Most Centuries in Cricket: Dominating the Pitch
The question that always keeps people thinking - Can Virat Kohli score 100 centuries and surpass Sachin Tendulkar's record? King Kohli just put an end to all questions and zipped the mouths of all his doubters by getting back to form. He ended his long lasting drought in his batting form and smashed multiple centuries in all formats of the game. His chase of Sachin - The God’s Record of 100 tons, the most centuries for any player, which seemed impossible during his bad form now looks very much achievable.
Cricket is known as the gentleman’s game and one very important aspect of the sport is batting and scoring runs for your team. Batting can get tough, and building a long innings requires a lot of resilience, skill and dedication. And top of this sit the batsmen who have displayed these qualities at the highest, by scoring multiple centuries. A century in cricket is when a batsman scores a hundred runs (100 runs) in a game. A double century is an even bigger achievement, where you need to score 200 runs. In today’s chapter of ZAP Cricket Records, we delve into the records, statistics, and remarkable achievements of batsmen who make their name in the list of Most Centuries in Cricket.
Most Test Centuries:
Credit: Circle of Cricket
Test Cricket is the longest and one of the most difficult formats of the game. Batting is tough, as you have to play every ball on its merit, be it both the spin and spin bowling. Playing a double minded shot can end up with you losing your wicket. That's why you need to perfect your batting technique to excel at this format of the game. Scoring a 100 in a test is considered a glorious job and batsmen with the most in this format have etched their names in the annals of the sport. Sachin Tendulkar is head and shoulders ahead of everyone else in this format and is the player with the most hundreds in tests, with 51. Next is South African Great Jacques Kallis with 45 and Ricky Ponting with 41. Let’s look at a list of top 10 players with the highest centuries in tests.
Player |
Test Matches |
Total Runs |
Centuries |
Highest Score |
Batting Average |
Sachin Tendulkar |
200 |
15,921 |
51 |
248* |
53.78 |
Jacques Kallis |
166 |
13,289 |
45 |
224 |
55.37 |
Ricky Ponting |
168 |
13,378 |
41 |
257 |
51.85 |
Kumar Sangakkara |
134 |
12,400 |
38 |
319 |
57.40 |
Rahul Dravid |
164 |
13,288 |
36 |
270 |
52.31 |
Brian Lara |
131 |
11,953 |
34 |
400* |
52.88 |
Mahela Jayawardene |
149 |
11,814 |
34 |
374 |
49.84 |
Sunil Gavaskar |
125 |
10,122 |
34 |
236* |
51.12 |
Younis Khan |
118 |
10,099 |
34 |
313 |
52 |
Alastair Cook |
161 |
12,472 |
33 |
294 |
45.35 |
Steve Waugh |
168 |
10,927 |
32 |
200 |
51.06 |
Most Centuries in ODIs:
Credit: The Indian Express
Sachin Tendulkar tops the list here too. He is one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He has scored 49 centuries, more than anybody else. And a very close next is Virat Kohli, with 46, who arguably could be the best ODI Player of all time! His drive to perform when the team needs him the most, his aggression, and his passion for the game sets him apart from the rest. Just 3 short of matching the records, it is only a matter of time until he does it! And we will all be rooting for him!
Scoring a century in ODI is relatively easier than in test matches. Once the shine on the ball is gone, it is majorly for the game played by the batsmen. That’s why we have seen so many batsmen even scoring double centuries in ODIs. Rohit Sharma holds the record for the most double 100s with 3. Let’s look at the players with the most hundreds in ODIs.
