Today, we present our readers with a special and one-of-a-kind list of cricketers. No, they are not the best or the most talked about, neither the most controversial ones. This is a grouping of cricketers who have had the distinction of batting– at least a single ball– on each day of a five-day Test match.

While few of them were elite batsmen, others could just manage a few games under their belt. Having a name for this kind of record is not any batsman’s wish at the start of his innings– after all, the goal is to survive and score runs.

However, luck plays its part here; surviving the final few overs of the last session or batting through the entire day, bowling out the opposition, wickets of top-order batman of his own team, arrival and departure of rain, all these need to happen in a particular time interval. The stars need to align in a perfect way for a batter to enter his name into this catalogue.

Here the batsman just happens to – with the benevolence of fickle fortune – be at the batting crease on all days of the match. In over 140 years of Test match cricket, there have only been 10 instances of a single batsman to bat on all five days of the same Test match- the list includes three Indians in it.

Here is the list:

1. ML Jaisimha – India vs Australia, 1960

Motganhalli Jaisimha was the first amongst the cricketers from Hyderabad to showcase his classy wrists and elegant use of the feet on the international stage. He was an inspiration to the likes of Mohammad Azharuddin and VVS Laxman. His collar-up style was a cult and very well imitated by Azharuddin.

Jaisimha is also the first cricketer to have batted on all five days of a Test match. He recorded this feat against Australia in Eden Gardens in 1960. It was the fifth and the last Test of the series, with Australia leading 2-1. Captain Gulabrai Ramchand elected to bat first, and the Indian team was bowled out for 194. Jaisimha came in at number 9, remained not out on day 1, played on the second day and remained unbeaten on 20*.

Australia took the lead and scored 331 by the end of day three. Jaisimha, this time came to bat in at number four on day three. The right-hander diligently played his innings and dug out India – who were behind in the game – as he batted the entire day four and was finally dismissed on the fifth day for a score of 74. India put up 339 on the board and Australia managed 121/2, as the game ended in a draw. Jaisimha finished his career with 2056 runs at 30, including 12 half-centuries and three centuries.

2. Sir Geoffrey Boycott – England vs Australia,1977

Sir Geoffrey Boycott, who has been a recognized voice in the commentary box, was well renowned for his stoic defence and backfoot drives. Boycott was knighted in September 2019. He is the second batsman in Test cricket to bat on all days of a game.

It was the third Test of the 1977 Ashes which England was leading 1-0. There was an added pressure on Boycott as he was making a comeback to the English side. Australia were bowled out on the first day courtesy of a five-for from Ian Botham. Boycott came into bat at the end of the first day’s play, exasperated the Aussie bowlers by batting the entire second day, and was dismissed on the third day morning at the score of 107 from 315 balls.

Australia in their second innings scored 309 runs and set a target of 189. Boycott walked out to open on the evening of the fourth day and scored an unbeaten 80 of 231 balls to take England home on the fifth day. The Yorkshireman played a total of over 500 balls in the game and showcased outstanding batsmanship. Boycott piled up over 8000 runs in at an average of 47 in his 108 Test match career.

3. Kim Hughes – Australia vs England, 1980

Australia toured England for a solitary game at The Lord’s in 1980. Kim Hughes, the 26-year-old middle-order batsman, made it memorable for himself by repeating the feat of Jaisimha and Boycott.

Greg Chappell elected to bat first, and the Australians took advantage of day one pitch by scoring heavy runs. Opener Graeme Wood and number four batsman Kim Hughes notched up hundreds before Australia declared at 385/5 on day 3. Hughes scored 47 on day one and 35 runs on day two as the rest of the day two was washed out. He scored 117 runs in the first innings and was dismissed on day three.

England was bowled out for 205 in their first innings. Hughes came out to bat on the fourth day and continued batting on day five as well. The right-hander was adjudged lbw on the score of 84. The match ended in a dull draw, but interestingly, Hughes also became the first batsman to hit a six on all five days of the same Test match.

