Top 5 Highest scores in an innings as a captain in Test cricket

To score big runs in an innings in test cricket is a special feeling for any batter but to Score those runs when you are the captain of the team and those runs help your nation win a test match then the feeling gets extra special. I am sure that all of you must have seen the highest scores by a batter in test cricket but very few will write about captains who scored the most number of runs in an innings and that’s what I will try and do here. To have the added responsibility of captain and still play such awesome innings is something that all of these men can be very proud of.

This list consists of some of the best batters in world cricket history and the scores that they have made as captains is simply astonishing and now we can see why they were the skippers of their respective nations at the time and they lifted the team to victory and etched their names in history. These were their highest scores in their test careers as well so that makes it more special for these extraordinary players. So, let’s see the Top 5 Highest scores in an innings by a captain in test cricket.

Brian Lara (400* vs England)

This once in a lifetime innings is not just the highest test score by a captain but also the highest individual test score in the history of tea cricket and it came against England in 2004 and it has been 18 years since this innings and it has not been broken since and I never know if it will ever be broken. To play such an innings a player has to bat for a long period of time and be attacking and the match situation has to be favorable for them. Brian Lara was a once in a lifetime cricketer and he was perhaps the most stylish player that I have ever seen in my lifetime.

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Mahela Jayawardene (374 vs South Africa)

The second player on this list is one of the greatest ever to play the game for Sri Lanka and this player came so close to breaking the record set by Brian Lara and this marathon innings came against one of the best bowling attacks in the world at the time in South Africa. Mahela Jayawardene absolutely decimated the whole bowling line-up and did not allow the scoreboard to get slow and he got the runs at a fast pace and he hit a brilliant Triple hundred at home and all the Sri Lankan cricket fans were having the time of their lives watching this masterpiece. It is the highest score by a batter from Sri Lanka in the ipf test cricket. I was fortunate to see him play live for many years.

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Mark Taylor (334* vs Pakistan)

This incredible innings from Mark Taylor came against the best Pakistan bowling lineup that there ever has been and that makes this innings one of the most special test innings by an Aussie Player of all time and he did it in 1998 and unfortunately I was not able to see it live but to do this to a bowling attack that had Wasim Akram Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar takes something seriously special to do and the fans that got to watch it live in Pakistan respected it even though they did not like what was happening to their team by his bat. He declared on 334* because he did not want to score more than his hero, the late Don Bradman.

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Graham Gooch (333 vs India)

This is one of those innings that still haunts the minds of Indian cricket fans to this day even though it happened 32 years ago. This was such an extraordinary innings and the highest score by an English captain in test cricket and it had to come against India and that day none of the Indian bowlers had any answers to the brilliance of Graham Gooch and he just toyed with every one and made England make a huge total in that innings. This innings is still revered by all the English cricket fans and respected by all the fans of the Indian cricket team even though he did it against them.

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Michael Clarke (329* vs India)

This is the one innings out of the 5 that I saw live from start to finish and I have to say even though it came against India it was an exhibition of batsmanship of the highest order and everyone could do nothing but just admire the skills and class of the great Michael Clarke. This happened in the 2011-12 series vs Australia when the Aussies were unbeatable and their whole team was filled with match winners and the biggest one in this innings was their captain and the Indian bowlers looked absolutely helpless and he came out not out in the end declaring the innings when he was on 329* and for the same reason as Mark Taylor as he did not want to cross the great 334 made by Don Bradman.

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