Hyderabad: Captains have a tough task to lead their national side towards the path to glory. Captaining the country is always a big challenge for any player. Players are under more pressure when they lead the national side and it sometimes hampers their performance. However, some of the captains thrive under the pressure. Two examples of this phenomenon are Virat Kohli and Ricky Ponting as both these players have the most 41 centuries as captains but these are only in ODIs and Tests.
Apart from captaining the unit, the captain has to set the field placements and rotate the bowlers to create potential breakthroughs. Also, he is supposed to lead the team with his individual performance with the bat and ball.
Scoring a hundred in any format is a huge achievement for any batter and it becomes even more special if he is captain. As of now, there are a total of 21 players who have scored a hundred in all three formats of the fixture. In the article, we will take a look at the four captains who have scored centuries in all three formats.
Captains who scored centuries in all three formats
1. Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka)
The former Sri Lankan cricketer is one of the skippers to score hundreds in all three formats. Dilshan was one of the pivotal players of the Sri Lankan cricket team. He was the first captain to score hundreds in all three formats. Dilshan scored his first OD ton as captain in his 50-over match. He scored his first T20I century as captain while leading the team for the third occasion in limited overs. Dilshan has 3 hundreds to his name as captain.
His first century as Test captain came in the form of 193 against England at Lord's. In ODIs, he scored 108 off 102 balls against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2010. Meanwhile, in the shorter format, he scored 104 off 57 balls against Australia at Pallekele in 2011.
Dilshan has scored a total of 16 centuries in Tests, 22 centuries in ODIs and 1 century in T20s.
2. Faf du Plessis (South Africa)
Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis became the second player to score centuries in all three formats as a captain. The South African cricketer has been one of the most reliable batters to score crucial runs for his team. As captain, he has 11 centuries in international cricket and his tally includes 1 T20I, 5 in ODIs and 5 in Tests. Du Plessis scored his first Test century as captain in 2016 against New Zealand by scoring 112 runs.
His first ODI ton as captain was of 111 runs against Australia in Johannesburg in October 2016. As a T20 skipper, he scored his first century with a knock of 119 runs against West Indies in Johannesburg in January 2015. The former South Africa captain has 10 centuries in Tests, 12 centuries in ODIs and 1 century in T20Is.
3. Babar Azam (Pakistan)
Babar Azam has been one of the integral players of the Pakistan cricket team since his international debut in 2015. He is included in the unique list of batters to score centuries in all three formats. The has scored 9 centuries in Tests, 17 centuries in ODIs and 2 centuries in T20s. Babar Azam is the only Pakistan captain to score centuries in all three formats of the sport. He has a total of 15 centuries as captain, 3 of which came in T20s, 8 were scored in ODIs and 4 were amassed in Tests.
He scored his first ODI century as captain in his third innings. He scores his maiden T20I century and Test century as captain in his 15th and 16th innings respectively. His first ODI century (125 runs) as captain came against Zimbabwe in 2019. Against South Africa, he scored 122 runs off 59 balls in T20I as captain. Since his debut in 2015, Babar Azam has scored 9 Test, 19 ODI and three T20I centuries in his career.
4. Rohit Sharma (India)
Rohit Sharma is the first Indian captain to score a century in all three formats of the game as captain. He is the fourth player to score an international century in all formats as captain along with Babar Azam, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Faf du Plessis.
Famously known as "Hitman", Rohit Sharma has scored 12 centuries in Tests, 31 centuries in ODIs and four centuries in T20Is. While as captain, he has a total of 11 centuries to his name, including 3 T20, 4 ODI and 4 Test hundreds.
