Top 5 Openers With Most International Centuries- Opening the batting in today’s limited-overs cricket is a much-wanted position for any batsman. For, the game in white-ball cricket has become easier for batters than it was ever before. On the other hand, opening in Test cricket nowadays is considered tougher than it has been in the past two decades.
Nonetheless, there are some batters who have played for over a decade at the international level, ransacking big runs and centuries as openers.
Here are top 5 openers with most international hundreds:
1.Sachin Tendulkar – 45
Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar has hit the joint-most number of international centuries as an opener – 45. Hailed as the ‘God of Cricket’, Tendulkar started his ODI career in the middle-order before getting a fortunate chance to open in 1994 against New Zealand and showed his aggressive style at the top. Since then he remained India’s premier opener but for a brief period in 2000-2002.
He batted in the middle-order in Tests and played only 1 T20I. So he played all but 2 of his 342 innings as an opener in ODI cricket only, amassing 15335 runs at the top with 45 centuries and 75 fifties.
Of all the batters in this top 5 most centuries list as an opener, Tendulkar’s average of 48.07 is the highest.
2. David Warner – 45
Australia’s all-format opener David Warner is at the top along with Tendulkar with 45 centuries as an opener in international cricket. Since his blockbuster debut in 2009, Warner has been Australia’s opener in all three formats, having played 422 knocks at the top of the order, scoring over 16000 runs with 45 tons and 85 fifties.
3. Chris Gayle – 42
The legendary West Indies opener Chris Gayle was a force to reckon with for over a decade at the top of the order. The left-handed Jamaican opened for West Indies in 506 innings across the three formats, notching up 42 centuries and 102 fifties, scoring over 18,000 runs as an opener.
4. Sanath Jayasuriya – 41
Sanath Jayasuriya had a similar trajectory as Tendulkar. Like Tendulkar, Jayasuriya started his career in 1989 in middle-order, in fact, Jayasuriya was a bowler who can bat at the start of his career. He got his first shot as an opener in ODIs in 1993 and owned that position for the rest of his career.
Jayasuriya smacked 41 centuries as an opener, scoring more than 19,000 runs as a Sri Lankan opener across the three formats.
5. Matthew Hayden – 40
The big, burly, lanky Australian opener, Matthew Hayden, who was part of the glorious Australian team in the 90s and 2000s, cracked 40 centuries as an opener in international cricket. Hayden, a winner of two consecutive ODI World Cups in 2003 and 2007, amassed 14825 runs as an opener in 340 innings.
