Batsmen with fastest strike rates when scoring an ODI century

His criticism aside, Rohit Sharma rescued a trembling ship with lan to steer India from the seas of doldrums to the shores of safety.Patient to reach yet another ODI hundred, he kept his best for the last once again as hismarauder ofthe opposition bowling attackvirtually sealed the game for his team.The innings makes one wonder, who are the others who whirlwind their way past the hapless opposition the way Rohit did yesterday?Here, we take a look at these match-winners who almost invariably take the game away from the opposition once they end up on the higher side of the smallest three-digit score. In other words, we look at the players who have the highest strike rate whilst scoring a century.The criterion of the list is simple - The player should have a minimum 6 centuries to his credit.A few notable omissions that may surprise you:Players100sStrike RateRank in ListYuvraj Singh13111.0111Shane Watson9110.0212Sir Vivian Richards11108.7014Matthew Hayden10107.1016Shikhar Dhawan8104.4021Kevin Pietersen9101.1228Chris Gayle22100.1034Herschelle Gibbs2196.3542Other interesting observations:Rahul Dravid, dubbed as one of the slower players around during his career slammed ODI hundreds at a strike rate of94.89whereas the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, often criticized for slowing down before reaching his century ended at a rather healthy 99.90There might be a school of thought that may believe that the minimum cut-off is too low. In response to this, only 4 players in the list have less than 10 centuries and only 4 out of the next 15 have more than 10 centuries, thus ensuring the sanctity of the list.

#10 Virat Kohli

We begin the list dominated by Indians (and Pakistanis, rather surprisingly) with one of the most dominating batsmen in the modern era – Virat Kohli

One look at Kohli is enough to conclude that he is an arrogant and brash cricketer who will play to the death. However, if you are led to believe that the same trait extends to his batting, it is a trap; for when he bats, he bats with the maturity and experience of an old warhorse with skills of a lion at prey.

Indeed, it is sometimes surprising as to how a character so forthcoming in nature can slip into the robes of a monk while he performs the penance of batting. Never one to play one rash shot too many, he still manages to get into the skin and dominate some of the best bowlers in the world presently.

The rate at which he keeps piling up these centuries is mind-boggling and the ‘strike rate’ at which he gets these are numbers that cannot be believed at first glance.

No. of hundreds	Strike Rate	Career Strike Rate	Difference
22	111.39	89.87	21.52

Fastest centuries:

100* (52) vs Australia at Jaipur

115* (66) vs Australia at Nagpur

#9 MS Dhoni

The current Indian skipper makes a rather expected entry to the list. Indeed, he has slowed down in recent years, but if one takes a look at his hundreds, 7 out of his 9 tons are before the beginning of this decade (Post 2010, one was in January 2010) meaning that the record stems from the seeds of the past.

A player of phenomenal ability, Dhoni curbs his attacking instincts, packs it into a bottle and keeps it away in a safe place until the situation so demands. But when he does, he unleashes a hurricane that gobbles up everything around it.

From a long-haired basher to one of the best finishers the game has ever seen, Dhoni has most certainly come a long way. Coming into bat as low as No. 6 or 7 these days, he hardly gets an opportunity to get a big one, but it takes nothing away from a glittering career he has bestowed upon us.

No. of hundreds	Strike Rate	Career Strike Rate	Difference
9	112.69	89.09	23.60

Fastest centuries:

139* (97) vs Africa XI at Chennai

183* (145) vs Sri Lanka at Jaipur

#8 Sanath Jayasuriya

The first of the ‘Terrific Opening Trio’ that feature in the list. There is not much to say about Sanath Jayasuriya that is relatively unknown. All his career, Jayasuriya followed only one policy – see the ball, hit the ball; see the ball, hit the ball harder; repeat.

The recently retired Mahela Jayawardene summed up Jayasuriya perfectly when he has this to say in a pre-match interview: “We have the same team combination, we go in with 10 players and one match-winner.”

Not many can boast of changing the way the game is played, but Arjuna Ranatunga’s brilliance and Jayasuriya’s class simply cannot be questioned. In an era where the first 15 overs were about surviving, Jayasuriya took on the bowlers much to their bewilderment and disbelief.

Far from being a one innings wonder, Jayasuriya ensured countless starts for the island nation and is often considered as the most destructive batsman they have ever produced.

To hold on to the list even after as many as 28 centuries speaks volumes of the feat achieved by this man.

No. of hundreds	Strike Rate	Career Strike Rate	Difference
28	113.33	91.20	22.13

Fastest centuries:

134 (65) vs Pakistan at Singapore

152 (99) vs England at Leeds

#7 Zaheer Abbas

One of the two rather surprising names on the list. More so because Zaheer Abbas achieved this mind-numbing statistic in 1981-1983 and if we add for ‘inflation’ during this period, it is equivalent to a modern day marauding handed out by someone of the calibre of AB de Villiers, perhaps.

For the relatively newer follower, Abbas is one of the greatest batsmen Pakistan have ever produced and certainly the most elegant of the lot. Somewhat dissimilar to perhaps the general trait of Pakistani players, Abbas was a touch player, a stroke-maker and not a hell-for-leather type of batsman.

Not dubbed the Asian Bradman for nothing, he till date remains the only Asian player with a hundred first-class tons to his credit.

Having made his debut in 1969, perhaps a generation before ODI cricket became the norm, one can only wonder how his limited overs career would have shaped had he been just a touch younger.

The only blemish in an otherwise rock-solid CV is that he never scored a century against the mighty West Indies, considered to be the acid-test back then.

