The first triple century in Test cricket was scored by Andy Sandham when he scored 325 for England against the West Indies at Kingston, Jamaica in April 1930. Bradman’s soon bettered this three months later when he notched up 334 against England at Leeds in July of the same year.

A total of four Pakistani batsmen have attained this singular honour.

Hanif Mohammad: 337 vs West Indies at Barbados, 1958

Hanif was just 23 years old when Pakistan toured the West Indies in 1957-58. The first Test at Barbados saw the West Indies put up a mammoth first innings total of 579 for 9 declared and they then skittled Pakistan out for a paltry 106. A heavy defeat seemed imminent but Hanif’s grit and determination allowed Pakistan to salvage a draw from an almost hopeless situation. Sharing four consecutive century stands with Imtiaz, Alimuddin, Saeed Ahmed and his own brother Wazir, Hanif steered Pakistan to the safety of 657 for 8 and an honorable draw. His own score of 337 was the second highest ever at the time and was the first triple century in a team’s second innings. He spent a world record span of 970 minutes at the crease and hit 26 fours during his knock.

The first five triple centuries in Tests were all scored by English or Australian batsmen. Hanif was the first non English/Australian and the first Asian to reach this mark.

Hanif would go on to achieve further glories in the game, including a score of 499 for Karachi against Bahawalpur in the semi-final of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy of 1958-59. This was the highest ever score in first-class cricket and the record stood for over 35 years until bettered by Brian Lara in 1994.

Hanif was a childhood prodigy with an impenetrable defence that bowlers struggled to breach. He also had a complete array of attacking shots but had learnt to eschew these in Test matches, in view of the backbone role that Pakistan had assigned to him in its batting line up. He was one of five brothers who all played first-class cricket. Four of them played Tests for Pakistan and Hanif and Mushtaq also captained the team. At least one Mohammad brother played for Pakistan in its first 89 Test matches and in 100 of their first 101 Tests.

Hanif retired from the Test scene rather prematurely, and apparently under duress, at the age of just 34, having shared opening partnerships of 55 and 75 respectively in his last Test, with his brother Sadiq, who was making his Test debut in the same match.

Hanif played 55 Tests for Pakistan scoring 3915 runs at an average of 43.98, including 12 centuries. In 238 first-class matches he scored 17,059 runs at an average of 52.32 with 55 centuries.

Inzamam-ul-Haq: 329 vs New Zealand at Lahore, 2002

It fell to Inzamam’s credit to score the second triple century in Tests for Pakistan. New Zealand were touring Pakistan for a two-Test series. In the opening Test at Lahore, Inzamam was in sublime form. Coming in to bat at the fall of the second wicket, he engaged in a 204-run partnership with Imran Nazir. Batting with his usual nonchalance and with a classical exhibition of cuts, pulls and drives, he had reached 159 not out by the close of play on the first day.

He carried his superb touch and mastery of both pace and spin into the next day’s play, reaching his double century shortly before lunch. By now he was cramping badly and required the services of a runner. This was initially allowed, but just three overs after the lunch interval the New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming withdrew this privilege from Inzamam. As it became difficult to run singles and twos, Inzamam now concentrated on boundaries. If anything the denial of a runner only accelerated Inzamam’s advance and he reached his triple century shortly after tea. His first 100 runs had come in 191 balls, the second hundred off 132 balls and the third in just 100 balls. His last 29 runs took just 13 deliveries, and having already hit the leg spinner Brooke Walker for three sixes, Inzamam was caught in the deep when going for his fourth six of the over. He had scored 329 runs off 436 balls and hit 38 fours and 9 sixes. 206 of his runs had come in boundaries, which was the second highest such tally in Test history, headed only by John Edrich’s 236 runs in boundaries for England against New Zealand at Leeds in 1965. Inzamam’s 9 sixes was also the highest number of sixes in a Test triple century knock and has yet to be surpassed.

Inzamam played a total of 120 Tests, gathering 8830 runs at an average of 49.60. His first-class figures are 16,785 runs with an average of 50.10 and inclusive of 45 hundreds.

