Most Hundreds in Test cricket among active players

Test cricket, mostly called the purest format of the game, has seen some of the greatest cricketers and batters showing their skills with patience, stroke-making ability and the perseverance to bat long and score. Past greats and legends like Don Bradman, Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Jacques Kallis and many others dominated test cricket during their time. But, with modern cricket kicking in, this time we will look at the list of active players with most hundreds in test cricket.

Players with most Test centuries in cricket history

Before we talk about the current active cricketers, we should and must take a look at all the batters who dominate the overall list. As we all know, Sachin Tendulkar is the batter with most test centuries in world cricket. In fact, his record of 100 international tons might not get broken ever in cricket history. 

Before Sachin broke into the scene, there was Sir Don Bradman, who had retired as the batter with most test centuries (29) and later the little master Sunil Gavaskar broke his record and finished his career with 34 test centuries. But, do they come in the list of players with the most test centuries? Let's take a look at that.

So, sadly, one of the greatest cricketers in cricket history, Sir Don Bradman does not even come in the top 10 batters with the most test tons in cricket history. Interestingly, only Joe Root is the active cricketer on that list. Hence, you already know who is the active cricketer with the most test tons; it is Joe Root.

Most Test Centuries by active cricketers

#10. Ben Stokes | 13

Regarded as one of the best test cricketers of the 2010s and 2020s, Ben Stokes is perhaps the greatest match-winner of mordern cricket. The southpaw batter is as lethal with the bat in the lower middle oder and can change his gear with regard to the need of the game.

Not only that, his skill to bat with the tail and chase nearly impossible totals in the last inning, is quiet remarkable. 

Stokes has 13 test centuries against his name in 105 test matches for the Three Lions. His 258  in just 198 balls against South Africa balls in Cape Town, saw him making fastest test double century by any English cricketer. That is also the highest test score by a batter batting at number six.

And, yes, who can forget his immortal innning of 135 at Edgbaston in 2019 Ashes Test, where he singlehandley achieved England's highest successful run chase in Tests, with Jack Leach at the other end.

#9 Tom Latham | 13

Tom Latham, the Kiwi opener is surely one of the best top-order batters of this generation. Although he has always been in the shadow of Kane Williamson, Latham has contributed well to his country since his test debut in 2014. In the last ten years, Latham has played 81 test matches and scored 5516 test runs so far, including 13 test centuries, which places him at number nine in this list.

Latham's unbeaten 264 against Sri Lanka in Wellington in 2018, is the highest score by any opener while carrying his bat. Not only that, he is only the second Kiwi cricketer to carry his bat in test cricket.

Latham is currently the vice-captain of the test team and one of the reasons for New Zealand's success in recent years.

#8 Usman Khawaja | 15

Another top-order batter in the list, who has made tons of runs in the last few years for Australia. Usman, who was born in Pakistan and later moved to Australia as a young kid, made his test debut in 2011, replacing the great Ricky Ponting at number. That time he became the first Muslim cricketer to play for Australia. Despite a decent debut match, Khawaja was never given a long run and kept losing his spot in the team.

In 2015-16, he made another solid return to the test squad but his failure in away tests always kept him in and out of the team. But, after his another comeback with two tons in a single test match in 2022 against England in Sydney, Khwaja has emerged as one of the best batters for Australia. His move at the top of the order has also helped him regain his lost confidence at the international level.

Post a stunning 2023, where he scored 1210 runs in 13 test matches at 52.60, Khawaja won the 2023 ICC Test Cricketer of the Year award.

In 73 test matches so far, Khawaja has scored 5451 test runs including 15 test tons and 26 fifty-plus scores. He is also the sixth-highest run-scorer (2686) in the World Test Championship's history, despite playing only 32 matches. 

#7 Angelo Mathews | 16

Former Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews comes at number seven in the list of active cricketers with the most test centuries. Once touted as one of the most talented cricketers from Sri Lanka, Angelo emerged as one of the finest from his country. Though Angelo's primary goal was to be a proper all-rounder, with time, he had to only choose batting to prolong his career.

In 2013, against Pakistan, Mathews scored an unbeaten 157 while batting for seven and a half hours to save a test match for Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi. One year later, he scored a 160 at Headingley against England to help Sri Lanka win their first multi-Test series in England. 

Again in 2018, he saved (120 from 323 balls) a test match for Sri Lanka in Wellington, batting over more than seven hours against New Zealand. Despite regular injuries, Angelo keeps on being one of the best middle-order batters for Sri Lanka. In 113 tests so far, he has scored 7852 runs including 16 tons.

#6 Dimuth Karunaratne | 16

Dimuth Karunaratne has been one of the greatest modern-day batters for Sri Lanka in recent years. The opening batter comes from the same St Joseph's College, which produced players like Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera. Dimuth debuted for Sri Lanka in tests in 2012 and gradually cemented his place in the team despite a duck in his debut inning. 

In 2014, he scored his debut hundred against New Zealand in Christchurch and has scored 15 more in his test career since then. Three years later, he missed his first double ton by four runs when he played an outstanding knock of 196 against Pakistan in Dubai. In 2021, he scored hundreds in three back-to-back test matches and one of them was a 244 against Bangladesh, his best in test cricket. 

Dimuth is the highest run-getter for Sri Lanka in the World Test Championship with 2558 runs in 31 test matches so far. He has scored 6 tons in WTC history as well.

#5 Dinesh Chandimal | 16

Another Sri Lankan in the list of active batters with most test centuries prove why despite not being considered as a force, they have done well in recent times. Dinesh Chandimal, one of the most underrated cricketers going around, has climbed up in the list with a stunning hundred (116) against New Zealand at Galle. 

