Virat Kohli enters list of top-10 highest century makers of all time

Nine years is all that has taken Virat Kohli to brush several legends aside and create a lasting legacy of his own in world cricket. His hunger for compiling huge scores is evident from one of the latest records he has broken: he is now already in the top-10 of most hundreds by a single player in an international career.

Three formats of the game and varying game scenarios have done little to stop Virat Kohli from creating new milestones and reaching unchartered territories without even breaking a sweat. Never short on motivation to perform, Kohli has continued his pursuit for excellence, even with the added pressure of captaincy on his shoulders across three formats. 

Given his super form, he has a realistic chance of climbing into the top five by the end of this season. Other active cricketers in the list include South African stars AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla.

Sachin Tendulkar leads the list by a long mile, with his 100 centuries seeming to be an unsurpassable achievement, especially because the frequency of Tests in the cricketing schedule are on a steady decline. The next best is Australia’s Ricky Ponting, who is the only other cricketer to have more than 70 centuries to his credit. Apart from Tendulkar and Kohli, Rahul Dravid is the only Indian in the top-10, with a total of 48 centuries to his name. 

Kohli, whose international career commenced in 2008, went past Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya’s tally of 42 tons. The magnanimity of his achievement is best highlighted by the fact that Jayasuriya, in a 22-year international career, scored 42 hundreds in 586 matches. Kohli has scored 43 in just 280.

At 28, Kohli is the youngest in the list. With the high degree of importance that he gives to fitness, and the fact that Kohli is the only batsman in the list to have an average of more than 50. His fifties tally is 69, which shows how remarkably he is able to convert his starts into big scores.

Pakistan’s Younis Khan is another active cricketer in the top-20, with 41 tons next to his name, while Chris Gayle, who seems to be experiencing a sudden halt to his international career after a tiff with the West Indies Cricket Board, also features at No.16.

Here’s the complete list of highest centurions in international cricket:

S.No.	Player	Centuries
1.	Sachin Tendulkar (India)	100
2.	Ricky Ponting (Australia)	71
3.	Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)	63
4.	Jacques Kallis (South Africa)	62
5.	Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka)	54
6.	Brian Lara (West Indies)	53
7.	Hashim Amla (South Africa)	49
8.	Rahul Dravid (India)	48
9.	AB de Villiers (South Africa)	45
10.	Virat Kohli (India)	43