100th Test: Ravichandran Ashwin & Jonny Bairstow Become The Fourth Pair To Reach Milestone In Same Match

India's Ravichandran Ashwin and England's Jonny Bairstow joined a unique list after making their 100th Test appearance in the 5th Test at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium in Dharamsal on Thursday (March 7).

Ashwin, who was felicitated by the Indian head coach Rahul Dravid ahead of play, also received a guard of honour from his teammates after becoming the 14th player from the country to play 100 Tests.

The seasoned Indian off-spinner, who made his Test debut in 2011, completed 500 Test wickets in Rajkot, becoming only the second Indian to reach the landmark. He has so far claimed 507 wickets, including 35 five-wicket hauls.

Bairstow followed skipper Ben Stokes to become the 77th player to make 100 Test appearances. Stokes had reached the milestone in the Ranchi Test match last month, and Bairstow now becomes the 17th player from England to bring up the milestone.

Bairstow, who made his Test debut at Lord's in 2012, has 5974 runs in Test cricket thus far, averaging 36.42 with 12 hundreds. He also has 242 catches and 14 stumping to his name in the format.

Ashwin and Bairstow become the fourth pair to reach the milestone of 100 Tests in the same match. Here is a look at the instances when two or more players achieved the feat in the same Test match:

Two or more players to make 100th Test appearance in same match

Mike Atherton & Alec Stewart in England vs West Indies at Old Trafford in 2000
J Kallis, S Pollock & S Fleming in South Africa vs New Zealand at Centurion in 2006
Michael Clarke & Alastair Cook in Australia vs England at Perth in 2013
R Ashwin & Jonny Bairstow in India vs England at Dharamsala in 2024

Two more greats will join the list on Friday (March 8) if in the playing 11 as New Zealand's Kane Williamson and Tim Southee are set to play their 100th Test in the second Test against Australia in Christchurch.