In any format of the game, a century is a defining milestone for a batsman. Especially for a specialist, it is hard to stay in the XI without knocking hundreds consistently. This is all the more prevalent in ODI cricket, where every batsman usually gets an ample number of deliveries to prove his skills. However, there have been a few popular players who never scored an ODI century. Despite this, they stayed in their country’s ODI squads for a pretty long time. We have a look at them in this article.
1) Misbah-ul-Haq – Pakistan
ODI Statistics: Games – 162 || Runs – 5122 || Fifties – 42 || Highest Score – 96*
The current coach of the Pakistan Cricket Team, Misbah-ul-Haq is the player to have scored the most number of ODI runs without hitting a century. For a player, who actually arrived in the scene at the age of 33 in the 2007 T20 World Cup, a short stay in the international fold was always expected.
However, Misbah made it a memorable one as he also took over the captaincy of the squad, apart from winning many games with the bat. While he did score ten centuries in the five-day format, Misbah never struck one in the ODI’s. His highest score of 96* happened in the 2013 Champions Trophy against West Indies, where Pak’s No.11 batsman failed to keep his wicket to give Misbah a chance of scoring a century.
2) Graham Thorpe – England
ODI Statistics: Games – 82 || Runs – 2380 || Fifties – 21 || Highest Score – 89
An attacking left-hand batsman who played a hundred Test games for his country, Graham Thorpe unfortunately could not do that well in ODI’s. That said, he was part of 82 ODI’s but never struck a century.
A cricketer who was riddled with plenty of controversies, Thorpe was the best English batsman at the peak of his career. While he scored 6744 Test runs for his country, the player made 2380 runs in ODI cricket at an average of 37.18.
3) Michael Vaughan – England
ODI Statistics: Games – 86 || Runs – 1982 || Fifties – 16 || Highest Score – 90*
Michael Vaughan was never a go-to man in ODI cricket. In fact, at one point, he was considered a liability in the top-order. However, his captaincy skills were top-class and hence, featured in the ODI setup. In 86 ODI games, the right-hander scored 1982 runs at an average of 27.15, a stat which paled in comparison to his 5719 runs in 82 Test games at an average of 41.44.
One of the most famous players who never scored an ODI century, Vaughan built his reputation as a solid captain and a fine Test match batsman. He currently is a commentator and an active expert on social media.
4) Ian Botham – England
ODI Statistics: Games – 116 || Runs – 2113 || Fifties – 9 || Highest Score – 79
Adorned as the country’s cricket captain when he was just 24, Ian Botham belongs to an altogether different league of English cricketers. He found success very soon, but it went downwards at the same pace. One of the greatest all-rounders of the game, Botham, though, found it hard to crack the ODI format.
He played 116 games but delivered a fifty on just nine occasions. Of course, he played a lot in the lower order and that made him devoid of good chances. In the same span, the all-rounder also collected 145 wickets.
5) Dinesh Karthik – India
ODI Statistics: Games – 94 || Runs – 1752 || Fifties – 9 || Highest Score – 79
After having made his debut at the Lord’s in 2004, Dinesh Karthik struggled to make an impact in the ODI format. MS Dhoni was the main man behind the stumps, and despite DK’s decent run in the domestic games, he never got consistent opportunities until MSD’s form went dwindling.
The Tamil Nadu man has been part of 94 ODI games but all of them were scattered across his career, that’s 17 years old now. Amongst his notable moments in ODI cricket has been his involvement in the 2013 Champions Trophy and the 2019 World Cup, both held in England. However, DK failed to perform well with the bat in both tournaments. The wicket-keeper is another famous cricketer who never scored an ODI century.
