Cricket : Fastest ODI Centuries Scorers of All Time

ODI cricket or 50 over cricket is very popular format of the cricket match since its inception. ODI cricket has been dominated mostly by the batsmen as ODI rules are more in favor to batsman than the bowlers. Here in this article we are going to see the list of fastest ODI hundred scorers in the ODI cricket history. Corey Anderson the all-rounder from New Zealand holds the record of fastest century in the history of ODI cricket. Corey Anderson scored the century in just 36 balls against West Indies hitting 12 sixes and bettered the record of Shahid Afridi by 1 ball.

Corey Anderson : Fastest ODI Century Scorer in ODI Cricket History

Earlier the record was held by Pakistan's flamboyant all-round cricketer Shahid Afridi. Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi scored 2nd fastest ODI century against Sri Lanka in just 37 balls hitting 11 sixes and 4 fours in his whirl wind inning way back in 1996. The record made by Afridi remained on top for approximately 18 long years. The below given list of fastest ODI century scorers is dominated by the cricketers from the Asian sub-continent.

Shahid Afridi : Fastest ODI Century Scorer from Asia

South African wicket-keeper batsman Mark Boucher holds the record of scoring 3rd fastest ODI hundred against Zimbabwe in 2006. Boucher completed his century in just 44 balls hitting 10 sixes and 8 fours. West Indies great batsman Brian Lara scored fourth fastest ODI hundred against Bangladesh in just 45 balls. Lara struck 4 sixes and 18 boundaries in 1999 to complete the century. Shahid Afridi also holds the record of scoring fifth fastest ODI century against the Indian in just 45 balls comprising of 9 sixes and 10 fours.

List of Fastest Century Scorers in ODI Cricket

Player(Country)	Runs	Balls	Sixes	Fours	Opponent	Year
Corey Anderson(NZ)	131*	36	14	06	WestIndies	2014
Shahid Afridi(PAK)	102	37	11	06	Sri Lanka	1996
Mark Boucher(RSA)	147*	44	10	18	Zimbabwe	2006
Brian Lara(WI)	117	45	04	18	Bangladesh	1999
Shahid Afridi(PAK)	102	45	09	10	India	2005
S Jayasuriya(SL)	134	48	11	11	Pakistan	1996
Kevin O’Brien(IRE)	113	50	06	13	England	2011
Virat Kohli(IND)	100*	52	07	08	Australia	2013
Shahid Afridi(PAK)	124	53	04	17	Bangladesh	2010
S Jayasuriya(SL)	130	55	06	16	Bangladesh	2008

Indian batting sensation Virat Kohli is only player from India to get his name into the list of fastest century scorers with hundred in just 52 balls. Virat Kohli scored this century against the Australia hitting 7 sixes and 8 fours in recently concluded Star-Sports ODI Cricket Series 2013. This list is dominated by Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi who has scored three of the top 10 fastest ODI hundreds followed by Sanath Jayasuriya who has two hundreds in his name. 

Virat Kohli : Fastest ODI Cricket Century Scorer from India

Apart from the Shahid Afridi and Sanath Jayasuriya players like Virat Kohli, Kevin O’Brien, Brian Lara and Mark Boucher have their name in the list of top 10 fastest ODI century scorers in ODI cricket history. This list is quite surprising as it doesn't have a single player from the Australian cricket team. Australian team has dominated the ODI cricket along with the West Indies for the most period of time since the inception of ODI cricket. 

There have been many changes in the ODI cricket rules such as two new balls in an innings and presence of 4 fielders at most in an inning. The way rule of ODI cricket has changed this list is definitely going to see the addition of the new names in the near future soon as these rules are more suitable for the free scoring of batsman. Inception of the T20 cricket has also helped batsman to play more strokes even in the 50 over format of cricket.

Best ODI Batsmen in Cricket of All Time

               Cricket is second most popular game on the planet and this game is governed by the ICC. It is known by all there are three different formats of the game namely they are Test, ODIs and  T20. Earlier I have written articles about the batsmen who are leading run scorers in Test format, ODI format and T20 format. ODI cricket started way back in 1975 since then there has been number of batsman so here we are going to take a look on the top 10 batsman in ODI Cricket format of All time.

10. Javed Miandad

Javed Miandad is considered as the best ODI Cricket batsman played for the Pakistan cricket team. He was very good player both in defense as well as in the attacking form of the cricket. He played most of his match as the middle order batsman. He was popularly called as the Pakistani run machine. Javed Miandad had very good record for an ODI cricket batsman of his time.

Javed Miandad Playing a shot

Batting Record :

Matches	Runs	Average	St. Rate	50s	100s	Best Score
233	7381	41.70	67.01	50	8	119*

9.Desmond Haynes

Desmond Haynes of West Indies is regarded as the one of the greatest opener in the history of cricket. His pairing with the Greenidge is regarded as one of the best opening pair in ODI cricket. He played most of his cricket when the West Indies cricket was on top in the world. Haynes was one of the reasons why West Indies succeeded to stay so long on top in international cricket.

