An international century is a significant achievement for any batsman. Depending upon the circumstances, accumulating such runs can be very helpful for the team in attaining victory. We will now have a look at the batsmen who have scored the highest number of centuries in test cricket.
10. Alastair Cook
Alastair Cook was one of the best openers in the world during his playing days. His career was progressing in a fantastic way, and he was looked at as a possible contender for overtaking Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of test runs. That didn’t materialize, but Cook being in the opener position, consistently won matches for the English team. He was a key reason for England winning an away test series in Australia and India.
Alastair Cook scored 33 centuries in his Test career.
9. Younis Khan
Younis Khan was a Pakistani batsman who predominantly played in the 2000s and early 2010s. He was a batsman known especially for bailing out Pakistan from tricky situations. A lot of his knocks have come in the face of adversity. He was among the quality batsmen in his time, in test cricket.
Younis Khan scored 34 centuries in his Test career.
8. Brian Lara
The late 1990s and early 2000s marked the brilliance of Brian Lara. He was considered equal to Sachin Tendulkar and, at times even better than him. He has scored a lot of centuries and one of them is a 400 not out, which remains the highest individual score in test cricket. He is known as a stylish batsman.
Brian Lara scored 34 centuries in his Test career.
7. Mahela Jayawardene
Mahela Jayawardene was widely regarded as a brilliant stroke-maker with excellent hand-eye co-ordination. He was a talented batsman and was good at scoring big hundreds. One of his most significant knocks will be his highest score in test cricket, 374. The innings had him and Kumar Sangakkara having a partnership of 624 runs for the third wicket. Overall, Jayawardene had a pretty successful career.
Mahela Jayawardene scored 34 centuries in his Test career.
6. Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar was India’s best batsman, of all time, by the time he retired. He was a legend and a superstar of the sport, especially in Indian cricketing circles. He was the first batsman to score 30 centuries in test cricket.
Sunil Gavaskar scored 34 centuries in his Test career.
5. Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid was a test stalwart for India. He was known as ‘The Wall’, due to his famous defensive abilities while batting. He was good at staying long in the crease and accumulating runs. He was a skilled overseas batsman , too, playing some essential knocks throughout his career.
Rahul Dravid scored 36 centuries in his Test career.
4. Kumar Sangakkara
Kumar Sangakkara was a keeper-batsman early in his career. He transitioned into a specialist batsman later. With that he transformed from an average batsman to an excellent one. He was a key part of the Sri Lankan test team. Even near his retirement, at the age of 37-38, he was putting up big scores, and was scoring some essential knocks for the team.
Kumar Sangakkara scored 38 centuries in his Test career.
3. Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting was the captain of the Australian team in the mid-2000s. The team was a dominating one. Ricky Ponting, as batsman was dominating, too. Throughout his career, Ponting scored some huge knocks and was a constant match-winner.
Ricky Ponting scored 41 centuries in his Test career.
2. Jack Kallis
Jack Kallis was among the finest all-rounders of all-time. He was a rare kind of all-rounder who was good enough to play both as a pure batsman and as a pure bowler. He was an essential part of the South African team, which was a dominant unit in test cricket during his career.
Jack Kallis scored 45 centuries in his Test career.
1. Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar is the most prolific run-scorer in test cricket. He has scored the most centuries and the most runs by an individual player in test cricket. Early in his career, he used to be the only player who could put up a fight in the game against the opponents. Later on, after the Indian team started getting better players, the team developed a lot, and Sachin was a crucial part of it.
Sachin Tendulkar scored 51 centuries in his Test career.
