Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Double Hundreds in ODIs

Since the popularity growth of 20-20 cricket, speculation on when a batsmen will get an ODI double hundred and who the first one might be has been doing the rounds.

I have been part of a number of such discussions, even moreso during the IPL.

Adam Gilchrist used to be a unanimous choice as the first one to do it, but he had moved on to greater things.

Sanath Jayasuriya and Shahid Afridi are other names that have been thrown around. The former is in his final few years, while the latter can't last 34 deliveries.

Today saw the 8th List A double hundred when England batsman Ravi Bopara hammered an unbeaten 201 for Essex against Leicestershire in the quarterfinal of the Friends Provident Trophy.

Bopara's unbeaten knock came off only 138 deliveries with the help of 10 sixes and 18 fours.

He became the 7th batsmen in the history of List A cricket to get to 200.

Only 3 of those 7 batsmen have played international cricket - Alvin Kallicharan and Alistair Brown being the other 2.

Ali Brown has achieved the feat twice and he's played a handful of ODIs for England.

Bopara was one of the several England cricketers who claimed to have declined an offer to play in the IPL. The reason given was to concentrate on cementing positions in the England side.

Bopara has done himself no harm - he will probably be named in the ODI squad to take on the Kiwis later this month, and this innings will also go some way in fetching him a higher price for next year's IPL.

Well done Ravi Bopara.

I'm not sure how good the Leicester bowling attack was, but a 201* in a 50 over game is an amazing feat.

Who will do it first in ODIs?

That we still don't know.

Make your pitch on this post...



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11 Pitched:

  1. John said...
     

    McCullum?

  2. Anonymous said...
     

    My money is on Aakash Chopra.

  3. Q said...
     

    McCullum might be it John...

    I doubt Akash will play an ODI ever ;-)

    If only Afridi could survive 80 odd deliveries, i reckon he'll get there..

  4. straight point said...
     

    apna viru...

  5. Samir Chopra said...
     

    I think you mean 37 deliveries.

  6. Q said...
     

    Viru could be it SP.

    Sam, 34x6=204, i.e. the min num of balls required to get to 200 ..

  7. Samir Chopra said...
     

    Oops. I thought you were referring to the fact that he can't last as long as his first innings.

  8. Gaurav Sethi said...
     

    always thought anwar+runner vs india would get there first; then ijaz vs india, and then srt or dada vs minnow, msd or sehwag vs sub cont team.
    the double has passed them.
    reckon it'll be a relative unknown with no fear, min thinking.
    strangely sehwag still fits that bill.

  9. Q said...
     

    Yeah NC, Anwar looked like getting there.. as did Gibbs during his 175..

    I think McCullum and Sehwag are the current best bets...

  10. Anonymous said...
     

    Don't forget Jesse Ryder.

  11. Q said...
     

    Lets hope he can bat that long LB - his drinking problems may weigh down (no pun intended) his chances.

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