Batsmen With The Most International Hundreds Since Virat Kohli's International Debut

Virat Kohli has impinged himself as one of the greatest-ever batsman to have graced this beautiful game of cricket. Kohli first burst on the scene when he led the India U-19 to a World Cup heist in March 2008.

Five months later, an India debut followed when he was called up as a replacement of Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar after the latter opted out of the ODI series. Kohli played as an opener in that series but was soon dropped from the set-up. Kohli returned to the side for the 2009 Champions Trophy campaign. A month or so later, he scored his maiden ODI hundred against Sri Lanka to help India scale down a 300+ score.

Since then, Virat Kohli hasn’t taken a backward step and to gauge the extent to which he has dominated the scene in the last 12 years.

Here’s a look at batsmen with most international hundreds since the current Indian captain made his debut:

AB de Villiers- 38

‘Mr 360’ Abraham Benjamin De Villiers makes his way to the list at No.5. Kohli’s international debut in 2008 coincided with the commencement of AB de Villiers peak, and for the better part of the next 10 years before his shock retirement, AB continued to pulverize bowling attacks around the world. And, he did that with absolute disdain.

During the period, de Villiers scored a total of 14779 runs in 298 international games across formats at an average of 52.59 which includes 38 hundred and 81 half-centuries. While he plundered 16 hundred in 70 Tests during the timeframe, 22 three-figure scores came in 50-over cricket.

Rohit Sharma- 39

Fourth on the list is the ‘Hitman’ Rohit Sharma. Rohit made his international debut back in 2007 but it was only in 2013 when he finally started delivering on a consistent basis.

Since Virat’s debut in 2008 till May 2013, Rohit Sharma had only 2 International hundreds against his name. Post his elevation to the opening spot in white-ball cricket in June 2013, the stylish Mumbai batsman has plundered 37 tons across all the three formats of the game.

Rohit has racked up a total of 29 ODI hundreds and three double-hundreds since Virat Kohli’s international debut in 2008. He has a stop-start Test career, as evident from the fact that he has played a mere 32 Tests since his debut in 2013. Sharma has scored six hundred in those 32 Tests. As far as T20I cricket is concerned, he is the only batsman to score four hundreds.

David Warner- 43

The swashbuckling Australian opener David Warner made his debut six months after Virat Kohli’s foray in international cricket.

Warner is the first Australian cricketer who made his national debut despite having never played First-Class cricket. And, you can see why. Since his debut in early 2009, David Warner has been a run-scoring machine for Australia across all formats of the game.

David Warner has played a total of 286 international matches since his debut in early 2009 in a T20I against South Africa, in which he has scored a total of 14718 runs at an average of 44.19 with the help of 43 hundred and 68 half-centuries.

While he has scored 18 hundreds in 50-over cricket, the southpaw has been equally potent in Test match cricket. Warner stands fourth in the list of most Test hundreds since Virat Kohli’s international debut in 2008. In 84 Tests, Warner has 24 hundreds to his name. He is also a part of a select group of cricketers who have scored a hundred [1] in T20I cricket.

Hashim Amla- 50

Just like AB de Villiers, the commencement of a purple patch in Hashim Amla’s career coincided with Virat making his international debut in 2008.

And, that peak lasted for a good 6-7 years where Amla defied expectations to impinge himself as one of the modern-day greats. Between August 2008 till his retirement last year, Hashim Amla represented the Proteas in 317 international games in which he plundered a total of 50 hundreds across formats.

While he scored 27 hundreds- the third most- in ODI cricket during the timeframe, the remaining 23 came in the longest format of the game.

Virat Kohli- 70

When you have a difference of 20 hundreds between the first and second-placed batsman, you realize the extent to which the table-topper- in this case, Virat Kohli-has dominated the scene.

Since his international debut in 2008, Virat Kohli has represented India in 416 fixtures across formats, in which he has racked up 21901 runs at an average of 56.15 with the help of- hold your breath- 70 hundreds and 104 half-centuries.

The Indian captain has scored 43 ODI hundreds thus far and even though he made his Test debut three years after his international debut, he is still the leading century-maker. During the timeframe, Kohli has scored a total of 27 Test hundreds in 86 games, followed by Alastair Cook [26 in 127 Tests], Steve Smith [26 in 73 Tests] and David Warner [24 in 84 Tests].

Also Read: 5 Instances When Spectators Were Hit By A Batsman’s Six

(All Stats Updated Till 27th June, 2020)