of test cricket. He went past SM Gavaskar’s 75 fifties {33 C + 42 HC}. AN Cook and SM Gavaskar are the only two opening batsmen who have scored 75 plus fifties in test cricket. The following table lists the career summary of AN Cook and SM Gavaskar as on 07.08.16

CAREER SUMMARY OF AN COOK
Opposition	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	C	HC	50+	0
v Australia	30	55	1	2117	235*	39.20	4	11	15	3
v Bangladesh	4	7	1	401	173	66.83	2	0	02	0
v India	20	35	3	1735	294	54.21	5	7	12	0
v New Zealand	13	23	0	1024	162	44.52	3	4	07	0
v Pakistan	13	24	2	1155	263	52.50	3	6	09	0
v South Africa	15	28	0	995	118	35.53	2	7	09	2
v Sri Lanka	13	22	2	1066	133	53.30	3	6	09	2
v West Indies	17	30	5	1435	160	57.40	5	8	13	1
Total	125	224	14	9928	294	47.27	27	49	76	8
CAREER SUMMARY OF SM GAVASKAR
Opposition	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	C	HC	50+	0
v Australia	20	31	1	1550	172	51.66	8	4	12	2
v England	37	66	1	2483	221	38.20	4	16	20	3
v New Zealand	9	16	1	651	119	43.40	2	3	05	0
v Pakistan	24	40	4	2074	166	57.61	5	12	17	1
v Sri Lanka	3	3	0	336	176	112.00	2	0	02	0
v West Indies	26	47	5	2513	220	59.83	12	7	19	5
Total	119	203	12	9607	221	50.29	33	42	75	11