5 established batsmen who never scored a century in their ODI career

Scoring a century has long been considered as the pinnacle for a batsman in ODIs. While there have been players who have hit double hundreds in the last decade, for a very long time, a batsman was judged not just on the amount of runs they scored but also the centuries they had amassed.

All of that is what makes Virat Kohli's tally of 32 ODI centuries astounding, considering that he has just played over 200 ODIs. While Kohli has been scoring centuries for fun there have been some established batsmen who have never scored an ODI century in their entire career.

Only players who have played at least 75 ODIs and were front-line batsmen have been considered. Still, it includes some surprising names including a legendary Pakistan captain.

Here are 5 established batsmen who never scored an ODI century:

Misbah-ul-Haq

He will go down as one of Pakistan's finest Test captains and be credited with their meteoric rise during a turbulent period in their history but Misbah-ul-Haq's record in ODIs are not as good as his Test numbers.

While he has scored over 5,000 runs for Pakistan in both formats, while he has 10 Test tons to his name, he doesn't even have a single ODI century. That is despite playing 162 matches and scoring 5,122 runs at an average of over 43. While he does have a staggering 42 fifties to his name, his highest ODI score is only 96*.

In fact, in an ODI career that spanned 13 years, he crossed 90 just twice in ODIs. Both were unbeaten efforts. His first was a 93* against New Zealand at Napier in 2011 while his highest score came against West Indies during the 2013 Champions Trophy.

Dwayne Smith

Smith averaged just 18.57 in ODIs

The case of Dwayne Smith in ODIs is a curious one. While he is a destructive opener in T20s, with over 7,000 runs to his name in the format, he struggled to get going in ODIs. Despite playing over 100 ODIs, he didn't manage a single century.

The closest he came to scoring a century was when he hit a 97 against India at Delhi in 2014, which was also one of only eight fifties that he has to his name. Numbers that almost defy belief when you consider that he has five centuries and 43 fifties in T20s.

A 11-year ODI career that saw him score just 1,560 runs at an average of 18.57 in 105 ODIs came to an end during the 2015 World Cup and he announced his retirement from international cricket in March 2017.

Chamara Kapugedera

Kapugedera still features in the Sri Lankan ODI set-up

Much like the Bermuda Triangle, the mystery of how Chamara Kapugedera managed to play over 100 ODIs despite not scoring a single century and averaging just over 21 will remain unsolved.

The right-hander made his ODI debut for Sri Lanka back in 2006 against Australia in Perth. Since then he has managed to not only remain relevant but also play ODIs for more than a decade despite being a front-line middle-order batsman who has no centuries and averages just 21.

Despite being a batsman who seemingly doesn't score many runs, he remains a part of the Sri Lankan ODI set-up and even played in the series against Pakistan in October 2017. In total, he has just eight fifties from 102 ODIs and his highest score of 95 came against West Indies in 2008.

Jimmy Adams

Adams never quite got a consistent run in any position

Throughout the 90s, Jimmy Adams was the band-aid that was used by West Indies to fix whatever problem they had in the side. Need a middle-order batsman? Call Jimmy Adams. Need a wicketkeeper? Hand Jimmy the gloves. Need a left-arm spinner? Ask Adams to roll his arm over.

The lack of clarity in his role (he batted everywhere from No.2 to No.9 but never more than 25 innings in any position) goes a long way towards explaining why Jimmy Adams played 127 ODIs for West Indies without scoring a century.

While he scored over 2,000 runs at an average of almost 30, batting predominantly in the middle-order, Adams could never quite reach the three-figure mark in ODIs despite having six Test centuries to his name, including an unbeaten double ton.

While Adams had 14 fifties to his name, his highest ODI score was just 82, which he managed against Australia in 1999.

Graham Thorpe

The southpaw couldn't quite get to the magical three figures in ODIs

With over 9,000 runs in international cricket, Graham Thorpe was not only one of England's most complete batsmen but also one of their most successful as well. While he had a stellar Test career that saw him score nearly 7,000 runs in 100 Tests, his ODI career wasn't as impressive.

Despite boasting of 16 Test centuries, including an unbeaten double ton, Graham Thorpe doesn't have a single ODI century to his name. In the 82 ODIs that he played, he averaged close to 40 and scored 2,380 runs but his highest score was only 89. While he had 21 fifties, not once did he even breach the 90s in ODIs.

For a man who has 49 first-class centuries and 9 List-A centuries and more than 32,000 runs, Thorpe finished his ODI career without a century.