Cricketers who ended their century drought in 2022

Cricketers who ended their century drought in 2022 : The most wonderful feeling a batter can experience is hitting a century. Some batsmen, like Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Joe Root, and others, developed the habit of scoring three figures over time.

However, there are occasions when a batter is denied the joy of reaching three digits for an extended period of time due to a combination of poor form, pitch conditions, bowling attack, luck, and personal belief.

To the delight of the crowd, the year 2022 saw some of the top athletes in the sport go all out and end the century-long drought.

Let’s take a look at the batters who eventually hit three figures after a long stretch of failure as 2022 winds down.

Cheteshwar Pujara :

• The fact that this middle-order veteran only plays Test cricket has a lot to do with the fact that this is the list’s longest century drought. On January 3, 2019, Pujara scored his 193rd century against Australia.
• After this outstanding inning, Pujara’s century drought began. He accrued 314 innings throughout the course of the remaining 2019 at an average of 31.40, including four half-centuries.
• For the most of 2020 and 2021, Pujara struggled. He scored 865 runs in 34 innings in 18 Test matches during this span, with seven half-centuries, at an unimpressive average of 26.21.
• Pujara played for Sussex this year in county cricket after two seasons of underwhelming performance. In his eight County Championship games for Sussex, he amassed 1,094 runs at an average of 109.40.
• In the final game, he scored more than 500 runs in 13 innings, with the highest score being 231. The championship’s fourth-highest run scorer was him. Pujara eventually ended his 1,443-day century drought on December 14 of this year by reaching 102* against Bangladesh, his 19th international cricket century.

Steve Smith :

• In comparison to players like Virat Kohli, Joe Root of England, and Kane Williamson of New Zealand, who make up the “Fab Four,” this Australian hitter is one of the top Test cricketers of this age. However, this dazzling, unconventional batter also had a protracted fight to get a century.
• Smith’s statistics fell after scoring 131 against India in January 2021. Smith then went on to score 863 runs at an average of 35.95 over the next 26 innings, including eight half-centuries.
• Steve Smith, after Donald Bradman’s legendary status as Australia’s best Test hitter was established, became unbeatable.
• On July 8th, 2022, things were different. In subcontinental conditions, Smith went up against a Sri Lankan bowling attack. Smith stood out among the batters who were having trouble scoring.
• He brought in his 39th global century. It had been more than 1.5 years since his previous century.
• Smith has returned to his regular duties despite Australia losing the Test by an innings and 39 runs.
• Since then, he has added two more centuries to his tonne total, taking it to 41, along with a double ton.

Virat Kohli :

• Virat hit his 70th century against Bangladesh on November 22, 2019. Fans anticipated that the great batter will continue to provide continuous performances as usual and quickly reach his 100th century within the next few years, potentially breaking the record of 100 centuries held by famous cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.
• He scored 842 runs in 2020, at an average of 36.60, in 22 matches, including seven fifty-scores. He scored 964 runs in 24 matches the next year, averaging 37.07, with ten fifty-sixes in 30 innings.
• He had not even reached 500 runs across all formats by the end of July 2022. He made the decision to take a break and concentrate on his mental health at this time, before to the Asia Cup 2022 in August. He did not even pick up his bat throughout this month-long break.
• Finally, Virat brought up his first century in T20Is, ending a 1,021-day century drought on September 8th, 2022. The day ultimately proved to be the day when Virat was at the top of his game, destroying Afghan bowlers handily. He scored 122* off 61 balls to finish the game, including 12 boundaries and 6 sixes.

Virat followed it up against Bangladesh in November with a 91-ball 113. His 72nd international cricket match, 44th ODI match, and second of 2022 were both in this one.

David Warner :

• On January 14, 2020, Warner scored an unbroken 128* against India, recording his 43rd international century. He spent 67 innings after this without scoring a century.
• He had 20 half-centuries during this span, 2,171 runs at an average of 33.92, and several opportunities to reach his 44th tonne.
• After 1,043 days, Warner finally achieved his century on November 22, 2022.
• In the third one-day international of the series, which Australia won, he struck a brilliant 106 against England.

Also, read : https://www.sportstrumpet.com/pak-vs-nz-sarfaraz-rejoins-the-test-squad-after-4-years/