Every child who aspires to become a cricketer dreams about hitting a century and raising his bat to acknowledge the crowd. The three-figure mark against a player’s name is a testimony to his hard work and class. A century in Test cricket is even more special for a player, for it defines him as a batter. There have been many legends in this game that were so great that they scored centuries at will. Here are the Top 10 Cricketers with Most Test Centuries in their Career-
1. Sachin Tendulkar (51)
The “Master Blaster” from India is on the top of the list. He is the only player with more than 50 Test centuries to his name. In 329 innings, he has 51 centuries and 68 half-centuries to his name. His best score of 248* came against Bangladesh in 2004 at Dhaka. With 15,921 runs to his name, he is the all-time leading run-scorer in Test cricket. He scored 7 centuries in 2010, the joint second-most in a calendar year.
2. Jacques Kallis (45)
South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis takes the second position on this list. In the second test against India at Durban in 2013, he scored 115 runs to notch up his 45th and last career Test century. He has scored the 3rd-most number of runs (13,289) in a Test career. He is one of the three batters to score a hundred in 5 consecutive matches.
3. Ricky Ponting (41)
Australia’s Ricky Thomas Ponting made his Test debut against Sri Lanka at Perth in 1995. In this match, he got very close to scoring a century in his debut but fell short by 4 runs but compensated for it by scoring 41 centuries later in his Test career. Thrice in his career, he scored a century in each of the innings of a match. In a match against India in 2012 at Adelaide, he stitched a 386-run partnership with Michael Clarke for the fourth wicket. In this inning, he scored 221 runs (his third-highest career score).
4. Kumar Sangakkara (38)
Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara played 134 Test matches in his career. In those matches, he scored 38 centuries and 52 half-centuries. 10 out of those 38 centuries came against Pakistan. In a match against Bangladesh in 2014 at Chittagong, Sangakkara hit 319 runs to become the third Sri Lankan batter to score a triple hundred in Test cricket. He is the leading run-scorer for his country in Test cricket.
5. Rahul Dravid (36)
Next on the list is “The Wall” of India, Mr. Rahul Sharad Dravid. He has 36 centuries to his name apart from 63 half-centuries and 5 double-centuries. His most memorable knock came against Australia in the famous match in 2001 at Kolkata, in which he scored 180 runs. He stitched a 376-run partnership for the fifth wicket with VVS Laxman. The partnership later became the turning point of not only the match but the whole series.
6. Younis Khan (34)
Younis Khan can be counted as one of the finest batters to originate from Pakistan. His stats are testimony to this fact. In 213 innings, he has scored 10,099 runs (most by a Pakistani batter), 38 centuries (most by a Pakistani batter), 52 half-centuries (5th-most by a Pakistani batter), and 5 double-centuries (2nd-most by a Pakistani batter).
7. Sunil Gavaskar (34)
Sunil Gavaskar is one of the greatest opening batters of history and was one of the most difficult batters to get out. He has scored 34 centuries, 45 half-centuries, and 4 double-centuries in 214 innings. He was the first Indian batter to breach the 10,000-run mark in his Test career. He is one of the only 5 Indian batters with a Test average score over 50.
8. Brian Lara (34)
Brian Lara holds the record for the highest individual score in Test cricket. He did so when he scored 400* against England in 2004, making the only batter to score a quadruple century in Test cricket. In 232 innings, he produced 34 centuries and 48 half-centuries. He also has a triple-hundred and 7 double-centuries in his career. He is the leading run-scorer (11,912 runs) for West Indies in Test cricket and the first Caribbean player to score more than 10,000 Test runs.
9. Mahela Jayawardene (34)
Mahela Jayawardene’s batting had class and beauty crushed in it. It is not for nothing that he is the second-highest run-scorer for Sri Lanka in Test cricket. He has 34 centuries to his name in 252 test innings. In a match against South Africa at SSC Colombo in 2006, he scored 374 runs in the second innings (4th-highest individual score in Test cricket).
10. Alastair Cook (33)
Alastair Cook captained England for 59 matches (second-most after Joe Root). In 291 innings, he has scored 33 Test centuries, the highest by any English batter. He is the only English batter with over 10,000 runs recorded on his name, and logically, the leading run-getter for England in Test cricket.
