Fastest batsmen to score 50 international centuries

Hashim Amla Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli and Hashim Amla took just 348 innings to get to the landmark

The landscape of international cricket is changing at a rapid pace. Records are being set and broken with almost every game. Records are meant to be broken and with the evolution of cricket, modern-day batsmen have become ravenous to score as many centuries as possible.

Aside from being the only batsman in the history of the game to score 100 international tons, Sachin Tendulkar was also the first batsman to go past the 50-mark. The race to break the legendary Indian batsman's elusive record is on. The likes of Virat Kohli, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Joe Root, Kane Williamson and Steven Smith are among the leading contenders to reach the 100-century club.

Also Read: Virat Kohli's 50th international century - A comparison with Tendulkar, Ponting and Sangakkara

As of 24th November 2017, eight batsmen have scored 50 or more international tons. Let us take a look at all of them in ascending order of fastest to the landmark. Interestingly, all eight of the batting icons' 50th international tons came in Test matches.


#7 Mahela Jayawardene (667 innings)

Mahela Jayawardene
Mahela Jayawardene was one of the most reliable batsmen in Sri Lanka's lineup

The pillar of Sri Lanka's batting order for close to two decades, Mahela Jayawardene took 667 innings to join the elite club. In the 2014 Test match against Bangladesh in Dhaka, Jayawardene (203*) scored the 50th international ton of his career. It was the seventh double ton and 33rd hundred of his Test career.

Before retiring from all forms of cricket in 2015, Jayawardene had 34 Test, 19 ODI and a T20I ton under his belt. Jayawardene scored at least one century a year for 15 years in a row from 1998 to 2012. Only two other players such as Jacques Kallis for 17 years (1997 to 2013) and Rahul Dravid for 15 years (1997 to 2011) have such long sequences of tons.

#6 Kumar Sangakkara (593 innings)

Kumar Sangakkara
Kumar Sangakkara is arguably the greatest Sri Lankan batsman of all time

Sri Lanka's stylish top-order batsman Kumar Sangakkara scored 28,016 in his remarkable 15-year-long career. His tally of international runs is only behind Sachin Tendulkar. The left-hander was the second batsman from his country to go past 50 international tons after Mahela Jayawardene.

Incidentally, Sangakkara and Jayawardene reached this epic feat in the same series against Bangladesh but just nine days apart. During the second Test of the 2014 series played between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Sangakkara scored a mammoth 319. This was his highest Test score, surpassing the 287 against South Africa in 2006. He also became the second batsman in Test history (after Virender Sehwag) to reach the 300-run mark with a six.

By the time he eventually retired from the game, Sangakkara had 38 Test and 25 ODI tons to his name.

#5 Jacques Kallis (520 innings)

Jacques Kallis
Jacques Kallis was the mainstay of South Africa's batting lineup

Jacques Kallis, who was named ICC Test Player of the Year as well as ICC Player of the Year in 2005, scored 62 hundred-plus scores in his career that lasted 19 years. The South African legend amassed 25,534 runs, which included 45 Test and 17 ODI hundreds, before announcing his retirement in 2014.

Kallis's 50th international ton came during the 2010 Test against India at Nagpur. He joined hands with Hashim Amla to bury the hosts under a pile of runs before Dale Steyn took seven wickets to orchestrate South Africa's victory by an innings and six runs.

#4 Brian Lara (465 innings)

Brian Lara
Brian Lara single-handedly carried West Indies to several memorable victories

During his last Test appearance in Australia in 2005, Brian Lara showed his class with a vintage knock in Adelaide. One of the most celebrated West Indies batsmen of all-time, he scored 226 and in the process became the leading run-scorer in Test history.

Lara's record was later broken and as of now, Sachin Tendulkar, with 15921, has the maximum runs in the longest format of the game. During the course of a glittering career that began in 1990 and ended in 2007, Lara scored 53 hundred-plus scores. While 34 of those came in Tests, 19 of those were scored in ODIs.

#3 Ricky Ponting (418 innings)

Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting was a destructive force with the bat

With 71 international tons, Ricky Ponting is only behind Sachin Tendulkar in terms of the number of centuries. During the 2006 Test match against South Africa in Durban, the then Australian skipper scored hundreds in both innings to lead his team to a 112-run win over the hosts. The second-innings score of 116 was his 30th Test ton and 50th overall.

Ponting, who scored more than 27,000 runs in his 17-year-long career, became only the second player alongside Sunil Gavaskar to score two centuries in the same Test on three different occasions. When Ponting retired in 2012, he had established himself as one of the modern-day batting greats.

#2 Sachin Tendulkar (376 innings)

Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar holds countless batting records to his name

Sachin Tendulkar, who holds the vast majority of batting records in international cricket, was the first one to achieve the milestone of 50 centuries across formats. The legendary Indian batsman, who ended his 24-year-long career with 100 international tons, reached the half-way mark against Zimbabwe in 2000.

During the Nagpur Test, Tendulkar remained unbeaten on 201 to bring up his 50th international ton. Thirteen years later, he brought down the curtains on his illustrious career and finished with 51 Test and 49 ODI hundreds. With 34,357 runs across formats, the right-hander is comfortably the leading run-scorer in the history of international cricket.

#1 Hashim Amla and Virat Kohli (348 innings)

Hashim Amla Virat Kohli
Hashim Amla and Virat Kohli are the fastest batsmen to complete 50 international centuries

Virat Kohli and Hashim Amla are the masters of contemporary batting with an orthodox technique. They are the joint-quickest to the landmark of 50 international centuries. Kohli scored an unbeaten 104 against Sri Lanka in the recently completed Kolkata Test and became the latest addition to this glittering list.

With three centuries in Tests and six in ODIs, Kohli has also become the first captain to score nine international hundreds in a year. As of November 24th of 2017, the Indian skipper has 18 hundreds in Tests and 32 centuries in ODIs.

Just like Kohli, Hashim Amla also brought up his 50th international ton against Sri Lanka. In February 2017, South Africa completed a 5-0 whitewash of the visitors at Centurion. Paving the way for his team's emphatic victory, Amla scored 154 to join the distinguished club of batsmen with 50 or more international centuries. He has notched 28 centuries in Tests and 26 in ODIs.

Check RCB Squad 2024 Details. Follow Sportskeeda for IPL 2024 Live Score, Schedule, Points Table

Quick Links

Edited by Ram Kumar