Hamilton, Dec 18: New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum entered cricket's record books after playing 99 successive Test matches ever since his debut in the bigger format of the game.

The previous record was held by South Africa's AB de Villiers who had played 98 consecutive Test matches.

The flamboyant South African batter was granted paternal leave for the birth of his son as he missed 2 games against Bangladesh. Else he would have led the table with 104 games, as he featured in all 4 Test matches against India.

The spot in this table is occupied by former Australian legend Adam Gilchrist who had played 96 games while India's batting legend Rahul Dravid featured in 93 back to back games and stands on 4th position in the table.

Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar owned the reputation of playing back to back 84 Test matches ever since debuting in Nov 15, 1989.

McCullum achieved this feat at Hamilton, the same ground where the Kiwi batter debuted on Mar 10, 2004 against South Africa.

Here are the top 5 batters who have achieved this remarkable feat:

---

Player Consecutive Test's played Period

Brendon McCullum 99 Mar 10, 2004 - till date
AB deVilliers 98 Dec 17, 2004 - June 2, 2015
Adam Gilchrist 96 Nov 5, 1999 - Jan 24, 2008
Rahul Dravid 93 June 20, 1996 - Dec 10, 2005
Sachin Tendulkar 84 Nov 15, 1989 - June 15, 2001

OneIndia News