5 batsmen with most Test hundreds in a losing cause 

Cricket, despite remaining a team sport, is at its very core run by an individual’s ability to consistently scalp the wickets or score the runs. If he is not able to receive adequate support from his teammates, his efforts often cause a situation where the cricketer in question is better than the side he turns out for.

He might at times be the sole warrior and score the runs, while the team around him is unable to cope up and ends up succumbing without a fight. Many legends of the game have been in a situation where they have been unable to garner adequate support from the other players in his team and even though he might fight on, his efforts eventually fall short.

Here are the top 5 batsmen with the most Test hundreds in a losing cause.

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#5 Andy Flower from Zimbabwe – 7 Test hundreds

Andy Flower’s Test career with Zimbabwe can often tread the path of pathos. He was so consistent and so talented that at times, many were often left wondering what he could have achieved if he had played for a team other than Zimbabwe. He was one of the best players of spin bowling in the world and was already a very assured bowler of fast bowling, which made him such a threatening opener.

He scored 12 centuries for his team in 63 games at an average of 51.54, of which seven centuries were in losing causes. Zimbabwe only won 7 games when he played, which only further shows the great divide between Flower and his other teammates.

#4 Younis Khan from Pakistan – 7 Test hundreds

Out of the 118 matches that Pakistan’s Younis Khan played, 45 ended in a defeat for the team. He batted on 89 instances when the team would go on to lose the game, scoring at a paltry average of 32.89, with seven hundreds and 12 half centuries.

On the contrary, he had 19 hundreds in a win, which reinforces how important his contributions were for Pakistan.

#3 Shivnarine Chanderpaul from the West Indies – 9 Test hundreds

77 games out of the 164 that Shivnarine Chanderpaul played ended in a defeat for the West Indies. However, he, along with Brian Lara were the sole heroes for the team that had been struggling ever since the former greats retired from the game.

In losses, he scored 5370 runs, with nine hundreds and 32 fifties at 40.07. Three of the seven hundreds in a loss have come in England – a land that is supposedly meant to be anything but a batting paradise for most visiting teams.

He averaged 42.33 in losses abroad, which only highlights his great temperament and technique – qualities that were lacking in the other members of the Test side from the West Indies.

#2 Sachin Tendulkar from India – 11 Test hundreds

It is not surprising that India’s Sachin Tendulkar finds a spot in this list. For someone who has played 200 Test matches, it is but inevitable that he would have faced a number of losses in his career. 56 games in his career ended on the wrong side, and Tendulkar’s average of 37 in them has got the critics attacking his contributions when the team was under pressure.

In 112 innings that he batted when the team would go on to lose; he made 11 hundreds and 18 fifties. However, it was not until the latter part of the first decade of the millennium that the Indian team became a force to reckon with. For most parts of the first ten years, the team would hardly balance each other out and Tendulkar would often be the lone man standing.

#1 Brian Lara from the West Indies – 14 Test hundreds

More than half of Brian Lara’s innings ended in a defeat. He batted in 232 innings throughout his career, of which 126 ended on the wrong side. He scored 14 of his 34 tons in a losing cause and all-in-all scored 5316 runs at 42.19 in losses. These numbers only highlight the abysmal state of affairs in the West Indian cricket. Despite having Chanderpaul and Lara in their ranks, the team kept stumbling to one defeat after another on a constant basis.

Five of Lara’s 14 hundreds in a loss came against the Australians and it further highlights the ability of this great man.