Unprecedented Test Record: India Lose Despite Five Centuries, Rare Feats At Headingley

The historic and unprecedented Test record was achieved in the first Test between India and England at Headingley in 2025, along with a few rare cricketing achievements. From India losing even with five centurions to Harry Brook’s bizarre scores and Rishabh Pant’s double ton while wicket-keeping, this match carved its niche into the history books.

India Paved Pioneering Test Record with Five Centurions in a Defeated Cause

In a first-ever in Test cricket history, India lost a Test match even as five individual players scored their hundreds. This has not happened previously in more than 63,000 first-class games, much less in international Tests.

The only somewhat comparable instance occurred nearly a century ago, when Australia scored four centuries in a timeless Test but still lost to England in Melbourne (1928-29), a match that included Don Bradman’s maiden century. Before India’s feat, only 11 other instances existed of a team scoring three centuries in a Test match but still ending up on the losing side.

Rishabh Pant Joins Elite Club with Twin Centuries as Wicketkeeper

Rishabh Pant wrote his chapter in the Test record books, being only the second appointed wicketkeeper to compile double centuries in a single Test fixture. Pant hammered 134 and 118 against England, a rare feat.

The other such instance belonged to Andy Flower, who recorded 142 and 199 for Zimbabwe against South Africa in 2001.

Pant is the seventh Indian to have two centuries in a single Test and the first to have done so against England. Interestingly, the lone other twin tons player at Headingley is Shai Hope of the West Indies (2017).

Harry Brook Joins Elite List with 99 and 0 in the Same Test

Harry Brook’s differing scores of 99 in the first innings and a first-ball duck in the second put him in a very select club. He is now only the fifth player in Test cricket to be out for 99 and 0 in the same match.

Others to join this very rare Test record are:

Pankaj Roy (India vs Australia, 1959)

Mushtaq Mohammad (Pakistan vs England, 1973)

Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan vs West Indies, 2017)

Babar Azam (Australia vs Pakistan, 2018)

At the same time, 0 and 99 not out by Geoffrey Boycott and Andrew Hall, while extremely rare, are technically different.

India’s 471: The Lowest Completed Test Innings with Three Centuries

India’s 471 against England at Headingley established another Test record — it is now the lowest all-out Test score that features three individual hundreds. The previous record was:

South Africa’s 475 (vs England, 2016, at Centurion)

Australia’s 494 (vs England, 1926, at Headingley)

Oval’s 497 (vs India in Kolkata, 2002)

Even counting only declared innings, the record for the lowest three centuries’ total is held by South Africa’s 393/3 declared vs England, Lord’s in 2008.

A Weird ODI Tale: Dilip Doshi’s 8-7-1-1 Spell and the Surprise Omission

Late Indian spinner Dilip Doshi has a strange but genuine limited-overs record. In a 1977 Sunday League game for Nottinghamshire, he took amazing figures of 8-7-1-1, giving away only one run. He was still omitted from the following match.

The absence was because of overseas player limitations. Nottinghamshire had to turn between Doshi, Clive Rice, and Kenny Watson, and Rice supposedly persuaded the side that there was no spin in limited-overs cricket.

Doshi, who made his Test debut at almost 32 years of age, still recorded 114 Test wickets, joining the elite group of bowlers with more than 100 Test wickets following his debut at over 30 years. Others in this group are:

Clarrie Grimmett (Australia)

Saeed Ajmal (Pakistan)

Ryan Harris (Australia)

Mohammad Rafique (Bangladesh)

Bruce Yardley (Australia)

Headingley 2025 and the Changing Landscape of Test Records

The inaugural Test at Headingley in 2025 was not only a nail-biting encounter it was a match full of historic Test milestones, individual genius, and statistical freaks. From India’s five centuries for nothing, to Pant’s double tons as wicketkeeper, and Brook’s statistical curiosity, the game will be remembered for pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved in Test cricket.

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