Younis Khan: 313 vs Sri Lanka at Karachi, 2009

The first Test of Pakistan’s home series against Sri Lanka in 2009 was played at the National Stadium, Karachi. In a high scoring match Sri Lanka, who batted first, made 644 for 7, which included an innings of 240 from their captain Mahela Jayawardene. Pakistan replied in even stronger fashion, making 765 for 6, before declaring.

The highlight of the Pakistan innings was a triple hundred by their captain Younis Khan, the third batsman to do so for Pakistan. Batting at the number 3 position, he featured in successive century stands of 149 with Shoaib Malik, 130 with Misbah-ul-Haq and 174 with Faisal Iqbal for the 3rd, 4th and 5th wickets respectively. Younis made 313 runs in 568 balls with 27 fours and 4 sixes. He reached the triple hundred mark with a reverse sweep for three runs off Muttiah MuraIitharan.

His full range of flamboyant drives while positioned on his knee, his favourite sweep shot, cuts and flicks and powerful on-side strokes were all on display. This was also the only occasion in Test history when the captains of both teams had scored double centuries.

Younis went on to achieve many landmarks for Pakistan. He is the only Test cricketer in the history of the game to have scored a century on the home soil of each of the 11 Test-playing nations that have staged Test matches. He is also the highest run scorer for Pakistan in Tests and has made more Test centuries than any other Pakistani batsman.

Younis played in 118 Tests and scored 10,099 runs at an average of 52.05. He has 34 Test centuries to his name. His first-class tally is 17,116 runs at an average of 49.90 with 56 centuries.

His conversion rate of fifties to hundred is 50.75 and is the fourth highest in Test history, having reached a century on 34 out of the 67 occasions that he has passed fifty. He is also the oldest player to have reached the 10,000 Test runs landmark, doing so at the age of 39 years and 146 days.

Azhar Ali: 302 not out vs West Indies at Dubai, 2016

Azhar Ali is the fourth Pakistani batsman to make a triple century in Tests. He did this in the first Test against the West Indies at Dubai in October 2016. Starting with a 215 run opening stand with Sami Aslam, Azhar followed this up with a 137 run partnership with Asad Shafiq for the second wicket and another 165 runs in tandem with the debutant Babar Azam for the third wicket.

Azhar played some lovely drives and powerful cuts and pulls, being quick to take advantage of anything short or wide. He reached the three hundred milestone with an effortless drive, wide of mid-off, on the bowling of the part time off spinner Jermaine Blackwood. Pakistan declared with Azhar unbeaten on 302 from 469 deliveries and laced with 23 fours and 3 sixes.

This was the first triple century in the UAE and also the first time that one had been scored at a neutral venue between two Test-playing nations. Other unique features were that it was the first time that a triple hundred had been scored in a day-night match and also the first in a Test using a pink ball. As far as day-night matches go it was not only the first triple century, but also the first century and the first double century in a day-night Test encounter.

In 85 Test matches so far, Azhar Ali has scored 6417 runs with an average of 42.78. His tally includes 17 hundreds. In first-class cricket Azhar has compiled 13,329 runs at an average of 39.43 with 40 centuries.

All four triple centurions have captained Pakistan at some stage of their career, though Younis was the only one to perform this feat while actually leading the side. By a strange coincidence two of these triple hundreds were made in series that were interrupted and aborted by unexpected events. After Inzamam’s century at Lahore in the first Test of a scheduled two-test series, the tour was abandoned by the visiting New Zealand team following a bomb blast close to their hotel in Karachi where the second Test was scheduled to be played. Younis scored his triple century in the opening Test of a series against Sri Lanka in 2009. The second Test at Lahore was underway when an attack on the tourist’s bus, taking them on the stadium, led to the tour being abandoned.

Dr Salman Faridi is a senior surgeon, poet, sports aficionado and an avid reader with a private collection of over 7000 books. salmanfaridilnh@hotmail.com