Every player looks forward to getting a positive start to his playing career. However, only a few players manage to make an impact in their initial matches. Nevertheless, in terms of cricket, Yashasvi Jaiswal is one such player.
The 22-year-old enjoyed a dream run during England’s tour of India, where he was the top scorer of the series and smashed two double centuries. In addition to that, he also joined an elite list, which already had the names of all-time greats, such as Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar.
Hence, without further ado, let’s take a look at the top 5 youngest Indian batters to reach 1000 test runs:
#5 Dilip Vengsarkar: 22 years and 293 Days
Dilip Vengsarkar is often seen as one of the finest test batters, who have represented India on the global level. Vengsarkar made his test debut against New Zealand in Auckland in January 1976 as an opening batsman. However, in his debut match, he only scored a total of 13 runs.
In January 1978, he scored his first half-century in test cricket against Australia in Adelaide. Moreover, in the same year, he also played a magnificent 157-run knock against the West Indies at Eden Gardens. At Lord’s in August 1979, Vengsarkar completed 1000 test runs with a spectacular century in the second innings, which also saved the match for India.
During his career, Vengsarkar played 116 test matches, where he scored 6868 runs, he also garnered 17 tons and 35 half-centuries in the longest format of cricket. On the other side, he also played 129 ODI matches for the subcontinent, where he scored 3508 runs, with his best score being 105.
#4 Yashasvi Jaiswal: 22 years and 70 days
Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 712 runs in five matches against England in the recent test series
The young Indian batter has made his way into the elite list recently during England’s tour of India. Yashasvi Jaiswal was the highest scorer of the five-match series as he accumulated a total of 712 runs against the English cricket team in nine innings. Against England, at the age of 22 years and 70 days, the Rajasthan Royals batter became the fourth youngest Indian batter to complete 1000 runs in test cricket.
The 22-year-old completed the milestone in only 16 innings, which made him the second fastest Indian after Vinod Kambli to complete 1000 test runs. In addition to that, he also levelled Wasim Akram’s record of most sixes in a test innings by smashing 12 against the Poms in Rajkot, last month.
Jaiswal also became the third youngest player, behind Vinod Kambli and Don Bradman, to score two double-centuries in test cricket. The 22-year-old has had an amazing start to his career in all the formats and would like to continue the same in his first ICC tournament in June.
#3 Ravi Shastri: 21 years and 197 days
Ravi Shastri made his debut against New Zealand in Wellington in February 1981 as a bowling all-rounder. In his initial matches, Shastri used to bat in the lower middle order. However, his aggressive style of batting eventually made him a top-order batsman for the Men in Blue.
In 1983, during a test against the West Indies in India, Shastri completed 1000 test runs at the age of 21 years and 197 days. However, the India all-rounder’s international career was short-lived because a knee injury forced him to retire from the game at the age of 30.
However, his career lasted a total of 12 years, where he played 80 test matches, scoring 3820 runs and taking 151 wickets. Apart from the longest format of cricket, he also played 150 ODI matches for the Men in Blue, where he accumulated 3018 runs and picked up 129 wickets.
#2 Kapil Dev: 21 years and 27 days
Kapil Dev was India’s captain during the memorable 1983 ICC Cricket World Cup triumph
Kapil Dev, who guided the Men in Blue towards international glory in the 1983 ICC World Cup, is widely regarded as one of the greatest all-rounders in the history of cricket. He made his test debut in Faisalabad, Pakistan on 16 October 1978. Moreover, Dev scored his first test century in January 1979 against the West Indies in Delhi.
In 1980, at the age of 21 years and 27 days, he became the then-youngest Indian player to score 1000 runs in test cricket. In addition to that, he’s also the youngest player in history to take 100 test wickets as he reached the milestone at the age of 21 years and 25 days.
In 1983, Dev guided the Indian team towards their first-ever ICC Cricket World Cup title over the likes of the West Indies and Australia. Overall, in the longest format of cricket, he played 131 matches, where he scored 5248 runs and picked 434 wickets for the Men in Blue across three different decades. In 2002, he was also facilitated as the Wisden Indian Cricketer of the Century by a jury of 35 cricketers, journalists, and thinkers in a televised ceremony at Wembley Stadium.
#1 Sachin Tendulkar: 19 years and 217 days
Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar is the youngest batter in the history of the subcontinent to score 1000 test runs. Tendulkar started playing cricket at the young age of 15 and he made his debut his professional test debut against Pakistan on 15 November 1989 in Karachi, when he was only 16 years old.
The Master Blaster faced the likes of Wasim Akram, Imran Khan and Waqar Younis in his debut series. Tendulkar scored his first test century at Old Trafford against Graham Cooch’s England in August 1990, where he helped the Men in Blue avoid a defeat with a 119-run knock. At the time, he was only 17 years old.
At the age of 19, Tendulkar became the youngest player in the history of India to complete 1000 runs. He completed the peak in November 1992 with a 111-run knock against South Africa in Johannesburg. Tendulkar’s illustrious career lasted 24 years before he hung his boots on November 16, 2013. He played his last match against the West Indies at the Wankhede Stadium, where he scored 76 runs.
During his career, Tendulkar set up numerous records. In test cricket, he has played the most matches, 200 and has also scored the highest runs, 15921. In addition to that, he has also scored 51 centuries, the most in the longest format of cricket.