Top 10 Youngest players to score Test century

Top 10 Youngest players to score Test century: While scoring a century in a Test match is a great achievement for any batsman, doing the same at a very young age is even more, promising. When a young player scores a century, it is always an indication of a very promising future ahead. While some make most of the opportunity, there are others who fade away with time. The most startling stat here is that 6 out of the top 10 Youngest players to score Test century are from Pakistan.

Here are the Top 10 Youngest players to score Test century:

10. Mohammad Wasim – 19 years 105 days:

The former Pakistan batsman, Mohammad Wasim scored his maiden century on his Test match debut in 1996 against New Zealand at Lahore. He scored an unbeaten 109 coming in at number 7. The innings shot him to fame and he soon became a promising name for his nation. Earlier in the match, in the first innings, Wasim had scored a duck. He was soon promoted to the opening slot, but he lost his form as soon as he had gained momentum. His only other century in Test matches came against Zimbabwe in 1998 when he scored 192. Wasim migrated to Netherlands and is currently representing the Netherlands side at the age of 38.

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9. Nafees Iqbal – 19 years 75 days:

Nafees Iqbal, the elder brother of Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal, got his bit of fame when he notched up a century against Zimbabwe in 2005 at Dhaka at the tender age of just 19 years. He scored an invaluable match-saving 121 against Zimbabwe at Dhaka, which secured Bangladesh their maiden series victory. Earlier in the series, he had scored a valuable 56 in the Chittagong Test which Bangladesh went on to win. However, he could not capitalise much onto the promising start that he got in his career and saw a dip in form in the following year. He was dropped from the national side in 2006-07 and could not make a comeback since then. His brother, Tamim, however, continues to plunder the bowlers all around the world.

8. Mohammad Ilyas – 19 years 21 days:

In a Test match against New Zealand at Karachi in 1965, Pakistani batsman Mohammad Ilyas scored the only century of his short career of 10 Tests. He scored 126 runs in the match. His knock came in the second innings of the match when Pakistan were chasing 202 for the victory. Opening the innings, Ilyas scored 126 before being dismissed by Reid and was stumped by the wicket-keeper. Pakistan went on to win the Test match by 8 wickets. Earlier in the first innings, Ilyas could manage just 20 runs.

7. Shahid Afridi – 18 years 333 days:

The crowd-favorite boom boom Afridi came to lime light early in his career. He scored 141 runs of 191 balls in the second innings of the cliffhanger of a match against India that Pakistan won by 12 runs at Chennai in 1999. Afridi made a name for himself and hit 21 boundaries and 3 sixes. It was his maiden Test century. He was castled by pacer Venkatesh Prasad after his 305 minutes of stay at the crease. Well, he certainly did announce himself on the international stage with that knock at the very young age of 18 years. Afridi continues to play for Pakistan and is still striking the ball the same way that he used to.

6. Saleem Malik – 18 years 323 days:

Saleem Malik, in the first Test in 1982 against Sri Lanka at Karachi, scored an unbeaten 100 in the second innings. Pakistan declared at 301/4 as soon as Malik reached his century. Chasing 354 for the win, Sri Lanka bundled out for 149 and Pakistan won handsomely by 204 runs. Malik had an illustrious career with 103 Test matches to his name and 15 Test tons under his belt. Despite playing over 100 Tests he would go down in cricket history as the first of a number of international cricketers to be banned for match fixing around the start of the 21st century. Saleem is the brother-in-law of former teammate Ijaz Ahmed.

5. Imran Nazir – 18 years 154 days:

The stylish Pakistani opener who competed with the likes of Imran Farhat, Salman Butt, Yasir Hameed, Taufeeq Umar and Mohammad Hafeez for the opening slot, came to the spot light when he struck his maiden Test ton against West Indies at Bridgetown in 2000. Nazir could however, feature in just 8 Test matches in his career but went on to play 79 ODIs and 25 T20Is. His maiden ton was a remarkable innings of 131 that came off just 180 balls and was studded with 20 boundaries.

4. Hamilton Masakadza – 17 years 352 days:

The veteran Zimbabwean all-rounder had an early kickstart to his career when he scored a century at the age of just 17 years. At the age of 16, he became the youngest Zimbabwean to score a first-class century. He made his Test debut against West Indies in 2001 at Harare. In his team’s second innings, he made 119, thus – at the age of 17 years and 354 days – the youngest player to make a century on Test debut. However, he only held this record for less than two months, before it was broken by Bangladesh’s Mohammad Ashraful.

3. Sachin Tendulkar – 17 years 107 days:

The batting legend and arguably the best batsman of his era, Sachin Tendulkar, was a star from a very young age. Sachin has numerous records under his name. After making a debut at the age of 16 in 1989, he went on to score his first Test ton in 1990 at Old Trafford against England. It was an innings of rare quality, he scored in adversity, against an England side rampaging to what would have been a third consecutive Test win. India had been set 408 to win by Gooch, an impossible target, and shortly after lunch had collapsed to 109 for four and that was when Tendulkar came to the crease. He scored 119 runs and together with Manoj Prabhakar, 67 not out, added 160 runs in an unbroken seventh-wicket stand. They had seen India to 343/6 and ensured a draw. By then, it was sure that this man will be one of the greatest of the game. Earlier, he had scored 68 in the first innings of the match.

2. Mushtaq Mohammad: 17 years 78 days:

The former captain of Pakistan, who captained his side in 10 Tests, Mushtaq Mohammad made his debut at the age of 15! He played 57 Test matches and the first of his 10 centuries came against India at Delhi. He became the youngest cricketer to score a Test century at 17 years and 78 days. He scored 101 in Pakistan’s innings of 286 against India’s mammoth total of 463 in the first innings. The match ended in a draw.

1. Mohammad Ashraful – 17 years 61 days:

The second highest run-scorer in both ODIs and Tests for Bangladesh, Mohammad Ashraful, scored a century on his Test debut against Sri Lanka in 2001. He broke the 40-year old record of being the youngest batsman to score a Test century set by Pakistan’s Mushtaq Mohammad. Bangladesh were bowled out for 90 in the first innings and Sri Lanka responded with 555/5 declared. Bangladesh were definitely staring at defeat. Ashraful joined Animul Islam at the crease when the score was 81/4. He went on to score 114 of 212 balls in the match. However, Bangladesh were bowled out for 328 and they were defeated by an innings and 137 runs. But the match was remembered for the new star that was born in international cricket.

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(All Stats Updated Till 9th December, 2015)