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.
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.
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.
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