Stats: Players completing centuries on their birthday in Test cricket

Sri Lanka fought back with the bat with help of big hundreds from Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva as they put their team in the driver’s seat in the response to Bangladesh’s huge 513-run total. Mendis, who was recently in and out of the Sri Lankan Test squad, showed his worth with a brilliant 196-run knock while opening the innings and shared a 308-run stand with Dhananjaya for the 2nd wicket. This knock will remain as a special one for Mendis as he was celebrating his 23rd birthday on Friday.

His stand with De Silva is now the first ever triple century stand in Test after losing a wicket without a run on the board. Mendis hit 22 fours and two sixes during his 327-ball innings before getting out trying to complete his double hundred with a big hit. This was the 2nd time instance of Mendis getting out in the 190s with the first one also coming against Bangladesh when he scored a 285-ball 194 last year. Had Mendis completed his double century, he would have been only the 3rd player to complete the double century in Test cricket on their birthday.

England’s Patsy Hendren brought up his first and only Test double in 1930 on his 41st birthday on February 5th against Windies at the Port of Spain. Jason Gillespie scored a double ton in 2006 while batting as night-watchman also at Chittagong against Bangladesh. He completed his double century on his 31st birthday on April 19 in what turned out to be his final appearance for Australia in International cricket. Mendis, who resumed on the 3rd day on 83, he became the only the 9th player to complete a Test century on birthday.

Mendis is also the only player from Sri Lanka in this list of nine players. The last player to complete a Test hundred on his birthday was Ramnaresh Sarwan in 2006 on his 26th birthday. This nine-man list doesn’t include the former Pakistan skipper Imran Khan’s name who scored a hundred against Windies on this 28th birthday on November 25th. There is a lot of confusion over Imran’s original birth date as it is reported to be on October 5th but the cricket documents recorded November 25th.

List of players who completed a Test century on their birthday:

(Stats as on February 2, 2018)