5 Star Batsmen Who Bagged Pairs in Test Cricket

Anniversaries are often dates to be celebrated. Sometimes, however, they are reminders of a time when things did not quite go your way.

Allan Border enjoyed a superb career with Australia, scoring 11,174 Test runs and finishing up with an average above 50.

The left-handed batsman also helped his country climb out of the doldrums during his time as captain, including becoming world champions in one-day cricket in 1987.

However, back in 1993, Border suffered a rare memory that he would rather forget while wearing his beloved Baggy Green.

Having fallen first ball to Curtly Ambrose in the first innings, he completed a pair in the fifth Test against West Indies when he was bowled second time around for another duck.

Ian Bishop was the bowler to hand Border the unwanted honour, and to make matters worse the tourists went on to win by an innings and seal a 2-1 series victory.

We have picked out five other star batsmen who bagged pairs in Test cricket. 

Graham Gooch (England)

Just like Allan Border, Graham Gooch is heralded as one of the greatest players to appear for his country.

In an international career that spanned 20 years, Gooch scored the most runs by an Englishman in Test cricket (8,900).

He also holds the record for England's highest score, making 333 vs. India at Lord's.

However, the Essex batsman did not get off to the best of starts in his Test career.

Called up at the age of 21 at the start of the 1975 Ashes series, Gooch was dismissed for a pair on debut in the opening Test at Edgbaston.

Perhaps unfortunate to be caught down the leg side in the first innings, the right-hander was unable to do much second time around as he edged a superb delivery from Jeff Thomson.

Gooch did manage to get off the mark in the next match but scores of six and 31 were not enough for him to retain his place.

He was dropped from the team after his two ducks, then had to wait three years for another chance in the Test team. Mind you, he made up for lost time when he did get back in!

Sir Ian Botham (England)

The 1981 Ashes series in England will forever be remembered for the exploits of Sir Ian Botham.

Not once but twice he lifted the hosts from what looked to be certain defeat. His heroics helped turn around an early deficit in the series, with England eventually triumphing 3-1 over their oldest rivals.

But, what is easily forgotten is that Botham had started the summer in stark contrast to how he finished it.

The all-rounder was captain of the team that lost the opening Test by four wickets at Trent Bridge, though things got even worse for him in the next match.

At Lord's Botham failed to register a run in either innings, with his return to the pavilion second time around seeing him greeted by complete silence by the MCC members in attendance.

He opted to resign as skipper after the Test finished in a draw, allowing Mike Brearley to take the job back.

Freed of the shackles of captaincy, Botham smashed 149 not out as England, having been forced to follow-on by their opponents, somehow won at Headingley. 

He followed that up by taking five wickets for one run at Edgbaston to secure another unlikely victory. Australia had needed just 151 in the final innings, yet Botham's spell saw them fall 30 runs short.

A century in the final Test made sure the series would forever be remembered as "Botham's Ashes"—he finished with 399 runs and 34 wickets.

Virender Sehwag (India)

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What can be worse than a pair? How about being dismissed first ball twice in the same match!

Virender Sehwag suffered the rare embarrassment of bagging a "king pair" at Edgbaston during India's tour of England in 2011.

The opening batsman edged the opening delivery of the second over of the game, bowled by Stuart Broad, through to wicketkeeper Matt Prior after India had been put into bat in Birmingham.

Second time around and poor Sehwag did not even make it out of the first over of the innings.

James Anderson's wide away swinger tempted him into a rather rash drive, resulting in him providing a simple slip catch to England skipper Andrew Strauss.

It was hardly the return to the Test team that the experienced opener would have hoped for after earning a recall.

India lost the game by an innings and were also beaten in the final Test, too, meaning England swept the series and leapfrogged their opponents to move to the top of the ICC Test rankings.

Mark Taylor (Australia)

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Being given the opportunity to captain your country is a moment of great pride for any cricketer.

Mark Taylor was handed the honour in 1994, taking over from Allan Border. His first Test in charge was certainly unforgettable, just for all the wrong reasons!

It started well enough when he won the toss and opted to bat first against Pakistan in Karachi.

While Taylor was caught and bowled for a duck off the bowling of Wasim Akram, the tourists still managed to make 337 in their first innings.

Pakistan replied with 256 and although Taylor completed his unwanted pair second time around, his side were still in complete charge of the match when they reached 171-2.

However, the bowling combination of Akram and Waqar Younis sparked a batting collapse. Australia lost their last eight wickets for 61 runs, leaving Pakistan requiring 314 for victory.

They got home by the narrowest of margins, an unbroken last-wicket stand of 57 making it a thoroughly miserable start for Taylor's reign.

Things did get better for the left-hander; he would go on to win 26 of his 50 Tests as skipper.

Marvan Atapattu (Sri Lanka)

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Marvan Atapattu finished up with a Test average of 39.02, an impressive figure considering he managed no less than FOUR pairs in his Sri Lanka career.

Astonishingly, in five of his first six knocks for his country the batsman made a duck. In the other innings, he managed a solitary run.

Atapattu failed to get off the mark in his Test debut against India in 1990 in Chandigarh, a match Sri Lanka lost by an innings.

He had to wait nearly two years to play again, finally getting off the mark in the second innings against Australia.

Another period out of the team followed, with the right-hander then recalled to face India in February of 1994. He marked the occasion with another pair, dismissed both times by Rajesh Chauhan.

Atapattu did not appear in another Test until over three years later. The runs did begin to flow, and he made his first century against old rivals India in November of 1997.

However, he was not quite done with registering pairs just yet.

Atapattu could not muster a run in the third Test against England in 2001, then was dismissed twice for globes by Shoaib Akhtar in the series opener against Pakistan in 2004.