Desmond Haynes-West Indies Great

Batting Record :

Matches	Runs	Average	St. Rate	50s	100s	Best Score
238	8648	41.37	63.09	57	17	152*

8. Saeed Anwar

Saeed Anwar was left handed opening batsman from Pakistan held the record of the highest score in an inning of ODI cricket match for very long time before it was broken by Sachin Tendulkar. He was highly successful opener and regarded as the one of the greats in ODI cricket. He played most of his cricket for Pakistan as the specialist opening batsman in ODIs.

Saeed Anwar- Greatest Pakistan Opener

Batting Record :

Matches	Runs	Average	St. Rate	50s	100s	Best Score
247	8824	39.21	80.67	43	20	194

7. Kumar Sangakkara

Kumar Sangakkara is left handed wicket keeper-batsman from Sri Lanka and he is at 7th position in the list of top 10 ODI cricket batsman of all time. He has very good career average and he has contributed a lot to the Srilanka as well as to International cricket. He is one of the most successful Sri Lanka ODI cricketer.

Kumar Sangakkara- Wicket-Keeper Batsman

Batting Record :

Matches	Runs	Average	St. Rate	50s	100s	Best Score
351*	11632	39.69	76.29	77	16	169

6. Brian Lara

West Indies cricketer Brian Charles Lara was left handed batsman very famous for his unorthodox stance of batting and still being highly successful in ODI cricket. He has been considered as the toughest batsman to bowl in the ODI cricket. He carried the whole West Indies cricket team on his shoulder for very long long time. He was always compared with the Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis as the best ODI cricket batsman. 

Brian Lara- Greatest Left Handed Batsman

Batting Record :

Matches	Runs	Average	St. Rate	50s	100s	Best Score
299	10405	40.48	79.51	63	19	169

5. Sourav Ganguly

Left handed Indian opening batsman Sourav Ganguly considered as the "God of Off-side" as he was just too strong on the off side. He was very dangerous for spinners to bowl against him as he used his feet very effectively to hit them for massive sixes. His opening pair with Sachin Tendulkar is considered as the best opening pair in the ODI cricket history of all time.

Sourav Ganguly-Greatest Indian Skipper

Batting Record :

Matches	Runs	Average	St. Rate	50s	100s	Best Score
311	11363	41.02	73.70	72	22	183

 

4. Jacques Kallis

South African right handed middle order batsman Jacques Kallis has very good record in the ODI format of the cricket. He is considered as one of the best batsman at number 3 position in ODI cricket history. He was a highly useful medium fast bowler too and won many matches for South Africa with his all-round abilities. He is regarded as the greatest batsman in the history of the South African cricket as well as the greatest All-rounder in ODI cricket history.

 

Jacques Kallis- Greatest South African Player  

Batting Record :

Matches	Runs	Average	St. Rate	50s	100s	Best Score
321	11498	45.26	72.97	85	17	139

3. Vivian Richards

West Indies cricketer Sir Vivian "Viv" Richards is considered as the most dangerous batsman in the history of ODI cricket to bowl. He had unmatchable hitting skill to even a very good bowl. He played most of his cricket when ODI cricket came into the picture still he has incredible batting record. He is also considered as the most feared batsman in history so he at 3rd position in our list of best ODI batsmen of all time.

Sir Vivian Richards- Master of ODI

Batting Record :

Matches	Runs	Average	St. Rate	50s	100s	Best Score
187	6721	47.00	90.20	45	11	189*

2. Ricky Ponting

Australian right handed batsman Ricky Ponting batted at the number 3 in most of his international cricket career. He was equally strong against the spin bowlers as well as against pace bowlers. He has very good record to support his 2nd position in the all time great ODI batsman list. He is only skipper to win two ODI Cricket world cups. He is also rated as the greatest skipper in the history of ODI cricket.

Ricky Ponting- Greatest ODI Skipper

Batting Record :

Matches	Runs	Average	St. Rate	50s	100s	Best Score
375	13704	42.03	80.39	82	30	164

1. Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar the right handed Indian opening batsman is at the top position of best ODI cricket batsman. He has unmatchable batting record like he is the first one to score 200, highest ODI runs etc in the ODI cricket history. It is said that he has the best stance and has the capacity to hit a ball in six different areas of the ground. He is also the highest run scorer, highest century scorer in the history of ODI cricket. He is referred as the "God of Cricket".

Sachin Tendulkar-Best ODI Cricket Batsmen of All Time

Batting Record :

Matches	Runs	Average	St. Rate	50s	100s	Best Score
463	18426	44.83	86.23	96	49	200*

              While preparing the list of Best ODI batsmen of all time, the criteria has been Average, Runs, Matches and Strike Rate of the batsmen in his international ODI career. Sir Vivian  Richards is an exception as in his era the number of matches played were very less as compared to today, so he has been given slight benefit for that.

              What do you think of this list ? Have I missed someone to include in the top 10 ODI batsman of all time list ? Feel free to drop your comment and suggestion in the comment box.