A look at the highest individual scores for India in Men’s ODI cricket.
Rohit Sharma, the India all-format captain, holds the record for the highest individual score in ODI cricket, having smashed a staggering 264 off 173 against Sri Lanka in Kolkata in 2014. Returning from a finger injury that kept him out of action for two-and-a-half months, Rohit had a rather slow and scratchy start, but stood firm to get to a run-a-ball hundred in the 32nd over of the innings.
He unleashed thereafter to smash 164 off the last 73 balls he faced, becoming the first cricketer to register two ODI doubles in the process, and was dismissed on the final ball of the innings as India finished 404/5. Sri Lanka were bundled out for 251 in their chase, 13 fewer than what Rohit had managed on his own. Rohit’s innings was glittered with 33 fours and nine sixes.
Virender Sehwag, one of the most destructive batter across formats of his time, stroked a belligerent 219 off 149 against the West Indies in December 2011, after he had starred in India’s World Cup winning campaign earlier that year. Sehwag went past Sachin Tendulkar’s 200*, the then record, with a boundary off Andre Russell in just the 44th over of the Indian innings, before being dismissed in the 47th. He smashed 25 fours and seven sixes in a stroke-filled outing, and powered India to 418/5, their highest ODI total till date.
India bundled out West Indies for 265 to complete a 153-run win.
Ishan Kishan joined an elite list featuring Indian ODI greats, becoming the fourth from the country to register a double in the format in the third ODI against Bangladesh in Chattogram on Saturday, December 10. Interestingly, Kishan would not have made it to the starting XI, had skipper Rohit Sharma not been ruled out with injury. The 24-year-old grabbed the opportunity with open arms, smashing the fastest ODI double off just 126 balls.
Kishan added 290 for the second wicket with Virat Kohli, the third-highest ODI partnership for India for any wicket, the latter himself getting to his 44th ODI hundred. Kishan was eventually dismissed for 210 off 131, not before striking 24 fours and 10 sixes, setting it up for India to finish 409/8 after being put in to bat.
That’s the way to do it. Brilliant from Ishan Kishan. This is the approach that will do Team India a world of good. #INDvsBAN pic.twitter.com/PepchFwFF1
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) December 10, 2022
A year that marked the turnaround of Rohit Sharma, the ODI batter, his 209 in the series decider against Australia was perhaps the peak. Rohit had starred in India’s victorious Champions Trophy campaign in England earlier this year, forming a formidable opening pair with Shikhar Dhawan, and had done so in India’s two 350-plus run-chases in the home series against Australia too.
Rohit added 112 with Dhawan for the opening wicket, but the latter’s dismissal followed by a mix-up that resulted in Virat Kohli’s runout somewhat pegged India back. The right-hander, though, took on Australia’s spinners in the middle overs, and unleashed at the back end in company of then skipper MS Dhoni to help the hosts take control. India smashed 101 off the final five overs of the innings, with Rohit smashing a staggering 16 sixes, the 15th off Clint McKay getting him to his double hundred. India eventually won the contest by 57 runs, despite James Faulkner’s heroic 116 off 73 in Australia’s spirited chase.
Three years after his majestic 264, Rohit took on Sri Lanka yet again, this time smashing an unbeaten 208, the highest individual score by a captain in ODIs. As he had done in his previous two double-hundreds, Rohit started off watchfully, playing the anchor in a 115-run opening stand with Shikhar Dhawan, and gained fluency during his 203-run partnership with a young Shreyas Iyer.
As the innings progressed, Sri Lanka found no answers to Rohit’s rampaging assault, who smashed 13 fours and 12 sixes at a venue with fairly long boundary dimensions to help India finish 392/4, setting it up for a series-levelling 141-run win.
Sachin Tendulkar, who set various benchmarks and records across Tests and ODIs during a 24-year-long glittering career, fittingly happened to be the first cricketer to breach the 200-run mark in Men’s ODIs. Months after his imperious 175 in a narrow three-run defeat against Australia in Hyderabad, Tendulkar, aged 36 then, took on an attack comprising Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis, Wayne Parnell and Charl Langeveldt in a sublime batting display at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior.
Tendulkar added 194 with Dinesh Karthik, and another 81 with Yusuf Pathan after Virender Sehwag’s early dismissal, and stood at an unbeaten 186 at the end of the 43rd over. Amidst the big hits from skipper MS Dhoni at the other end, a brace in the 46th over got Tendulkar past Saeed Anwar’s then record of 194, before a single off the third ball of the final over got him to the historic first.
India finished 401/3, enough to seal a series-clinching 153-run win.
