Listing the only 4 players who scored a century in 50th Test as captain

With his century on the second day of the second Test against South Africa in Pune, Indian captain Virat Kohli became part of a distinguished list. He became only the fourth captain to score a century in his 50th Test as captain.

He also became the first Indian batsman to score 40 international centuries as captain, scoring 21 in ODIs and 19 in Tests. He is just one behind Ricky Ponting, who ended his career with 41 centuries as captain of Australia.

Here's a list of the players who scored a hundred in their 50th Test as captain.

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#1 Stephen Fleming

Stephen Fleming

In the first Test of their Sri Lanka tour in 2003, New Zealand Captain Stephen Fleming scored a majestic 274 not out in his 50th Test as captain. At that moment, he became the first player to have scored at least a century in the 50th Test as captain. Although the match was drawn, Fleming scored a fifty in the second innings as well to walk away with the player of the match honors.

In 80 Test matches as captain, Stephen Fleming won 28, lost 27, and drew 25 with a win percentage of 35.00. He ranks third in the list of players to have captained their national side for the most number of times after Alan Border (93 matches) and Graeme Smith (109).

He captained his side for the final time in 2006 against Sri Lanka which unfortunately ended in a 217-run loss at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.

In a successful Test career, Fleming played 111 matches and scored 7172 runs at an average of 40.06. He played his last Test match against England at Napier in 2008.

#2 Steve Waugh

Steve Waugh

After taking up the captaincy from his minutes-younger twin brother Mark, Steve Waugh enjoyed the best win percentage of 71.92 as captain among all captains who leads their side at least 50 times.

In July of 2003 at Darwin, he joined Stephen Fleming as only the second captain to have scored a ton in his 50th Test. Against a weak-looking Bangladesh attack, Waugh remained unbeaten on 100 in 133 balls to help Australia win the first Test by an innings and 132 runs.

In a 19-year long career, Steve played 168 Tests and scored 10,927 runs at an astonishing average of 51.06. Like Sir Alastair Cook, he played both his first and the last match against India before leaving the longest format at his home ground Sydney in 2004. At 36, he won the Allan Border Medal as Australia’s best player in 2001.

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#3 Sir Alastair Cook

Sir Alastair Cook

A career that saw Sir Alastair Cook play 161 Test matches ended at only 33 years of age. Former cricketers and experts believed he could have played a couple of years more to break Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 200 Test matches.

One of the finest and most successful captains ever to have lead England in the longest format, he captained his country in 59 matches, winning 24 and losing 22 in the process. Even though he was highly criticized for his defensive style of field placements, he boasted a win percentage of 40.67 at the end of his tenure as England captain.

On 22nd July 2016, Sir Alastair scored a glorious 105 off 172 balls against a strong Pakistan line-up to join Steve Waugh and to score a ton in the 50th Test as captain. Current England Test captain Joe Root scored a double-century to ensure an England win by 330-runs.

Sir Alastair remains only the second cricketer after Sir Ian Botham to earn a knighthood. He set a world record for the most consecutive Test appearances, with 159 Tests. He played both his first and last match against India to end a sublime career at a young age of 33.

#4 Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli became the second Indian captain after MS Dhoni to lead India in 50 Tests when he walked out for the toss against South Africa in the 2nd Test at Pune.

Taking over the reins from MS Dhoni 2014, Virat Kohli has helped India win 29 Tests under his leadership with a win percentage of 58.00 (third-best after Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting for captains who have played at least 50 Tests). He has the most number of wins as captain, bettering the second-best (MS Dhoni) by two wins.

Electing to bat first, Kohli scored a majestic double ton on the second day to join the illustrious club of Stephen Fleming, Steve Waugh, and Alastair Cook to have scored a ton in the 50th Test as captain. He is still going strong at 200* as of this writing. This was Kohli’s 26th century in Tests and 69th overall as he continues to dominate bowlers.