Will Sachin Tendulkar sign off by joining this elite list?

Sachin Tendulkar is set to play their last Test on November 14, 2013. Abhishek Mukherjee looks at the men who had scored hundreds in their last Tests.

The nation will be glued to television sets, radio, and live updates on the internet as Sachin Tendulkar will step out to play on November 14, 2014. A billion pairs of eyes will follow the proceedings dreaming single-mindedly that The Little Master will go on a high. And what individual achievement can be higher than a Test hundred?

Let us look at the men who have scored a hundred in their last Test:

Player	Team	Last day of Test	Vs	Venue	1st innings	2nd innings
Henry Wood	Eng	March 22, 1892	SA	Newlands	134*	TDNB
Arthur Hill	Eng	March 23, 1896	SA	Newlands	124	TDNB
Reggie Duff	Aust	August 16, 1905	Eng	The Oval	146	DNB
Jack Sharp	Eng	August 11, 1909	Aust	The Oval	105	0*
Jack Russell	Eng	December 17, 1920	SA	Kingsmead	140	111
Geoffrey Legge	Eng	February 24, 1930	NZ	Eden Park	196	0
Andy Sandham	Eng	April 12, 1930	WI	Sabina Park	325	50
Freddie Martin	WI	March 4, 1931	Aust	SCG	123*	20
Bill Ponsford	Aust	August 22, 1934	Eng	The Oval	266	22
Maurice Leyland	Eng	August 24, 1938	Aust	The Oval	187	TDNB
Pieter van der Bijl	SA	March 14, 1939	Eng	Kingsmead	125	97
Bam Bam Weekes	WI	August 22, 1939	Eng	The Oval	137	TDNB
Andy Ganteaume	WI	February 16, 1948	Eng	Queen's Park Oval	112	DNB
Winston Place	Eng	April 1, 1948	WI	Sabina Park	8	107
Vijay Merchant	India	November 7, 1951	Eng	Delhi	154	TDNB
Raman Subba Row	Eng	August 22, 1961	Aust	The Oval	12	137
Vijay Manjrekar	India	March 2, 1965	NZ	Madras	19	102*
Colin Milburn	Eng	March 10, 1969	Pak	Karachi	139	TDNB
Seymour Nurse	WI	March 17, 1969	NZ	Christchurch	258	TDNB
Barry Richards	SA	March 10, 1970	Aust	St George's Park	81	126
Lee Irvine	SA	March 10, 1970	Aust	St George's Park	25	102
Rodney Redmond	NZ	February 19, 1973	Pak	Eden Park	107	56
Ian Redpath	Aust	February 5, 1976	WI	MCG	101	70
Greg Chappell	Aust	January 6, 1984	Pak	SCG	182	DNB
Md Azharuddin	India	March 6, 2000	SA	Bangalore	9	102
Murray Goodwin	Zimb	June 5, 2000	Eng	Trent Bridge	148*	1*
Saeed Anwar	Pak	August 31, 2001	Bang	Multan	101	TDNB
Aravinda de Silva	SL	July 23, 2002	Bang	Colombo	206	TDNB
Martin Love	Aust	July 28, 2003	Bang	Cairns	100*	TDNB
Nasser Hussain	Eng	May 24, 2004	NZ	Lord's	34	103*
Jason Gillespie	Aust	April 20, 2006	Bang	Chittagong	201*	TDNB

 

* indicates NOT OUT

DNB indicates DID NOT BAT

TDNB indicates TEAM DID NOT BAT

• Wood had scoored the first hundred by a wicket-keeper
   

• Ponsford had scored hundreds in his first two Tests and last two Tests
   

• Azharuddin had scored hundreds in his first three Tests
   

• Merchant and Redpath had scored hundreds in the previous Tests as well
   

• Duff and Chappell had also scored hundreds on debut
   

• Russell was the only batsman batsman to score twin tons in last Test
   

• Legge was the only batsman to score a ton and a duck in last Test
   

• Sandham has the highest innings and match scores in last Test
   

• Ganteaume and Redmond were playing their only Tests
   

• Milburn's hundred came in the only innings of the Test
   

• Richards and Irvine had scored their hundreds in South Africa's last Test before ban
   

• Current players who have scored hundreds in their last Tests: Of current players Phil Jacques, Dinesh Chandimal (hundred in the previous Test), Kumar Sangakkara (two hundreds in the previous Test), Steve Smith, Shane Watson, Hashim Amla, Corey Anderson, Mominul Haque (hundred in the previous Test), Asad Shafiq, AB de Villiers, Graeme Smith, Rohit Sharma (only Test), Ravichandran Ashwin

Will he? Won’t he?

(Abhishek Mukherjee is a cricket historian and Senior Cricket Writer at CricketCountry. He generally looks upon life as a journey involving two components – cricket and literature – though not as disjoint elements. A passionate follower of the history of the sport with an insatiable appetite for trivia and anecdotes, he has also a steady love affair with the incredible assortment of numbers that cricket has to offer. He also thinks he can bowl decent leg-breaks in street cricket, and blogs at http://ovshake.blogspot.in. He can be followed on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ovshake42)