5 highest scores by Indian batsmen on ODI debut

Sachin Tendulkar might have the majority of batting records in international cricket but that doesn’t mean that he has the market cornered on records. In fact, the record for the highest score on ODI debut doesn’t belong to the “master blaster”. In fact, he doesn’t even have the record for the highest score on debut by an Indian.

So who holds the record then? Has any Indian scored a century on their ODI debut? What is the highest score by an Indian debutant? Here is the list of Indian batsman with the highest score on ODI debut:

5) Manish Pandey

India’s consistent tours of Zimbabwe is proving to be the perfect breeding ground for young talent. Manish Pandey was the beneficiary in 2015 when he got the opportunity to play for India after consistent performances in the IPL and the Ranji Trophy.

In his first ODI, India were asked to bat and were struggling at 82/4 when Pandey came to the crease. But by the time he departed for 71, he had put India in a position of comfort, which helped them win the match and start the series with a victory.

His gritty innings along with Kedar Jadhav helped India post 276, which proved to be too much as Zimbabwe lost by 83 runs. Pandey’s innings which included just four fours and a six helped him take fifth spot on this list.

4) Navjot Singh Sidhu

Navjot Singh Sidhu might be known to the current generation as the commentator but before he had an accomplished career as a batsman for India. What made him special was his ability to bore the opposition in Tests while also being capable of playing freely in ODIs.

So when he made his ODI debut against Australia in the 1987 World Cup, four years after his Test debut, a lot was expected of him. And he delivered in some style as well. His first four innings in ODIs, which was in the World Cup was four straight fifties.

On debut, against Australia, he scored 73, which was the highest by any Indian batsman but it wasn’t enough as India lost the match by a single run, despite looking on course for a win when Sidhu was batting.

3) Brijesh Patel

Despite having a long and fairly successful domestic career, Brijesh Patel’s international career never quite lived up to his domestic pedigree. However, his debut was one of the few occasions where he showed just why he was selected to play for India.

In 1974, Patel made his ODI debut against England at Leeds. Coming in at No.6, his 82 was instrumental in helping India post 265. Although it wasn’t enough to help India win the game, it helped him claim the record for the highest score by an Indian batsman on ODI debut.

And that record stood for 32 years before it was broken.

2) Robin Uthappa

Robin Uthappa may not have been a regular in the Indian limited-overs set-up but he did have the pleasure of breaking Brijesh Patel’s record for highest score by an Indian ODI debut. It was the seventh ODI of the series against England in 2006, which India had already won 4-1 and Uthappa was given his ODI debut under Rahul Dravid.

Uthappa was also given the opportunity to open the batting with Rahul Dravid as India were set 289 to chase. And thanks to fifties from both openers, India went on to win the game in the final over and it was the Karnataka batsman’s 86 that gave him the record.

His innings included 12 boundaries and a six and helped set the platform for the middle-order. However, despite a promising start, he only played 45 more ODIs in the decade since and hasn’t even managed 1000 runs in the format.

1) KL Rahul

On the back of an impressive IPL campaign with the Royal Challengers Bangalore, a lot was expected of KL Rahul. The fact that he had scored a hundred in his first match as a Test opener meant that the pressure was on him to perform.

And boy, did he do that. Not only did he claim the record for the highest score by an Indian on ODI debut but also became the first Indian to score a century on ODI debut and only the 11th batsman in the history of ODI cricket to achieve that milestone.

The fact that he got there with a six and played a major part in a victory will also please him greatly. So will the fact that he became the first opener to score a century on both his first Test as an opener as well as his first ODI.