India vs Australia ODIs: Top 3 batsmen with most hundreds

India and Australia will resume their famed rivalry when they take on each other in a three-match ODI series beginning at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday, 14 January. The second and third matches of the series will be played at Rajkot and Bengaluru respectively, on 17 January and 19 January.

Australia stunned India 3-2 the last time these two teams met in India prior to the World Cup. India were 2-0 up in that series, but ended up losing three games in a row to get a rude awakening ahead of the mega tournament.

Overall, Australia have dominated India in ODIs. Of 137 one-day matches between the two teams, the Aussies have won 77, while India have been victorious in 50. 10 matches between the teams have produced no result.

While Australia have a win percentage of 60.62, India’s is only 39.37

As India and Australia get set to lock horns, we take a look at the three batsmen with most hundreds in ODI contests between the two teams.

#3 Rohit Sharma (7 hundreds)

Rohit Sharma

Hitman Rohit Sharma is third on the list of batsmen with most hundreds in India-Australia ODIs. In 37 matches, he has notched up seven hundreds against the Aussies, including a best of 209 from 158 balls at Bengaluru in November 2013.

Rohit also slammed an unbeaten 171 from 163 balls at Perth in January 2016. However, hundreds from Steve Smith and George Bailey saw Australia chase down 310.

Also see – World Test Championship points table

One of Rohit’s most famous hundreds came at Jaipur in October 2013. He smashed an unbeaten 141 from 123 balls as India chased down a massive target of 360 in 43.3 overs.

Rohit has tasted a lot of success against Australia in Australia as he enjoys the ball coming on to the bat; he has scores of 138 (Melbourne, January 2015), 133 (Sydney, January 2019), and 124 (Brisbane, January 2016) in the country.

Rohit was also dismissed for 99 during the 5th ODI of the 2016 series at Sydney, which India famously won courtesy Manish Pandey’s unbeaten hundred.

Apart from seven hundreds, Rohit has also notched up eight fifties against Australia. He has a total of 2,037 runs against the former world champions at an average of 61.72 (significantly higher than his career average of 49.14), and a strike rate of 94.08.

#2 Virat Kohli (8 hundreds)

Virat Kohli

Indian captain Virat Kohli has also enjoyed tremendous success against the Aussies. In 37 matches, he has eight centuries to his name at an average of 53.96 and a strike rate of 96.21. Kohli has scored a total of 1,727 runs against Australia so far.

Kohli’s most famous century against Australia is the 100 not out he scored off 52 balls at Jaipur in October 2013, as India gunned down 360. That remains the fastest hundred by an Indian in ODIs.

Kohli’s highest ODI score against Australia - 123 off 95 balls - came in a losing cause at Ranchi in 2019. India were all-out for 281 chasing 314, as Kohli was the lone warrior for the team.

His centuries in winning causes came at Visakhapatnam in October 2010, where his 118 saw India chase down 290, at Nagpur in October 30 (115 not out from 66 as India chased down 351), and at Adelaide in January 2019 - 104 from 112 balls, as the Indians crossed the target of 299.

Apart from eight hundreds, Kohli also has six fifties to his name against Australia.

#1 Sachin Tendulkar (9 hundreds)

Sachin Tendulkar

Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar, not surprisingly, holds the record for most ODI hundreds against Australia. In 71 matches, he hit nine hundreds against the Aussies at an average of 44.59 and a strike rate of 84.74.

Two of Tendulkar’s most famous hundreds against Australia came at Sharjah in 1998. His 143 from 131 balls in the 6th match of the tri-series saw India qualify for the final even as they lost the game. In the summit clash, on his 25th birthday, Tendulkar dazzled his way to 134 from 131 balls as India chased down 273 to clinch the trophy.

Tendulkar’s highest score of 175 came at Hyderabad in November 2009, but it was a massive heartbreak moment. Chasing 351, Tendulkar took India to 332 in the 48th over. However, he was then the seventh man out, having hit 19 fours and four sixes in his incredible 141-ball stay. In a throwback to the 90s, the lower order collapsed, and India lost the match by a slender margin of three runs.

The legend scored an unbeaten 117 in the first final of the 2008 CB series at Sydney, which India went on to win. His 141 at Dhaka in 1998 knocked Australia out of the Champions Trophy.

Tendulkar’s blazing 100 from 89 balls at Kanpur in 1998 is well recollected for its seven sixes. In fact, the master blaster's maiden ODI ton was also against Australia -- 110 in the third game of the 1994 Singer World Series, a game India comprehensively won by 31 runs.

Apart from his centuries, Tendulkar also registered 15 half-centuries against the Aussie attack.