10 Cricketers with most centuries since the 2015 World Cup

The last edition of World Cup was played in Australia and New Zealand in 2015 and since then, many players have said goodbye to the game, while some of them have moved onto the next level. Most of the batsmen who featured in that edition have flourished into world beaters. Players like Virat Kohli, who had already made the world sit and take notice then, have gone onto achieve greatness and is on their way to all-time legend status.

Similarly, batsmen like Jason Roy, Babar Azam, and Joe Root have cemented themselves as legit ODI batsmen, despite their shortcomings. A best and sure shot way to measure a batsman’s dominance is by seeing the number of centuries he has hit in a given period of time, which displays their consistency in contributing big time to the team’s winning cause.

Here are the 10 batsmen with most centuries since the 2015 World Cup:

Ross Taylor (New Zealand) – 8

The most experienced Kiwi batsman Ross Taylor has slammed 8 centuries in 56 innings since the World Cup 2015. His highest score has been 181* and has averaged 68.85 scoring 2892 runs in the format. Taylor has been a cornerstone of Black Caps’ batting side and someone who has the ability to both anchor the innings and take the charge to the bowlers when the need arises.

Taylor has found another gear to his game in the past couple of years as the middle-order stalwart has sometimes single-handedly won matches for his team. This 2019 World Cup will probably be his final one and he has started it on a good note in warm-up matches and will look forward to signing off in style.

Jason Roy (England) – 8

A survivor of the disastrous England campaign of the 2015 World Cup, Jason Roy has become one of the most dangerous openers in business today. Holder of the highest ODI score by an England batsman, Roy has been part of England’s two record highest ODI scores of 444 against Pakistan and 481 against Australia and his batting has transformed to next level.

Roy has scored 8 centuries in 74 ODI innings with the highest score of 180 which came against Australia. Roy, along with Bairstow and Hales has formed a formidable opening partnership that has sent the shivers down the spine of the opposition bowling attacks given the mauling they have received. Despite a shortcoming against spinners, Roy had found a way of dominating every kind of bowling on any kind of pitch and the fact that the team management had given him the license to go after the bowling from ball one, makes him a scary batsman to bowl at.

Shikhar Dhawan (India) – 8

The Indian left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan has been a consistent scorer for the country since 2013 when he was picked as the permanent opener along with Rohit Sharma. Dhawan had a successful 2015 World Cup where he scored a century against South Africa, as the Indian team reached the semis and loves to perform in the ICC events.

He continued the good run since then scoring 2848 runs in 67 innings and has scored eight centuries in that period. His highest score was 143 which came against Australia recently. Dhawan will be pivotal to India’s World Cup 2019 journey given his record in the ICC events until now. His aggressive batting and ability to take calculated risks make him an ace for his skipper Virat Kohli, who will expect him to provide the team with a strong foundation and some big scores.

Quinton de Kock (South Africa) – 8

Quinton de Kock has been a revelation ever since he made his debut. He had a decent 2015 World Cup making 145 runs in 8 innings with one fifty. Then there was a small decline in his form, but the keeper-batsman bounced back and managed to smooth the rough edges of his batting and that helped him become the Mr Dependable of South African team.

Since then, De Kock has smashed 2971 runs in 67 innings with an average of over 50, hitting his career-best ODI score of 178 and has hit 8 centuries since 2015 mega event. He has been the best batsman for the Proteas along with Faf du Plessis and since the shock retirement of AB de Villiers, has shown the determination to win the games for his team on his own.

Martin Guptill (New Zealand) – 9

Martin Guptill had a gun 2015 World Cup where he was the highest run-getter with 547 runs and became the second batsman in tournament history to score a double century and the highest score-237*. Guptill since then has managed to score 9 centuries and 2701 runs in 61 innings at an average of 50.00.

Guptill has proved himself to be a capable batsman at the top of the order and though he has been found out by the spinners, the Kiwi opener manages to find a way to get past them and give New Zealand a good foundation whether batting first or second. Guptill’s height and his ability to take advantage of the power play overs and hit over the top gives his team advantage on any surface.

He is extremely comfortable against short pitch bowling and is also an amazing fielder. He has already shown his mettle with an unbeaten fifty against Sri Lanka in 2019 World Cup and will be hoping to continue the juggernaut.

Babar Azam (Pakistan) – 9

Babar Azam is the only batsman on this list who made his debut after the 2015 World Cup and since then he has been counted amongst the best batsman in the format. In 62 innings, Azam has accumulated 2739 runs, but the most striking thing is that he has scored nine centuries and averages 51.67.

Azam has created a niche for himself with his amazing stroke play and finesse. He had been criticized a bit for his stroke play and sometimes for his strike rate, but no one can doubt the talent this man possesses. Azam will be looking forward to playing in his very first World Cup and the 24-year-old is definitely one of the batsmen to look out for in the tournament.

David Warner (Australia) – 10

David Warner has scored 2296 runs in 44 innings with 10 centuries at an average of 56 since 2015 World Cup, which was won by Australia. These numbers are amazing when you take into consideration, that the left-hander missed a year of cricket due to the ball-tampering ban and is making his comeback to international cricket in the 2019 World Cup.

Warner has been tremendous in run-making at the top of the Kangaroos top order. He is devastating at the start and once he gets his eyes in, he makes sure to bat as many overs as he can and has many times batted a majority of 50 overs. His highest score in that duration was 179 which came against Pakistan in Adelaide. He has started well against Afghanistan in 2019 World Cup with 89* in the first match.

Joe Root (England) – 10

Joe Root was the second highest run-getter for England in their ill-fated 2015 World Cup outing with 202 runs, which contained a century. Since then, he has been a part of England’s transformation to a dangerous ODI team, which reigns on the top of ICC rankings. Root has made 3498 runs in 74 innings since the 2015 ICC event.

More importantly, he has scored 10 centuries with the best score of 133* and average of 58.30. Root, despite not hitting many big sixes, has a strike rate of 87.14 but has brought a big change to his game, including some innovative shots like the scoop and reverse sweep. He anchors the England batting lineup which is filled with aggressive stroke players and it is a treat to watch him bat.

Rohit Sharma (India) – 15

Indian opener Rohit Sharma has hit 15 centuries since 2015 World Cup which was his first and he had scored 330 runs in 8 innings in the tournament. Since then, he has played 71 innings and made 3790 runs at an average of 61.12 and a best of 208*. Rohit Sharma has also captained India in a few limited overs series wins including the Asia Cup 2018.

Sharma was in his first phase as an opener for the Indian team and had enthralled the audiences with two double centuries till then including the highest score of 264. However, after that, he just got his game into a new gear and has notched up centuries upon centuries, including the record of most scores of over 150 in ODIs. He has also hit 218 sixes in 50-over cricket and Rohit will be a big advantage for India as they prepare to open their 2019 World Cup account against South Africa on June 5.

Virat Kohli (India) – 19

The no.1 batsman to score the most centuries since 2015 World Cup is one and only India’s Virat Kohli, who has slammed a gobsmacking 19 centuries in the period in just 69 innings. He has also made 4306 runs at a staggering average of 78.29, including his career-best score of 160*. Kohli will lead the Men in Blue in the 2019 edition for the first time.

Kohli has just been on another planet when it comes to scoring runs in the heap since the 2015 World Cup and was the fastest to reach 10,000 ODI runs and has 41 centuries to his name, the second most in format history. He is widely considered a great of the modern era and his consistent run scoring in the format is the proof of his greatness. Expect him to light the World Cup in England with his bat, as he aims to lift the trophy.