Playing a long innings is an attitude. Whatever the format, a batsman playing long to make a triple-digit score needs a balanced mix of temperament and skill. Batters who score runs in bulk in more than one format of cricket are always a valuable asset to the team and a treat for the fans.
Sachin Tendulkar, a primary example of this, has 100 international centuries to his name – 51 in Tests and 49 in ODIs – one of the unbeatable records of the little master. Notably, he played only one T20I game for India.
This article will list the top fifteen batsmen who have scored the most number of individual centuries in all three formats of cricket combined.
Top 15 Most Centuries (Tests, ODIs, T20Is Combined)
| Player | Mat | Inns | 100s | Runs | HS | Avg | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sachin Tendulkar (IND) | 664 | 782 | 100 | 34357 | 248* | 48.52 | 164 |
| Virat Kohli (IND) | 565 | 632 | 86 | 28527 | 254* | 52.82 | 148 |
| Ricky Ponting (AUS/ICC) | 560 | 668 | 71 | 27483 | 257 | 45.95 | 146 |
| Kumar Sangakkara (Asia/ICC/SL) | 594 | 666 | 63 | 28016 | 319 | 46.77 | 153 |
| Jacques Kallis (Afr/ICC/SA) | 519 | 617 | 62 | 25534 | 224 | 49.1 | 149 |
| Joe Root (ENG) | 396 | 523 | 61 | 23074 | 262 | 49.72 | 122 |
| Hashim Amla (SA/World) | 349 | 437 | 55 | 18672 | 311* | 46.56 | 88 |
| Mahela Jayawardene (Asia/SL) | 652 | 725 | 54 | 25957 | 374 | 39.15 | 136 |
| Brian Lara (ICC/WI) | 430 | 521 | 53 | 22358 | 400* | 46.28 | 111 |
| Rohit Sharma (IND) | 517 | 550 | 52 | 20652 | 264 | 42.66 | 113 |
| Steve Smith (AUS) | 363 | 434 | 49 | 17866 | 239 | 47.64 | 85 |
| David Warner (AUS) | 383 | 474 | 49 | 18995 | 335* | 42.39 | 98 |
| Rahul Dravid (Asia/ICC/IND) | 509 | 605 | 48 | 24208 | 270 | 45.41 | 146 |
| Kane Williamson (NZ) | 378 | 452 | 48 | 19346 | 251 | 48.12 | 103 |
| AB de Villiers (Afr/SA) | 420 | 484 | 47 | 20014 | 278* | 48.11 | 109 |
Key Stats on the Top Hundred-scorers across Formats
The modern-day legend Virat Kohli is second only to the master batsman Sachin Tendulkar on this list. He surpassed Ricky Ponting’s tally of 71 international centuries when he scored his 44th ODI hundred against Bangladesh in Chattogram in December 2022. You can find the detailed lists of Virat’s Test and ODI centuries here and here.
Other top batters of this generation featured on this list include David Warner (retired), Joe Root, Steve Smith, Rohit Sharma, and Kane Williamson (retired).
Considering the age and achievements of this generation’s leading batters, Shubman Gill stands out as the only player under the age of 30 with 20 or more international centuries. You can check his century tally across all formats here.
Among the other active batters aged 30 or above who could potentially make it to this list are Babar Azam, Shai Hope, Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul, and Travis Head. However, they have relatively little time left to reach the 48-century mark required to replace AB de Villiers on the list.
Pakistan’s Babar Azam had one of the best opportunities to climb higher on this list. He had already scored 31 international centuries by the end of 2023, but has managed just one more since then. Check Babar’s century distribution here to understand how the Pakistani star’s century-scoring form has declined in recent years.
Another batter I am particularly looking forward to seeing more of is Yashasvi Jaiswal. The young Indian opener has enjoyed a phenomenal start to his international career. You can explore the impressive numbers he had already achieved in his first 10 Test matches here.
Sachin, who has a century of centuries, has been dismissed thrice in 99s in ODI cricket – the highest in the format, followed by Sanath Jayasuriya, who has been dismissed at the score twice in ODIs. When it comes to a comprehensive list across all forms, three players Richie Richardson (WI), Geoff Boycott (ENG), and Misbah-ul-Haq (PAK) have been dismissed for the nervous ninety-nines three times, thereby adding to the top of the list with Sachin.
Read Now: Which batsman has scored the most hundreds on winning causes in ODI?