No. of hundreds	Strike Rate	Career Strike Rate	Difference
7	114.55	84.40	30.15

Fastest centuries:

123 (87) vs Sri Lanka at Lahore

118 (86) vs India at Multan

#6 Adam Gilchrist

A list involving potential match-winners cannot be complete without Adam Gilchrist, can it? And what a player he was!

Gilchrist, the second of the featured trio, was probably the biggest match-winner of arguably the best side to ever play the game. And a CV like his will take some genuine beating.

Had Gilchrist made his debut another 10 years later, he would probably have achieved more than he already did. However, in a glittering career spanning more than a decade, his domination was such that his opponents were rattled and youngsters in Australia were advised not to don the gloves as long as he was around.

Once Gilchrist got going, the only factor saving the opposition team was an act of God or bad weather. More often than not, they did not intervene and by the time he was done, the opposition was left ducking for cover.

It is hence fitting that his fastest hundred won him the Man of the Match in the 2007 World Cup final; the perfect way for one of the best wicket-keeping batsmen ever to end his World Cup career.

No. of hundreds	Strike Rate	Career Strike Rate	Difference
16	114.92	96.94	17.98

Fastest centuries:

149 (104) vs Sri Lanka at Bridgetown

172 (126) vs Zimbabwe at Hobart

#5 Ijaz Ahmed

The biggest surprise on the list.

Ijaz Ahmed, along with Zaheer Abbas are the only two players who made their debut before 1990 to make this list. Ironically, both are from a country not too renowned for producing quality batsmen.

Ijaz was never your out and out hitter and played in an era where power hitting was not as rampant as the way it is today. A typical no. 3 batsman, he would come in and dictate the pace of the game to suit the needs of his team.

Not as elegant as his contemporaries such as Inzamam-ul-Haq or Saleem Malik, he did possess the ability to shift from first gear to fifth gear pretty quickly, though. And he did this with some panache once he got past the three digit barrier.

No. of hundreds	Strike Rate	Career Strike Rate	Difference
10	116.79	80.30	36.49

Fastest centuries:

139* (84) vs India at Lahore

124* (87) vs Bangladesh at Chittagong

#4 Rohit Sharma

Yes, the player who trigged the list also makes his way to the top half of the table.

It is a complete pleasure to watch Rohit Sharma bat once he reaches his century. From the cut to the pull to the lofted short over long off and long on, there is absolutely nowhere a hapless bowler can bowl to him.

Though Rohit has only 7 centuries to his name yet, he has made above 130 in as many as five of them, which speaks tremendously about his ability to kick on. And indeed, true to his reputation he absolutely demolishes the opposition once he is given the license to do so.

The only tried and tested method of stopping this onslaught is to get Rohit out early for once he gets his eye in, sighting the ball in the stands is the only difficulty to be faced later.

No. of hundreds	Strike Rate	Career Strike Rate	Difference
7	117.69	81.69	36

Fastest centuries:

264 (173) vs Sri Lanka

209 (158) vs Australia

#3 Virender Sehwag

And after a couple of short surprises, the regulars get back into the groove.

It is not without reason that Virender Sehwag is dubbed as India’s greatest match-winner ever. True to common perception, Sehwag has played some scintillating and rather unbelievable knocks to ensure more than a few nonchalant Indian victories.

It is not only the runs Sehwag scores, but the manner in which he scores them that hurts the opposition. When he gets into the groove, by the time he’s done, not only the scorecard but the opposition morale takes a severe beating as well. This also ensures the batsmen to follow have it pretty easy as compared to what might have been.

He is also the only one among the top four players on this list to kick on and score a double hundred.

No. of hundreds	Strike Rate	Career Strike Rate	Difference
15	122.18	104.33	17.85

Fastest centuries:

125* (74) vs New Zealand at Hamilton

219 (149) vs West Indies at Indore

#2 AB de Villiers

Contrary to what most might be expecting, AB de Villiers does not top this list, for a change. However, that takes nothing away from this phenomenal athlete as his loss of the top spot can be put down to a mere formality.

If you have scored 20 centuries in your career and none of them at slower than a-run-a-ball, you have to either be a demi-god or from another planet. AB probably is both.

There are players like Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara who were destined for greatness even before they had picked up a bat. On the contrary, de Villiers is more of the Misbah-ul-Haq mould, he had a pretty average career till he started to take the world by storm from around the late noughties.

With due credit to the South African team for sticking around with him, de Villiers is now at the peak of his career and the only direction his graph is going in the coming days is upwards.

The 31-year-old not only scores his runs at an insane pace, but the consistency at which he does so makes him a player in a league of his own.

No. of hundreds	Strike Rate	Career Strike Rate	Difference
20	129.84	98.87	30.97

Fastest centuries:

149 (44) vs West Indies at Johannesburg

162* (66) vs West Indies at Sydney

#1 Shahid Afridi

And the flamboyant Pakistani ambassador tops the list, pipping the in-form Protea skipper.

Perhaps the only thing that could have kept Shahid Afridi out was the cut-off, but once it was evident he had 6 centuries to his name, there never really was going to be another contender for the top spot.

Shahid Afridi is the only player in the list to have ended his century at a strike rate of over 200 thrice, another testament to why he comfortably tops the list. The signs were ominous when he scored 102 off merely 40 balls way back in 1996. Though he could not keep up the consistency, each of his centuries has enthralled audiences all over the world.

A career strike rate of 116.93 might make one feel how faster can he possibly go, but his mind-boggling strike rate of 160.29 probably cannot be repeated with consistency, not even by himself.

No. of hundreds	Strike Rate	Career Strike Rate	Difference
6	160.29	116.93	43.36

Fastest centuries:

102 (46) vs India at Kanpur

102 (40) vs Sri Lanka at Nairobi