4. Allan Lamb – England vs West Indies, 1984

Allan Lamb was born in South Africa, traded his ply for Northamptonshire, and later played for England in the international arena. He made his Test debut for England in 1982 and was a mainstay in the middle-order for a decade. He became only the second Englishmen to bat on all five days of a Test match after Sir Geoffrey Boycott.

Lamb accomplished this record when England hosted Clive Lloyd’s West Indies in 1984. West Indies were on a high leading 1-0 into the second Test at Lord’s. Lloyd won the toss and put England in to bat on day one. The openers build up a hundred-run partnership, but others failed to capitalize on the start. Batting across two days, Lamb scored 23 from 77 balls and the hosts were bowled out for 286. Sir Ian Botham ran through the West Indies line-up and took 8 wickets in the first innings.

In the second innings, Lamb came in to bat on day 3, batted through day four, and was dismissed on the fifth day. He scored a gritty 110 against the likes of Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner helping England reach 300. However, Gordon Greenidge charged against the English bowlers and chased down the target of 344 with a magnificent 214 of 242 balls.

5. Ravi Shastri – India vs England, 1984

Ravi Shastri has been associated with cricket for a long time. First, as a versatile all-round cricketer, then a flamboyant commentator and currently as a confident head coach of the Indian cricket team.

Shastri became the second Indian player to have a bat on all five days of a Test match. The match took place at the iconic Eden Gardens against England in December 1984. In the third Test of the series– levelled at 1 apiece– India’s Captain Sunil Gavaskar won the toss and chose to bat first. India were in a precarious situation at 127-4.

Azharuddin paired with Shastri and bailed the team out with a 214-run partnership, and en route both the batters brought up their centuries. Rain and bad light affected the match. After 200 overs, batting throughout the first three days and on day four, India declared at 437/7 with Shastri batting across four days.

England were bowled out for 276 as Chetan Sharma and Shivlal Yadav took four wickets each. With 18 overs left on the fifth day, Shastri was sent out to open the batting. He batted like a rock for his 7 runs of 50 balls and saw out the Test match to a draw. The all-rounder accumulated over 3000 runs in Tests and ODIs each, alongside 151 wickets in Tests and 129 in ODIs.

6. Adrian Griffith – West Indies vs New Zealand, 1999

Adrian Griffith was a tall batsman from Barbados who showed immense potential in his maiden century but couldn’t convert it into a noteworthy international career. However, Griffith is the first and only West Indian– till date– to bat on all five days of a Test.

The left-handed batsman accomplished this feat in West Indies tour of New Zealand in 1999. In the first Test of the series in Hamilton, Brian Lara and elected to bat first. Griffith opened the innings with Sherwin Campbell. The two Barbados-born players put up a mighty opening stand of 276 runs, and both completed their respective centuries.

Griffith got out on 114 on the second day. Apart from the openers, no other batsman could cross 30, and West Indies collapsed for 365. The Kiwis scored 393 in their reply and West Indies had to bat again by the evening of day three.

Griffith came to open and survived in the final over of day three, batted on a rain-affected day four, and was dismissed on 18 on day five. West Indies were bowled out for a paltry 93 and the hosts chased down a meagre total of 70 in 15 overs to win the game by 9 wickets. After the Hamilton Test, Griffith’s career went downhill as he could only manage 638 runs in his 14 Test career.

7. Andrew Flintoff – England vs India, 2006

Andrew Flintoff is one of the greatest all-rounders to play for the Three Lions. Flintoff’s career expanded for a decade and the Lancashire lad invariably hogged the limelight for on and off-field reasons. On the tour to India in 2006, “Big Freddie” became the third English player to bat on all the five days of the same Test match.

