Most runs without a century in Tests: Shane Warne heads the list of an infamous record till date despite retiring in the year 2007.
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Apart from the mouth-watering battle which involves the primary usage of the bat, ball, and some verbal exchanges in the form of sledges between the players, the other aspect which draws the fans’ attention towards any sport in the world is the numbers and statistics.
The numbers, in most cases are indicative of a player’s reputation or the lack of it, in a particular aspect of his/her game.
On the flip side, there are also some stats which has nothing to do in terms of measurement of a player’s value in his team, his strengths, or his weakness. They exist simply because they do!
One such innocuous stat involves the legendary Aussie leg-spinner Shane Warne. It is in fact a record which is yet to broken by any International player, even after 14 years of his retirement which he took back in 2007.
Most runs without a century in Tests: Shane Warne tops the chart
The second-highest wicket-taker in Test format (708 wickets) has an infamous record with the bat as well. While it is yet to the ascertained whether the 52-year-old is proud of this record as well, the fact is that Shane Warne is the undisputed record-holder so far for having scored the most runs in the Test format without a century to boast of.
Having featured in 145 Tests for Australia, Warne has batted in a total of 199 innings without scoring a century. The former leg-spinner has scored a total of 3154 runs at an average of 17.32 in his career with the help of 12 half-centuries, and a top-score of 99 against New Zealand at Perth in 2001.
Right behind him is Sri Lanka’s Niroshan Dickwella with 2443 runs across 45 Tests (80 innings) at an average of 32.57. He is the only active player in the Top 5 of this infamous list, falling short of 702 runs as the numbers stand currently. The other players completing the Top-5 are India’s Chetan Chauhan, followed by West Indies’ Deryck Murray and Malcolm Marshall.
| Player | Span | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave |
| Shane Warne (AUS) | 1992-2007 | 145 | 199 | 17 | 3154 | 99 | 17.32 |
| Niroshan Dickwella (SL) | 2014-2021 | 45 | 80 | 5 | 2443 | 96 | 32.57 |
| Chetan Chauhan (INDIA) | 1969-1981 | 40 | 68 | 2 | 2084 | 97 | 31.57 |
| DL Murray (WI) | 1963-1980 | 62 | 96 | 9 | 1993 | 91 | 22.9 |
| MD Marshall (WI) | 1978-1991 | 81 | 107 | 11 | 1810 | 92 | 18.85 |
| VD Philander (SA) | 2011-2020 | 64 | 94 | 20 | 1779 | 74 | 24.04 |
| MA Starc (AUS) | 2011-2022 | 65 | 96 | 22 | 1747 | 99 | 23.6 |
| TG Southee (NZ) | 2008-2022 | 83* | 117 | 11 | 1743 | 77* | 16.44 |
| JE Emburey (ENG) | 1978-1995 | 64 | 96 | 20 | 1713 | 75 | 22.53 |
| HMRKB Herath (SL) | 1999-2018 | 93 | 144 | 28 | 1699 | 80* | 14.64 |
