Prithvi Shaw blazed his way to 134 on his Test debut for India against the West Indies, becoming the 104th player to score a Test century on debut. What made the effort even more praiseworthy was that he is just 18 years old. Before the statistical analysis of centuries scored on Test debut, here are some important milestones that Shaw reached during his innings of 134.

Shaw reached his century in 99 balls, the 3rd fastest by a debutant after Shikhar Dhawan, who took 85 balls for India against Australia in 2013 and Dwayne Smith who took 93 balls for West Indies against South Africa in 2004. Out of the 104 centurions, only 3 have done it at a younger age than Shaw: Mohammad Ashraful, Hamilton Masakadza and Saleem Malik. Shaw becomes the 2nd youngest Indian to score a Test century and the 7th youngest overall (in all Tests, not just debutants).

Here is a statistical summary of all the 106 centuries scored by Test debutants.

104 players have scored centuries on their Test debut, with 2 scoring centuries in both innings

There has been a total of 104 players who have scored centuries in their debut Test. Lawrence Rowe and Yasir Hameed are the only 2 to score centuries in both innings of their debut Test.

5 players have scored double centuries in their debut Test.

Country wise break-up of the centurions

Not surprisingly, Australia and England lead the list of the number of individual centurions by country, as they have played the most number of Tests. Australian batsmen have scored 20 centuries while England are a close second with 19 centuries. India are 3rd on the list with 15 centuries while Afghanistan are the only nation not to have a single debutant centurion.

Era-wise break-up of the centuries

The Test between India and West Indies at Rajkot was the 2,319th in Test history and the 134 by Prithvi Shaw was the 106th by a debutant. Of the 106, 9 were scored before World War 1 while 9 more were scored between World War 1 and World War 2. The remaining 88 have been scored after the resumption of cricket following World War 2.

Innings in the Test in which the centuries were scored

Generally, in a Test, more centuries are scored in a team’s first innings (the 1st and 2nd innings of the match) as the pitches tend to deteriorate over the course of the 5 days. In drawn Tests, the 3rd and 4th innings are sometimes not completed.

Out of the 106 centuries, the first, second, third and fourth innings have witnessed 36, 35, 28 and 7 centuries on debut respectively.

10 centuries by teenagers

Out of the 106 centuries, 10 have been scored by teenagers which shows what precocious talents they must have been.

Important milestone in centuries scored on debut

The first ODI was played on 5th January 1971. Before this date, there were just 36 centuries scored on debut. While there is not enough evidence to suggest that a faster scoring rate led to more debutant centuries, a total of 45 centuries were scored between the 1st ODI and the 1st T20I which was played on 17th February 2005. The remaining 25 centuries have been scored after the 1st T20I.

Centuries scored in home, away and neutral venues and affecting the result of the match

Out of the 106 centuries, 70 have been scored by batsmen while playing at home, while 36 have been scored by batsmen away from home. 36 of the centuries have been scored in a winning cause, while 23 have come while the team has tasted defeat. As many as 47 have come in Tests which have been drawn. Out of the 106 centuries, 80 have been by right handers while 26 have been by left-handers.

Various positions at which the centuries have been scored

As many as 33 centuries have been scored by openers, which is the most of any position, while no centuries have been recorded at the number 9 and number 11 position. The table below gives the list of centuries by each position.