5 cricketers with most International centuries

Sachin Tendulkar has almost every batting record under his belt
Sachin Tendulkar has almost every batting record under his belt

A Batsman is often defined on the number of hundreds he has scored in his career. Even though that is not the only criteria to become a good batsman, it is surely an important stat. It shows his longevity in the game of cricket.

Also, if the career is long, one might tend to get more opportunities at scoring centuries. Many of the players would have had a dream to score just an elusive hundred like how a five or ten-wicket haul is a dream for any bowler.

Many players in their careers would have crossed the double-digit in terms of the number of hundreds they have scored, some of them would have achieved the feat in a particular format of the game, very few would have reached close to 50 centuries mark in their respective career, and only a handful of cricketers have breached the 50 centuries mark.

So only 8 cricketers have 50 or more centuries in their career. Brian Lara with 53 and Mahela Jayawardene and Hashim Amla with 54 each take up the 8th, 7th and 6th spot.

In this article, we will see the 5 players who have scored the most number of international centuries in their career.


#5 Virat Kohli - 60

King Kohli is best in the world at the moment
King Kohli is best in the world at the moment

The latest and the fastest to complete 60 international centuries is the current Indian skipper, Virat Kohli, who achieved this against the West Indies at Guwahati and in the course of that, he also became only the 4th player to score 2000 runs in three successive calendar years. It almost seems that he scores runs for fun.

He is a modern day legend and looks set to create many more records along the course of his career. He is just 29-year-old and looks good to play at least 5 or more, with respect to his fitness level.

Till now he has scored 24 centuries in the longer format of the game and 36 in ODIs. The only thing missing till now in his storied career is an ODI double, and a T20 international century. These records speak volumes about the man that is Virat Kohli. Let us just hope there are plenty more to come from the willow of Virat Kohli in the years to come.

#4 Jacques Kallis - 62

Jacques Kallis, the legendary South African batsman
Jacques Kallis, the legendary South African batsman

The legendary South African all-rounder comes 4th on the list of players with most in international centuries for their country. Kallis had been the pillar of the South African batting line-up which comprised of players like Smith, Gibbs, and many others.

The fact why Kallis's record is special because he is a true all-rounder and not just a batsman. He has taken a whopping 594 wickets to go along with.25000 runs that he has scored for the African nation.

He is 2nd on the list of the number of hundreds scored in Test cricket with 45 only behind Sachin and has 17 centuries in the white ball cricket.


#3 Kumar Sangakkara - 63

Kumar Sangakkara was a true sportsman
Kumar Sangakkara was a true sportsman

Next in the list is former Sri Lankan skipper and wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara. The wristy left-hander had the ability to be at the crease for a longer period and scored runs quite easily.

He, especially, was a run machine at the later stage of his career, and an effective gloveman behind the stumps.

The southpaw has amassed 38 centuries in Test matches, and the rest 25 coming while playing the limited overs format.

#2 Ricky Ponting - 71

Ricky Ponting, former Australian captain
Ricky Ponting, former Australian captain

Ricky Ponting is second in the list of most international centuries with 71 which is 29 short of Sachin Tendulkar's mark. Ponting was one of the greatest no. 3 batsman ever to have graced the game of cricket.

In a career spanning over 17 years, he had had many beautiful moments. One such is being a World Cup winning captain for a record 2 times along with Clive Lloyd.

He has scored over 26,000 runs in international cricket with 41 centuries in the unlimited overs format of the game, and 30 in the ODIs.


#1 Sachin Tendulkar - 100

Sachin Tendulkar has achieved almost everything.
Sachin Tendulkar has achieved almost everything.

The Master Blaster is arguably the 2nd greatest batsman after Sir Don Bradman to have ever played the game. 'Arguably' because a lot of people around the world regard Sachin Tendulkar as the greatest ever.

He also had one of the longest playing careers for any player for their country and is holding almost every batting record in the book.

The Indian legend has scored a record 51 Test centuries and remained 1 shy of the 50-centuries mark in the One-Day format of the game with his 100th and final one coming against Bangladesh.

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Edited by Sagnik Mallick