When Rohit Sharma stroked a century on Thursday at Eden Gardens against West Indies, he became the 14th Indian to hit a hundred on debut. Here’s a look at the other Indian players to have done the same.
Shikhar Dhawan: In March this year, Rohit Sharma’s ODI opening partner smashed 187 off 174 balls against the hapless Aussies at Mohali. During the course of the innings, Dhawan created the record for the fastest hundred on debut, off 85 balls. He also broke the record for the highest score by an Indian on debut.
Suresh Raina: The left-hander made 120 against Sri Lanka during the Colombo Test in 2010. Since, Raina hasn’t been able to cement his place in the side owing to his inconsistency. Also, most opponents have increasingly grown aware of his weakness against the short ball.
Virender Sehwag: The swashbuckler smashed 105 against South Africa at Bloemfontein back in 2001. During the course of the innings, he featured in a big partnership with Tendulkar, but India lost the match following a second-innings collapse.
Sourav Ganguly: The former Indian skipper made an elegant 131 against England at Lord’s in 1996. Till date, he remains the only Indian to have debuted at Lord’s with a ton.
Mohd. Azharuddin: Another ex-India skipper, Azhar kicked off his Test career with 110 at his favourite venue, Kolkata’s Eden Gardens. Azhar, in fact, went on to compile hundreds in each of his first three Tests.
Pravin Amre: Unarguably, the best hundred by an Indian on debut since Amre’s 103 came at the bouncy Durban against a high quality South African attack featuring Donald and McMillan at their peak back in 1992.
Gundappa Vishwanath: The wristy genius got a duck in his debut innings at Kanpur against Australia in 1969, but in the second innings of the very Test, he stroked a magnificent 137 to make his debut memorable.
Lala Amarnath: He became the first Indian to hit a century on debut when he made 118 against England at the Bombay Gymkhana Grounds in 1933. Lala is also the first Indian cricketer to hit a Test century.
Surinder Amarnath: Lala’s son also made a ton on debut, when he registered 124 against New Zealand at Auckland in 1976. This was the same match in which Syed Kirmani and Dilip Vengsarkar made their debuts.
Deepak Shodhan: The little-known Test cricketer made 110 against Pakistan at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in 1952. The amazing aspect of the innings was that Shodhan batted at number 8 in the Test.
Abbas Ali Baig: He scored 112 against England at Manchester in 1959. Following the innings, Baig became the first Indian batsman to score a hundred on debut on away soil.
AG Kripal Singh: He remained unbeaten on 100 in his debut Test against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1955, before fading away. Hanumant Singh: He made 105 against England at Delhi in 1964, but never scored another ton. Hanumant is the grandnephew of Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji.
--By A Cricket Analyst