He achieved this in the second Test of the three-match series in Mohali.  Flintoff, who was also leading his team, batted first after winning the toss. In 103 overs, across three days as the match was impacted by rain, England made 300 on the back of half-centuries from Flintoff and Geraint Jones. Flintoff scored 4 runs on day one, 22 on the second day, and 44 on the third day.

India took a slim lead of 38 runs as Flintoff bagged four wickets. The all-rounder then scored a half-century in the second innings; 16 runs on day four and 35 on day 5. England were bowled out for 181 and India, riding on explosive batting from Virender Sehwag chased down the target of 144. Injuries, lack of form, a drunken photo on the front page of newspapers- Freddie’s golden period came to an end sooner than expected. In September 2010, Flintoff officially announced his retirement, not before amassing over 6000 runs and 400 international wickets.

8. Alviro Petersen – South Africa vs New Zealand, 2012

Alviro Petersen is the only South African in this list– to have batted on all the days of a Test match. He achieved this on South Africa’s tour to New Zealand in 2012. Petersen was in good nick going to Wellington for the third and the last Test of the series, which South Africa were leading 1-0.

Ross Taylor, who was captaining the Black Caps, put South Africa in to bat first. However, it didn’t turn out to be a noble decision for the Kiwis. Opener Alviro Petersen and middle-order batsman JP Duminy recorded individual hundreds as South Africa posted a big total of 474/9 in 148 overs. Petersen made 156 in an innings dispersed for three days which was rain-affected and brought up his century on day three. The hosts were bundled for 275 in their first innings because of a six-fer from Vernon Philander.

In the second innings, Petersen opened with Graeme Smith on day four and continued batting into day five and got run-out at the score of 39. The Proteas in their second innings declared at 189/3. New Zealand scored 200/6 chasing a target of 389 and the match ended in a draw with South Africa clinching the series 1-0. The right-handed opener scored a total of 2093 runs in his 36 Test match career.

9. Cheteshwar Pujara – India vs Sri Lanka, 2017

If Virat Kohli is the heart of the Indian Test team, then Cheteshwar Pujara is the spine of the team. Stoic, resilience, patience are the characteristics associated with India’s number three, he has displayed the same on several occasions. In a Test match against neighbours Sri Lanka– which has been a regular feature in the past decade and a half – Pujara became the third Indian to bat on all the five days of a Test.

On a green, spicy pitch and with overcast conditions, Sri Lankan captain, Dinesh Chandimal elected to bowl first. The Lankan pacers rolled over the Indian batting line-up for bowled them out for 172 with their express pace. There were several rain interruptions on day one and day two during India’s innings and during Pujara’s half-century, spread across three days.

Sri Lanka scored 294 in their first innings. An early Indian wicket meant Pujara had to come out to bat by the end of day four. He continued his innings overnight on day five and scored 22 runs. India declared their innings at 352/8 to have a chance of winning. Sri Lankan batters somehow managed to bat out the time and escaped with a draw with only three wickets left.

10. Rory Burns – England vs Australia, 2019

The Ashes 2019 will be remembered for the heroics of Steve Smith and Ben Stokes. However, Rory Burns made some encouraging scores in order to fix England’s long time conundrum of opening. In the first Ashes 2019 Test – where the headlines fixated on Steve Smith’s exceptional return to Test cricket– Rory Burns became the latest entrant to the list of batsmen who have batted on all the days of a Test match.

On the back of Smith’s splendid 144, Australia posted a total of 284 runs. Burns and Jason Roy safely negotiated the final two overs on day one. Burns batted for the entire day two and notched up a century and got out on the morning of day three at the score of 133.

England’s innings ended on 374. Australia replied with a massive third innings score of 487/7, with Smith scoring another hundred accompanied by Matthew Wade’s ton. Burns and Roy have to negotiate the final few overs of the fourth day and they did it cautiously. The left-hander got out on the score of 11 on the morning of day five. Nathan Lyon took a six-wicket haul to dismiss England for 146, and the Aussies won the match by a big margin of 251 runs.