India registered a rare feat against Bangladesh in Test cricket on this day in 2007

On this day in 2007, India's Test team registered a historic feat as each of its top four batsmen scored a century against Bangladesh in the same innings. The incident took place on May 25 during the first innings of the second Test match between India and Bangladesh, which was held at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. Indian batsmen Dinesh Karthik, Wasim Jaffer, Rahul Dravid, and Sachin Tendulkar scored a century each to create the historic record. This was the first time in the history of Test cricket when each of the top-four batsmen from a team had scored a century. 

What transpired in the match?

India and Bangladesh were playing a two-match Test series in May of 2007. The first match of the series had ended in a draw after a reduced number of days due to heavy rain. In the second Test match, Bangladesh won the toss and elected to field first, which proved to be a bad decision later when India managed to put 610 runs on the board in 153 overs, courtesy of centuries from all four batsmen at the top. While Karthik and Dravid scored 129 each, Jaffer and Tendulkar had hit 138 and 122 runs respectively. 

Jaffer scored 138 runs before leaving the game mid-way due to an injury. Karthik and Dravid were bowled out by Mashrafe Mortaza and Mohammad Rafique respectively after scoring 129 each. Tendulkar remained unbeaten at 122 as India declared the innings for 610/3. Indian bowlers managed to put Bangladesh in a tricky position after the end of their first innings as the Tigers were bowled out for 118 runs in 37.2 overs. India summoned Bangladesh for a follow-on and bowlers performed their tricks once again as the Men in Green were bowled out for 253 runs in their second innings.

Bangladesh lost the match by an innings and 239 runs and also went on to lose the series 1-0, courtesy of a draw in the first game. This was the first instance when the top-four batsmen of a team scored a hundred each in a Test inning. The second time when there have been four centurions amongst the top-four batsmen was during a Test match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan in 2019. Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, and Babar Azam scored a century each for their team to become only the second quadruple to achieve the rare feat. 

(Image Credit: PTI)