Who is the only Indian to score two double centuries in the same series?
(30 March 2002)

In the pantheon of Indian all-rounders, Mulvantrai Himmatlal Mankad occupies an exalted position, perhaps second only to Kapil Dev. He has, at various points in his career, held records in both the batting and bowling departments, but his feat of being the only Indian to make two double centuries in the same series is one of the few to still stand.

When New Zealand toured India in 1955, Vinoo Mankad was already an established all-rounder, and he proved his credentials with the bat amply in the second Test at Bombay. Opening the batting, he scored 223 out of India's first-innings 421. He then picked four wickets in New Zealand's two innings to help India win the Test by an innings and 27 runs - not bad for a team that fielded as many as three Test debutants in the match.

He did little of note in the drawn encounter at Calcutta, but Pankaj Roy's hundred at number three saw him elevated to the opening position for the final Test at Madras. A startlingly prophetic move, as it turned out, for Roy and Mankad put on a world-record 413 for the first wicket. Roy made 173, but Mankad, who had earlier notched up the best innings figures by an Indian at the same ground, was the real star. Scoring 231 in 525 minutes, Mankad made his second double ton of the series.

After scoring 537 for three, India could not have lost the match, and Subhash Gupte took nine wickets in the Test to bowl New Zealand out twice. India thus notched up a win by an innings and 109 runs, sealing the five-Test series 2-0.

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