Chandimal, just like Mathews emerged in the scene as one of the best talents in the country and became a mainstay in the middle order after the retirement of the legendary Sangakkara-Jayawardene pair. At 23, he was chosen as the T20I captain and as Mathews' deputy in tests.

Read Also | Most Runs in WTC 2023-25 

In 2013, Dinesh scored back-to-back centuries against Bangladesh and then played an unbeaten 162 against India in 2015 to nearly drag Sri Lanka to a win from an impossible position. His 164 against India in Delhi in 2017, was one of his remarkable innings after leading Sri Lanka to a 2-0 victory against Pakistan, away from home.

However, after that, he could not keep his form and it was until 2022, he came back to his best with an unbeaten 206 against Australia at Galle to deny the mighty Aussies a test series win.

Till now, Chandimal has scored 16 test centuries in 83 test matches and looks like a strong candidate to be the first one to reach 20 test centuries among the active Sri Lankan cricketers. 

#4 Virat Kohli | 29

Regarded as the best three-format batter of this generation, Virat Kohli was ahead in the race of the most test centuries by active batters. But, since the start of 2020, the former Indian captain only scored two test tons, which has helped the other members of the "fav four" to go ahead of him, in test cricket. 

Kohli debuted in tests in 2011 and scored his maiden test ton against Australia next year in Adelaide. Though his test career was going well, Kohli turned it into a beast mode in 2014 when he scored four test tons in India's tour to Australia in 2014, which included tons in both innings in Adelaide. 

Read Also | Most Test centuries in overseas by active batters 

Post that, Kohli's dream run continued and with the hunger and ambition to score big for India, he scored 6 test double tons in a span of 16 tests in 2016-17. He even scored back-to-back test double tons against Sri Lanka in the home series in 2017 in Nagpur (213) and Delhi (243). Kohli finished 2018 with 1322 runs with 5 test hundreds which helped him win the ICC Test Player of the Year award for the first time in 2018. 

Kohli's highest test score of unbeaten 254 came two years later against South Africa in Pune. But, after his final test century of 2019 against Bangladesh in a one-off pink test in Kolkata, Kohli's dry patch started. His two test centuries since then came in 2023, one against Australia in Ahmedabad (186) and another against West Indies in Port of Spain (121) in his 500th international match.

#3 Kane Willamson | 32

Kane Willamson has been the best Kiwi cricketer of the last two decades and even the great Martin Crowe believed that he would finish as the greatest batter from New Zealand. 

Debuted in 2010, Kane scored a ton against India in Ahmedabad and since then never had to look back. 24 years and 151 days old, Kane then became the youngest New Zealand cricketer to score 3000 test runs. In 2015, Kane hit his first double ton against Sri Lanka in Wellington and since then has scored five more test double tons.

Read Also | Most international runs in Cricket history

As a leader, Kane in 2018 became the fourth Kiwi captain to win a test series in England, followed by a first-ever series triumph against Pakistan, away from home. Willamson with 8828 test runs is the player with the most test runs for New Zealand. He also holds the record for most test centuries scored by a Kiwi batter (32). He is also the quickest batter in test history (by innings) to reach 32 test tons.

Moreover, Williamson was also the first-ever Kiwi captain to lead them to an ICC trophy success when he led them to the WTC title in 2021 against India. The former Kiwi captain is also New Zealand's highest run-getter in WTC history with 2374 runs at 62.74 average and 10 test tons. 

#2 Steve Smith | 32

After starting as a leg spinner in 2010, Steve Smith's journey to become one of the greatest test batters for Australia is quite remarkable. Despite getting banned for 12 months due to the ball-tampering scandal in 2018, Smith made a great comeback to test cricket and has scored 9 test centuries since 2019.

Smith scored his first century in 2013 against England at Oval and scored three more in his next six matches. Before he was made the captain in 2015, he was already the No.1 ranked test batter in the world scoring seven cenutries in 17 test matches in 2014-15 including centuries in four consecutive test matches. 

In 2017, he scored six test tons including a double ton in just 11 test matches to win his second ICC Test Cricketer of the Year award, after winning it in 2015. Though in past few years bowlers have found some ways to stop him from scoring runs with his unorthodox style, he scored five centuries in 13 innings from July 2022 to June 2023. However, in 2024, Smith has not scored a test ton yet.

#1 Joe Root | 34

2021 Test Cricketer of the Year, nominated again in 2023 for the same award, most runs and tons in World Test Championship history, most test runs by any English batter, most test tons by any English batter; these are the few achievements Joe Root made in last six years. 

The youngest of the "fav four", Root debuted in 2012 on England's tour to India and impressed with a 73 from 229 balls and everyone saw his ability to stay at the crease and play long. Five tests later, he scored his first test hundred in England against New Zealand in 2013. Two tests later, he followed that up with a 180 against Australia at Lord's.

Read Also | Joe Root vs Sachin Tendulkar: Who is ahead after 145 Test matches? Full analysis 

Before he was made the captain in 2017, he had already played 53 test matches in five years with a batting average of over 50. 190 in the first inning as test captain and all knew he would go on to break all the records for England. Root finished 2017 with 1481 for England despite scoring only two tons.

The story continued the same way for him in the following year as despite scoring lots of fifty-plus scores, Root could score only two test tons as England struggled in tests as a team.

But, everything changed for him in 2021 as he started the year with one century and one double century in first three tests. Another back-to-back hundred against India at home would mean he would go on to win the 2021 ICC Test Cricketer of the Year Award. Root that year nearly broke the record of the most test runs scored in a calendar year with 1708 test runs, missing the record by 80 runs.

Since the start of 2022, Root has scored 11 test tons, scoring 2871 runs at an average of 53.16. In WTC, he is the highest run scorer with 4973 runs with a record 16 centuries.