5 youngest batsmen to score a Test century

Every batsman that plays Test cricket dreams of scoring a Test hundred and it helps him gain confidence if that comes very early on in his career.

A lot of batsmen have made their Test debut in their teens and as many as 20 players have scored a Test hundred when they were teenagers.

However, here we look at the 5 youngest batsmen to score a Test century.

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#5 Imran Nazir – 18 years and 154 days

Imran Nazir was one of those Pakistani cricketers who had a stop and start career right from the time he made his debut. Nazir made his Test debut as a 17-year old in March 1999 and impressed with a solid 64 in his maiden outing.

Although he had to wait for a year to play his next Test (in May 2000), he once again impressed and this time he converted his start into a hundred, thus becoming the second youngest Pakistani batsman to score a Test century. He struck a brilliant 131 to help Pakistan save the game in Barbados against West Indies. He hit 20 fours during his 180-ball innings.

However, the right-handed aggressive opener was not consistent and thus, he played only 8 games in his Test career in which he scored 427 runs at an average of 32.85. Although he did play more than 100 limited-overs matches for Pakistan, he was never consistent and never found a permanent place in the national side.

#4 Hamilton Masakadza – 17 years 352 days

Hamilton Masakadza has been one of the best opening batsmen to have played for Zimbabwe. When he made his Test debut against West Indies in 2001, he became the youngest batsman to have scored a Test century on debut (at that time).

After failing in his maiden Test innings (scoring only 9) and with Zimbabwe trailing by 216 runs (also being 1-0 down), Masakadza produced one of the best match-saving knocks on debut. His innings of 119 helped Zimbabwe eke out a draw. He batted for more than six hours and showed brilliant resistance. The Harare-born right-hander played 316 deliveries in his innings and defied the Windies bowlers brilliantly.

Since then, he’s been one of the mainstays for Zimbabwe over the last 15 years in all formats.

#3 Sachin Tendulkar – 17 years 107 days

When a 16-year old batsman made his debut in 1989 against Pakistan in Karachi, nobody would have imagined that this teenager from Mumbai would go on to be a batting sensation and a record breaker (and setter).

Sachin Tendulkar scored a couple of fighting fifties in his debut series against a fiery Pakistan fast bowling attack. But it was only in his 9th Test match that he scored his maiden Test ton at Manchester when he was just 17 years of age. After having lost the first Test, India were in trouble once again as they were left with a daunting task of batting through the last day chasing a big total.

Tendulkar who scored 68 in the first innings, walked into bat at No. 6 with the score reading 109/4 (which soon became 127/5 and then 183/6). But Tendulkar batted beautifully as he helped India carve out a draw. He battled it out against a quality England bowling attack and scored a magnificent unbeaten 119.

That innings set the tone for Tendulkar’s career as he went on to get 50 more Test tons and broke and set numerous records in his 24-year cricket journey.

#2 Mushtaq Mohammad – 17 years 78 days

Born in Gujarat in India, Mushtaq Mohammad moved to Pakistan and became the youngest cricketer to play international cricket. He was only 15 years and 124 days old when he first donned the whites to represent Pakistan in 1959.

He started off scratchily, but in the year 1961, he became the youngest batsman to score a Test century. He was just 17 years old when he scored a superb 101 against India at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi. Coming into bat at 89/4 (in reply to India’s first innings score of 463), Mushtaq helped Pakistan reduce the deficit and stretch the score to 286. Pakistan eventually drew the game and it was the efforts of a 17-year old Indian-born player that went a long way in helping Pakistan salvage a draw.

Mushtaq played 57 Tests for Pakistan and scored 3643 at an average of 39.17. He also played a staggering 502 first-class games and scored more than 31,000 runs, which included 72 hundreds.

#1 Mohammad Ashraful – 17 years 61 days

Mohammad Ashraful may only be 33 years old today, but it seems that he has been around in the Bangladesh cricket team for a long time now (even though he isn’t in the scheme of things currently).

Ashraful made his debut against Sri Lanka in 2001 as a talented 17-year old middle-order batsman. In his maiden innings, he top-scored (26) as Bangladesh were bowled out for a mere 90. In the second innings when Bangladesh were trailing by 465, Ashraful produced a fighting 114 as he became the youngest batsman to score a Test century on debut. Not only was he the youngest debutant but also the youngest batsman to hit a Test hundred.

Ashraful did go on to to represent Bangladesh in more than 260 international games (which included 61 Tests), but he was never consistent and averaged in the low 20s in Test and ODIs. However, he will remain in the history books as the youngest player to score a Test ton, unless it is broken.