Most Centuries in International Cricket

Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for the most centuries in international cricket, with 100 across all formats. Split by format that is 51 in Tests and 49 in one-day internationals, and no other player has passed 90.

The number became a milestone in its own right when Tendulkar reached it in 2012, the first and still only cricketer to make 100 international hundreds. This is the combined total across formats, which sets it apart from the most-Test-centuries record. Here is the all-time list and why only one active player has any chance of catching it.

Most international centuries: all-time list

Combined Test and ODI centuries. Retired players’ totals are final; Virat Kohli remains active in one-day cricket.

Rank	Player	International centuries	Status
1	Sachin Tendulkar (India)	100	Retired
2	Virat Kohli (India)	80+	Active (ODIs)
3	Ricky Ponting (Australia)	71	Retired
4	Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)	63	Retired
5	Jacques Kallis (South Africa)	62	Retired
6	Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka)	54	Retired

Tendulkar sits alone at 100. The only figure still moving is Virat Kohli’s, who has climbed to second all-time and keeps adding one-day hundreds, though he remains a long way behind the leader.

Tendulkar’s 100: the number no one else has

Tendulkar’s 100 hundreds are almost evenly split, 51 in Tests and 49 in one-day internationals, which is why the record is so hard to approach. It rewards a batter who scored heavily in both formats over a very long career, not one who piled up hundreds in a single game type.

He reached the milestone in March 2012, against Bangladesh, ending a run of near-misses that drew close attention at the time. The mark has stood since, and given how the game has changed, it may prove one of cricket’s most durable numbers. Tendulkar also owns the aggregate run record, covered in our guide to the most runs in international cricket.

Kohli: second all-time and still going

Virat Kohli is the clear second name and the only active player near the top. He has passed 80 international centuries and now plays only one-day cricket, having stepped away from T20 internationals in 2024 and Tests in 2025.

His biggest landmark along the way was passing Tendulkar’s 49 one-day international hundreds, giving him the ODI century record outright. Matching the combined 100 is a different task: with one format left, Kohli would need several more productive years, and he sits comfortably short of the mark for now.

Why the combined record differs from Test hundreds

This list counts Test and ODI centuries together, so it does not match the Test-only leaderboard. A batter can rank high here on the strength of one format, which is why the order shifts when you separate them. Kallis, for instance, sits higher on the Test-centuries list than on this combined one.

Franchise cricket does not count, so IPL or Big Bash hundreds add nothing to an international total. For the format-specific version, see the most Test centuries, where the order rearranges around the players who scored most heavily in the longest form.

The milestone in context

One hundred international centuries required both quality and rare longevity, and the modern game works against a repeat. Players now specialise or retire from formats early, which caps the century count in exactly the way it caps run aggregates. That is why Kohli, the one genuine challenger, faces such a steep climb with a single format left to him.

If you would rather play than read leaderboards, try our cricket game Era Ball, where you draft legends across eras and build a title-winning side. One hundred is the number, only one player has reached it, and only one active batter is even in range.