Top 5 innings by Indian batsmen in ODIs

India have produced many of international cricket’s finest batsmen over the years. Here I attempt to list the five best innings in One Day International (ODI) cricket by Indian batsmen.

5. 133* Virat Kohli Vs Sri Lanka 2012

In a must-win match during the 2012 tri-nation series in Australia, India found themselves chasing a stiff target of 320. India however needed to secure a bonus point in addition to winning the match, which meant the target needed to be achieved inside 40 overs.

Openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar got India off to a good start but both batsmen were dismissed inside the first ten overs of the Indian innings. Virat Kohli walked out to bat at number four at the fall of Tendulkar’s wicket with the Indian total at 86-2. The Sri Lankans had as many as five pace bowlers playing in the match, including their spearhead of the attack, Lasith Malnga.

Gautam Gambhir and Kohli got the Indian run chase back on track, collecting as many singles and twos as they could, in addition to putting the bad deliveries away to the fence. Kohli survived a close run out chance while batting on 27, as Gambhir started to open up at the other end. India were scoring at a healthy run rate of 7.60 runs/over at the 25th over, but the required rate to secure the bonus point was still hovering around 9.00 runs/over. Gambhir was run out in the 28th over and Suresh Raina walked out to join Kohli. India still needed another 113 runs off 72 balls at this stage to win with a bonus point.

Kohli hit three consutive fours off Nuwan Kulasekara, but the decisive over happened four overs later. Kohli reached the 90s as Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene turned to Malinga with 42 runs needed off 36 balls. Kohli reached his century picking two off the very first ball. The rest of the over read 6,4,4,4,4 as Kohli used wrists and bat speed to thrash a helpless Malinga all over the Bellerive Oval at Hobart.

India eventually managed to chase the total in just the 37th over, Kohli deservedly hitting the winning four, off the bowling of Malinga. India won the match by 7 wickets and secured the bonus point in the process.

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4. 175* Kapil Dev Vs Zimbabwe 1983

In a World Cup best remembered for India’s upset over the reigning World Champions West Indies in the final, another innings deserved as much attention for its sheer audacity and brilliance. Exactly a week before the final at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, India’s Kapil Dev produced arguably his best knock in limited overs cricket in a media-boycotted fixture against minnows Zimbabwe.

Batting first, India were reduced to an embarassing 17-5, when number seven batsman Roger Binny joined Dev at the wicket. Dev and Binny put on 60 runs for the seventh wicket, taking the total to 77-6. Ravi Shastri fell just one run later, as India looked certain to be bundled out under a total of 100.

Kapil Dev however had other ideas, as he smashed his way, first to a half-century and then to a gutsy hundred, with Madan Lal at the other end for support. India had reached a more respectable total of 140 when Lal was dismissed, but Kapil was still not finished. In a powerful display of dominating batsmanship, India’s skipper took his side over the 200 run mark, and brought up his 150.

Kapil Dev hit 16 fours and 6 sixes in one of the most remarkable ODI innings, as India ended on 266-8 after the full 60 overs. The match was not covered by media due to an unanimous boycott. It was Kapil Dev who had the last laugh however, as he picked up the last Zimbabwean wicket, to bowl out the minnows for just 235 and complete the 310-run victory for the Indians.

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3. 200* Sachin Tendulkar vs South Africa 2010

In February 2010, India’s Sachin Tendulkar earned a well-deserved distinction, becoming the first-ever batsman to reach the 200-run mark in limited overs cricket. Tendulkar, opening the innings for India in a match against South Africa at Gwalior, carried his bat right through the Indian innings, and reached the milestone in the very last over off the bowling of South Africa’s Charl Langeveldt.

Tendulkar broke many a record along the way, and was especially severe on South African fast bowler Dale Steyn during his masterly crafted knock. India posted a total of 401, which was more than enough to secure a 153-run victory in the game.

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2. 134 Sachin Tendulkar Vs Australia 1998

On his 25th birthday, Sachin Tendulkar played one of ODI cricket’s most iconic innings, helping India win the tri-nation Coca-Cola Cup, belting the Australian bowlers around the Sharjah Cricket Ground.

Chasing a total of 273 runs for victory, Tendulkar took matters into his own hands right from the very beginning of the Indian run chase. Tendulkar put on 89 runs for the second wicket with Nayan Mongia, and then another 120 runs for the third wicket with skipper Mohammad Azharuddin.

In all, Tendulkar lasted 44 overs of the Indian innings, before he was finally given leg before wicket off the bowling off Australian bowler Damien Fleming (who was celebrating his 28th birthday that night).

The innings came just two days after Tendulkar played another blinder (143) against the same opposition and at the same venue. The two innings have since been rated highly by Tendulkar himself as his two best innings in ODI cricket.

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1. 91* MS Dhoni Vs Sri Lanka 2011

On the biggest nights for Indian cricket in 28 years, India’s captain MS Dhoni came to the fore and hit the winning six to seal the 2011 Cricket World Cup, thereby crowning India as the World Champions. Sri Lanka batted first in the final and thanks largely to a sublime effort from batsman Mahela Jayawardene, the Lankans managed to put on a total of 274 runs in their 50 overs.

In response, India got off to a poor start, losing opener Virender Sehwag off the second ball of the innings. Local boy Sachin Tendulkar fell six overs later and India were struggling at 31-2. Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli steadied the Indian innings, but when Kohli fell for 35 to Tillakaratne Dilshan, the game was again in the balance.

India’s MS Dhoni walked out to bat in the 22nd over of the Indian innings. Dhoni initially found it tough to get going, scoring just 13 runs off his first 24 balls. With Gambhir going strong at the other end and the Lankan bowlers losing their edge, Dhoni took charge and started to hit the ball with great strength all around the Wankhede Stadium.

The duo kept the required rate under control, and steadied the Indian run chase. Gambhir fell three runs short of his century in the 42nd over, but there was no letting up in the run-rate with Dhoni at the wicket. Dhoni hit eight fours and one six in his effort, his first fifty in the 2011 World Cup. And then in the penultimate over of the Indian innings, Dhoni swung his bat and hit Nuwan Kulasekara over the long-on boundary to spark off wild celebrations on a famous victotry for India in Mumbai.