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Joe Root To Steve Smith: Players With Most International Centuries Vs India

Aakash Saini

Players with most hundreds vs India [Source: @cricketcomau, @ICC/x]Players with most hundreds vs India [Source: @cricketcomau, @ICC/x]

Notching up a century, regardless of the format, is a mark of a batter’s dominance and menta steel. Doing so against a cricketing powerhouse like Team India, with its relentless bowlers and charged-up crowds, elevates the same feat to another level.

Be it Tests, ODIs or T20Is; here is a look at five batters with the highest number of centuries to their names across all international format against the India cricket team.

5. Kumar Sangakkara – 11 centuries

Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara accumulated 11 international centuries against Team India during his playing days. The legendary left-hander cracked six of those in ODI matches, his most against a single opponent out of his 25 career tons in 50-overs internationals. In Tests, Sangakkara unleashed five hundreds against India from 28 innings spanning 17 matches.

He also held a prolific batting average of 44.19 against India after playing 97 international matches combined, with 23 additional half-centuries to go along with his 11 centuries.

4. Vivian Richards – 11 centuries

Much like Kumar Sangakkara, legendary West Indies cricketer Vivian Richards also plundered 11 international tons against India, albeit in much lesser number of innings (67). Richards blasted eight Test hundreds and seven fifties against India in just 41 innings, and maintained a prolific batting average of over 50.

In ODIs, Richards garnered nearly 1,000 runs from 26 innings at an average of 47.47 and at a staggering strike rate of 99.50, doing so with three centuries and two half-centuries along the way. One of the most defining moments of his ODI career also occurred against India when he blasted 149 off just 99 deliveries during an ODI match at Jamshedpur back in December 1983.

3. Ricky Ponting – 14 centuries

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting registered 14 of his 71 international centuries against India, a testament to his appetite for big occasions and fierce rivals. Some of the most iconic knocks of his career also came against the Men in Blue, including the thunderous 140* from the 2003 World Cup final, back-to-back double hundreds from the epic 2003-04 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, and a gritty farewell ton during his World Cup swansong match of 2011.

In Tests, Ponting registered eight hundreds against India from 51 innings. In ODIs, he plundered another six from 59 innings. Overall, he averaged 47 against Team India across all formats.

2. Joe Root – 14 centuries

When Joe Root faces India, the English batting great seems to step into a batting trance, a zone where time slows, his technique sharpens and runs flow almost effortlessly. The legendary England cricketer has notched up 14 international centuries against India, matching Ricky Ponting’s tally and making the ‘Men in Blue’ his most frequent victims on the global stage.

In Tests alone, Joe Root has stockpiled 11 centuries against India, accounting for nearly a third of his overall tally of 37 tons. The 34-year-old has also aggregated three additional centuries in ODIs against the same opponent.

1. Steve Smith – 16 centuries

When it comes to tormenting Indian bowlers, Steve Smith has turned it into an art form. With his unorthodox style and insatiable hunger for runs, the Australian stalwart has carved out 16 of his 48 international centuries against India, even scripting some of his biggest batting masterclasses in the process.

In Tests, Smith has notched up 16 scores of fifty or more against India, and has turned 11 of them into centuries, which included four in a single series back during the 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy ‘Down Under’. In ODIs, Steve Smith hauled five tons, which includes his semifinal-winning century against the same opponent from the 2015 World Cup.