WI vs IND 2019: Four top Indian batsmen who never scored an ODI century in West Indies

The Indian team is flying to West Indies to play two Tests, three ODIs and three T20s from the 3rd of August. India has been a formidable force in the limited-overs format winning bilateral series in Australia and New Zealand in the recent past. Adding to this, India have never lost an ODI series against West Indies since 2006 which highlights their dominance in world cricket. This was also due to the fact that the West Indies team saw a decline in the last decade with the likes of Brian Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan, and Shivnarine Chanderpaul retiring from international cricket.

On the other hand, the Indian team saw new talents emerge in the form of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma that helped them secure famous wins overseas. Also, the Indian team would be looking to get some wins under their belt after their disappointing defeat in the World Cup semi-final. This means that the batting line-up has to step up to get the job done. But, there is a surprising fact that there are some players who have toured the country but failed to score a hundred. Let us have a look at the four famous Indians who are yet to score an ODI hundred in West Indies:

#4 Rohit Sharma:

Rohit Sharma

The stand out player for India in the 2019 World cup was none other than the ‘Hitman’. He had an incredible tournament, finishing with 648 runs in 10 matches and averaging over 70. With the amount of confidence he has right now, he will definitely be itching to score his maiden hundred in West Indies. It is quite an astonishing fact that one of the best openers of this era is yet to score a ton in the West Indies.

He has been part of the squad since 2007 and has toured the country on few occasions. Unlike Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit has enjoyed successful stints in the Caribbean. He has played in 14 games and amassed close to 500 runs at an average of 54.33 with five fifties to his name. Its been almost six years since he has played in West Indies which means a ton is definitely on its way this time around for him.

#3 Shikhar Dhawan:

Shikhar Dhawan

The man for big tournaments for India is recovering from a thumb injury and is part of the squad for the West Indies series. Shikhar Dhawan has played on three occasions in the past including the tri-series in 2013. Even though he averages close to 45 in ODIs, his trips to the West Indies haven't been pleasant for him in the past.

In his first series, he managed only one fifty in five matches. After finishing as the highest run-getter in the 2013 Champions Trophy, Dhawan had a poor run against West Indies scoring just 135 runs in five matches. The 2017 series turned out to be better for him with scores of 87 and 63. Overall, he has four half-centuries in 14 matches at an average of 26.07, which is the least for him against any country. He would be definitely hoping to put up a solid performance.

#2 Sourav Ganguly:

Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly has toured West Indies in 1997 and 2002 apart from playing the 2007 World Cup. When he went there for the first time, he was the leading run-scorer for the team in ODIs. During the 2002 tour, he captained the squad in both the formats where he continued his successful run in the limited-overs format.

He was, once again, the highest run-getter which helped the team to a series win in West Indies after a long time. Even though the team had an early exit in the 2007 World Cup, Ganguly contributed with two half-centuries in three games. Unfortunately, he was never able to score a hundred on that soil. In the nine ODIs that he played in, he scored 420 runs at an average of 52.50 which includes four fifties. It was also the only country where he averaged 50+ in the ODIs (apart from Kenya).

#1 Sachin Tendulkar:

Sachin Tendulkar

The most prolific batsman of all time, Sachin Tendulkar, has numerous records to his name in the limited format. He has the highest runs and centuries scored, to name a few. But if there is one thing that he couldn’t achieve in his 24 years of cricketing life, it would be to score an ODI century in the West Indies.

He was part of the team which toured West Indies in 1997 and 2002. But after that, he was unavailable for the series in 2006 due to injury concerns. Early exit from the 2007 World Cup meant that the team played only three matches then. Coincidentally, it was also the last time Sachin had played an ODI in West Indies. He played just nine ODIs scoring 282 runs at an average of 47 with the highest score being 65. He scored three fifties but failed to get to the three-digit mark.