Player |
Matches |
Runs |
Centuries |
Highest Score |
Batting Average |
Sachin Tendulkar |
463 |
18426 |
49 |
200* |
44.83 |
Virat Kohli |
271 |
12809 |
46 |
183 |
57.3 |
Rohit Sharma |
241 |
9782 |
30 |
264 |
48.6 |
Ricky Ponting |
375 |
13704 |
30 |
164 |
42.03 |
Sanath Jayasuriya |
445 |
13430 |
28 |
189 |
32.36 |
Hashim Amla |
181 |
8113 |
27 |
159 |
49.46 |
AB de Villiers |
228 |
9577 |
25 |
176 |
53.50 |
Chris Gayle |
301 |
10480 |
25 |
215 |
38.10 |
Kumar Sangakkara |
228 |
14234 |
25 |
169 |
41.98 |
Saurav Ganguly |
311 |
11363 |
22 |
183 |
41.02 |
Most Centuries in T20:
Credit: The Indian Express
T20 is the shortest format of the sport and scoring a century can get really tough for a player. You have to put forth an unreal display of power hitting to get to the three figures mark. But there are players who have conquered this format and smashed records in this format too. Rohit Sharma, the current captain of the Indian Cricket Team leads the chart for the most T20 centuries with 4. Let’s look at the top 10 players with the most hundreds in t20.
Player |
Matches |
Runs |
Centuries |
Highest Score |
Batting Average |
Rohit Sharma |
148 |
3853 |
4 |
118 |
31.03 |
Babar Azam |
101 |
3465 |
3 |
122 |
41.5 |
Glenn Maxwell |
98 |
2159 |
3 |
145* |
28.4 |
Colin Munro |
65 |
1724 |
3 |
109* |
31.3 |
Suryakumar Yadav |
45 |
1578 |
3 |
117 |
46.5 |
Sabawoon Davizi |
28 |
1093 |
3 |
115* |
41 |
Aaron Finch |
103 |
3120 |
2 |
172 |
34.3 |
Chris Gayle |
79 |
1899 |
2 |
117 |
27.9 |
Martin Guptill |
122 |
3531 |
2 |
105 |
31.8 |
Evin Lewis |
53 |
1465 |
2 |
125* |
29.9 |
Most Centuries In International Cricket in All formats:
Now that we’ve looked at the most number of centuries in the three different formats, let’s look at the players with the most centuries in cricket in all formats. Here’s a top 10 list of players with the most international hundreds:
Rank |
Player |
Country |
Total Centuries |
Test |
ODI |
T20I |
1 |
Sachin Tendulkar |
India |
100 |
51 |
49 |
- |
2 |
Virat Kohli* |
India |
75 |
28 |
46 |
1 |
3 |
Ricky Ponting |
Australia |
71 |
41 |
30 |
- |
4 |
Kumar Sangakkara |
Sri Lanka |
63 |
38 |
25 |
- |
5 |
Jacques Kallis |
South Africa |
62 |
45 |
17 |
- |
6 |
Hashim Amla |
South Africa |
55 |
27 |
28 |
- |
7 |
Mahela Jayawardene |
Sri Lanka |
54 |
19 |
34 |
1 |
8 |
Brian Lara |
West Indies |
53 |
19 |
34 |
- |
9 |
Rahul Dravid |
India |
48 |
12 |
36 |
- |
10 |
AB de Villiers |
South Africa |
47 |
25 |
22 |
- |
These numbers don't completely do justice to what Sachin had achieved. He got dismissed in the nervous 90s for a total of 28 times, 10 in tests and 18 in ODIs. Had he converted them to the three figure mark, there could surely have been no one who could match his record. But overall, the players in this list have written their names in the history books with unparalleled and unthinkable records. Though Virat Kohli is just 25 hundreds away from overtaking Sachin Tendulkar, it is going to be one hell of an achievement if he manages to do it.
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FAQs:
Q1: How many test centuries does Sachin Tendulkar have?
Sachin Tendulkar has scored 51 hundreds in the longest format of the game.
Q2: Who holds the record for the most centuries in Test cricket?
Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for the most hundreds in Test cricket, with 51.
Q3: Which player has the highest batting average in Test cricket?
The great Sir Don Bradman holds the record for the highest batting average in test cricket with an average of 99.94.
Q4: Who has scored the most centuries in One Day Internationals (ODIs)?
Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for the most three figure mark in ODIs with 49.
Q5: How many T20 centuries has Rohit Sharma scored?
Rohit Sharma has scored 4 100s in T20 matches.
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