On March 7, 2024, India's Ravichandran Ashwin and England's Jonny Bairstow became the fourth duo to feature in their 100th Test in the same contest. The momentous occasion transpired at the picturesque stadium in Dharamsala on a beautiful Thursday morning. Interestingly, it was not the first time when two cricketers marked their 100th Test in the same match. This milestone was achieved thrice before the duo of Ashwin and Bairstow etched their names in the exclusive list.
Players to feature in 100th Tests together:
England's Michael Atherton and Alec Stewart were the first pair to achieve the milestone in 2000. In the Test match between South Africa and New Zealand in 2006, three players - Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock and Stephen Fleming - played their 100th Tests. In the third instance, England's Alastair Cook and Australia's Michael Clarke played their marked 100 Tests together in 2013. Ashwin and Bairstow have become the latest duo to achieve the milestone.
Ashwin distinguished himself as the 14th Indian cricketer to reach the remarkable milestone of 100 Test matches, while Bairstow earned the honor of being the 17th Englishman to achieve this prestigious career landmark.
Sachin Tendulkar congratulates Ashwin, Bairstow
Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar extended his heartfelt congratulations to Ravichandran Ashwin and Jonny Bairstow on their monumental achievement of playing their 100th Test match. Taking to the social media platform 'X', Tendulkar praised the duo for reaching this significant milestone in their careers. Notably, Tendulkar himself holds the record for the most Test matches played by any cricketer, with an unparalleled 200 Tests to his name.
"It's a historic day in Dharamsala as @ashwinravi99 and @jbairstow21 don the international whites for the 100th time. An incredible achievement that speaks volumes about their passion and perseverance for red-ball cricket. I wish them both a fantastic game ahead!" Tendulkar posted on 'X'.
England opted to bat in Dharamsala
England captain Ben Stokes won the all-important toss and elected to bat in the 5th Test against India. The Three Lions made one change to their playing XI with Ollie Robinson making way for Mark Wood. Rohit Sharma made two changes to the playing XI as Jasprit Bumrah and Devdutt Padikkal made their way into the team in place of Akash Deep and Rajat Patidar. Padikkal became the 314th player to play Test cricket for India.
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