10 famous cricketers who missed major career milestones

Cricket is a team sport where 11 individuals try to help each other to achieve success. While playing for the team, some cricketers notch up some brilliant milestones that stand the test of time. However, there are times when batters adopt more of a conservative approach once they get closer to a century. Bowlers also tend to go the extra mile when they have bagged four wickets as they strive to register a five-for.

However, there are many major cricketing milestones that cricketers have missed during their careers. While some may look back on them with disappointment years after their retirement, others may be content on what they have achieved during their careers.

On this note, let’s take a look at 10 famous cricketers who missed major career milestones:

10. Mohammad Azharuddin

The former India captain played 99 Tests for India before he was banned for life by the BCCI in 2000 for his alleged involvement in match-fixing. However, the Andhra Pradesh High Court went on to declare the ban “illegal” in 2012. This allowed Azharuddin to take part in cricket administration. However, his dream of playing 100 Test matches for India remained unfulfilled.

9. Hanif Mohammed

Hanif Mohammad was the first great batter to emerge from Pakistan. He came ever so close to becoming the first quintuple-centurion in first-class cricket when he was batting for Karachi against Bahawalpur in the Quaid-e-Azam semi-final in January 1959. He raced past Don Bradman’s previous record of 452. However, as stumps on Day 3 was on the horizon, Hanif wanted to get to 500 as soon as possible. The scoreboard showed that he was batting on 496, and he tried to take a risky run but was dismissed run out. However, after returning to the dressing room, he found out that the scorer made a mistake and that he was actually batting on 499.

8. Brian Lara, Rahul Dravid

Brian Lara was often compared to Sachin Tendulkar because of his class and consistency. The left-handed batter amassed 11,953 runs from 131 Tests at an average of 52.89. He fell only 47 runs short of entering the 12,000-run club. On the other hand, Rahul Dravid, the iconic Indian batter, finished his ODI career with 10,889 runs in 344 matches, averaging 39.17. Another 111 runs and he could have been the third Indian cricketer after Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly to notch up 11,000 runs in the 50-over format. Since Dravid’s retirement, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have gone past his tally and entered the 11,000-run club.

7. Jack Hobbs

England batter Jack Hobbs holds the record for the most first-class centuries in the game of cricket. He reached the three-figure mark on 199 occasions in red-ball cricket. Patsy Hendren comes second on the list with 170 first-class centuries. Apart from his 199 first-class centuries, Hobbs amassed 273 fifties.

6. Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag became the first Indian batter to score a triple century in Test cricket in 2004 against Pakistan. He repeated the feat four years later against South Africa. However, he could have created history in 2009, had he scored just seven more runs against Sri Lanka. The Nawab of Najafgarh was dismissed for 293 off 254 balls against Sri Lanka. Had he scored seven more runs, he would have been the first cricketer to have registered three triple tons in Test cricket.

5. Virat Kohli

As Virat Kohli‘s career progressed, and he broke one record after another, it almost seemed certain that he would breach the 10,000-run mark in Tests as well as ODIs. While he has already belted more than 14,000 runs in ODI cricket, he retired from the longest format on May 12, 2025, with 9230 runs to his name, only 770 short of the magical five-figure mark.

4. Sachin Tendulkar

The legendary Sachin Tendulkar registered 51 centuries in Test cricket. However, in the ODI format, he had to be content with 49 tons. The Master Blaster also announced his retirement from the game with 15,921 runs to his name. He fell 79 runs short of 16,000 runs in the red-ball format. Tendulkar also finished with 96 half-centuries to his name in ODI cricket.

3. MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni shocked the cricket fraternity when he announced his retirement from Test cricket in the middle of the 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He had played 90 Test matches at the time and was only 33 years old. Meanwhile, Dhoni drew curtains on his international career after playing 98 T20Is.

2. Mark Boucher

Mark Boucher is one of the finest wicketkeepers of all time. He also holds the record for most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in international cricket. The South African cricketer represented the Proteas from 1997 to 2012 and played 467 international games. He had 952 catches and 46 stumpings to his name – a total of 998 dismissals across the three formats, missing the unprecedented 1000-mark by merely two dismissals.

1. James Anderson

James Anderson played international cricket till the age of 41. He has more wickets in international cricket than any other bowler. He played 188 Tests, 194 ODIs, and 19 T20Is. The legendary fast bowler accounted for 991 wickets in international cricket. He said that he was willing to continue playing international cricket for 12-18 months. The Burnley-born would have easily finished with 1000-plus wickets had he continued playing till he wanted. However, England coach Brendon McCullum, along with Rob Key and Ben Stokes, asked Anderson to bid farewell to international cricket and they offered him a farewell match, which he accepted.