Ranking the Players Dismissed for 199 in Tests on Batting Talent
Mohammad Azharuddin recorded his highest Test score of 199 against Sri Lanka, 18 years ago this week. The elegant Indian is one of just seven batsman in the history of Test cricket to fall so tantalisingly short of a double-hundred.
We'll take a look at each of the nearly men, assessing them solely on their batting talent. Our magnificent seven features obdurate blockers, supreme stylists and one of the hardest hitters in the history of the game.
But who is the most gifted? Read on to find out.
Ranking Criteria
1 of 8
This list is based solely on pure batting talent. Effortless timing, supreme skill and generally making the game look easy largely fulfil the brief.
In this instance, overall statistics aren't as important as aesthetic considerations. If we were selecting an order based on who has had the most prolific career, the list would look very different.
Courage, commitment and scoring ugly runs aren't crucial. This is all about batting in its purest form.
If a player has managed to combine style and substance so much the better.
7. Mudassar Nazar (Pakistan)
2 of 8
199 vs. India, Faisalabad, 1984
Gutsy all-rounder he may have been, but Mudassar Nazar didn't exactly set pulses racing when he was batting.
The Pakistani opener's 557-minute century against England at Lahore in 1977 is the slowest in Test history.
Mudassar's 199 against India in 1984 looks Twenty20-esque in comparison, taking 408 balls and 552 minutes.
On dead, subcontinental pitches, Mudassar was the image of obduracy. He used every ounce of talent at his disposal, though, and became an ideal foil for the likes of Javed Miandad and Saleem Malik.
By the end of his 13-year Test career, Mudassar had amassed 78 caps. An impressive achievement for a doughty and committed performer.
6. Matthew Elliott (Australia)
3 of 8199 vs. England, Headingley, 1997
Matthew Elliott was the beneficiary of one of the most famous drops in recent Ashes history en route to his 199 at Leeds in 1997.
With Australia tottering at 50 for four in reply to England's first innings total of 172, Graham Thorpe dropped a sitter to give Elliott, then on 29, a life.
That miss would have serious consequences. Elliott and Ricky Ponting went on to complete a partnership of 268 runs as Australia took a stranglehold in the match and the series. The poor bowler, Mike Smith, failed to take a wicket and never played Test cricket again.
Elliott's technique never quite stood up to the rigours of Test cricket thereafter, and he won only 21 Test caps in total.
His momentum changing effort at Headingley in 1997 remains one of the finest Ashes innings by an Australian on English soil.
Elliott is the only member of the "199 Club" whose team won the game.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
5. Younis Khan (Pakistan)
4 of 8199 vs. India, Lahore, 2006
Amid the chaos and inconsistency that has beset Pakistani cricket for much of the past decade or so, one constant has been the class of Younis Khan.
The 37-year-old's average of 53.37 from a 96-match Test career puts him in the company of the best of his generation. Younis has been prolific in the shorter forms of the game, too, and will be looking for a fitting swan song at the 2015 World Cup.
Quiet and unfussy, Younis isn't the easiest batsman on the eye. All he does is score runs. Lots and lots of runs.
His 199 against India was a case in point. On one of the flattest pitches in Test history, the gritty right-hander was one of four Pakistanis to reach three figures as they amassed a mammoth 679 for seven declared. With the Indian bowlers unable budge him, it finally took a silly run-out involving Shahid Afridi (who else?) to get him out.
In reply, India's Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid put on 410 for the first wicket as the game meandered to a bore draw.
Even in the twilight of his career, Younis is still the big Pakistani wicket for opposition bowlers.
4. Steve Waugh (Australia)
5 of 8199 vs. West Indies, Bridgetown, 1999
The only player to be dismissed for 199 in a Test match and end up on the losing side is Steve Waugh.
The Australian skipper's innings looked to have put the tourists in an impregnable position against the West Indies in Barbados in 1999.
An inspired Courtney Walsh gave the home side a slither of a chance, though. Brian Lara grabbed it, producing one of the finest innings in Test history as the West Indies sneaked home by one wicket.
That was one of the few lowlights in Waugh's stellar career. Not as stylish or elegant as brother Mark, Steve made up for it with fighting spirit.
How many players would be brave enough to tangle with Curtly Ambrose and then have the skills to back up those words?
Hard-nosed and aggressive, Waugh was the epitome of the uncompromising Aussie.
3. Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka)
6 of 8
199 vs. India, Colombo, 1997
Unsurprisingly, the fastest scoring batsman on our list is Sanath Jayasuriya. The Sri Lankan opener took just 226 balls to reach 199 in a high-scoring draw with India in 1997.
There was little in the way of finesse about Jayasuriya's batting. Few hit the ball harder though. If a delivery was in the slot, he would invariably bludgeon it to the boundary.
Jayasuriya's footwork wouldn't have graced the pages of the MCC Coaching Manual but few batsmen of the modern-age had a better eye.
And to think, in the early days of his career he was considered a bowler who could chip in with some useful runs lower down the order.
2. Ian Bell (England)
7 of 8
199 vs. South Africa, Lord's, 2008
England's recent international success has been based on a somewhat attritional style. In snooker terms, think Cliff Thorburn rather than Ronnie O'Sullivan.
One player who doesn't fit that grinding mould is Ian Bell. Not even Kevin Pietersen makes the game look as easy as an on-song Bell.
The Warwickshire batsman's innings against South Africa at Lord's in 2008 remains one of his finest Test efforts. Bell was at his elegant best against a high-class attack that featured Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Makhaya Ntini and Jacques Kallis as England amassed a massive 593 for eight declared.
Despite making the visitors follow-on, England couldn't force a win on a Lord's surface that turned into one of Steve Harmison's “chief executive pitches.”
Careless looking dismissals seem to be an occupational hazard for supremely talented players like Bell. Most England followers would settle for the odd silly nick if he continues to provide such entertainment with his effortless timing and silky stroke play.
1. Mohammad Azharuddin (India)
8 of 8
199 vs. Sri Lanka, Kanpur, 1986
Mohammad Azharuddin was one of the most talented, elegant and watchable batsman of his generation.
Supremely stylish, anything pitched on his legs was likely to be caressed to the boundary. A lovely driver of the ball, too, Azharuddin matched flair and finesse with substance, averaging over 45 in Test cricket.
Azhar's career was bookended by centuries in both his first and last innings. Most memorable, though, was a gorgeous 121 against England at Lord's that almost overshadowed Graham Gooch's epic triple-hundred.
The 199 against Sri Lanka in 1986 was his highest score in a sometimes exasperating, but often sublime, 99-Test career.
Statistics come courtesy of ESPNCricinfo.com.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
