5 records that were created way ahead of their time

Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid held the record for the highest ever ODI partnership for the longest time
Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid held the record for the highest ever ODI partnership for the longest time

Statistics and records are an integral part of cricket. Every time a player or team achieves something great, statisticians search the history books to check where a new feat stands in terms of records broken or made.

This article talks about 5 such records which can definitely be considered to be way ahead of their time. These records may sound ordinary today when batsmen are dominating the game like never before, but the times at which they were made, they were near unthinkable. Some of these have been broken, some still stand tall, but a definite thing is that all these records deserve a lot of appreciation for the effort that has been put by the ones involved in achieving them.

#1 Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid - 331 run partnership

Batting partnerships have always been forming the core of a team achieving big totals. Even today, ODI cricket sees partnerships of 100 plus being good and the ones going above 200 as match-defining. But a huge partnership came way back before the turn of the century, which stood as a world record for over 15 years.

This happened in 1999 when crossing 300 for a team was a big deal. It was two legends of the game from India, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, who came together to score their individual centuries while stitching a partnership of a massive 331 runs. Dravid had been involved in another world record partnership with Sourav Ganguly only a few months back, in the 1999 World Cup, where the duo had scored 318 runs together, but it only lasted a few months till the 331 happened. This was truly a legendary effort and stood as a world record till the 2015 World Cup.

#2 Viv Richards's 189 runs

Viv Richards played one of the most dominant innings in ODIs in the early 1980s
Viv Richards played one of the most dominant innings in ODIs in the early 1980s

When cricket made the transition from test matches to ODIs, batsmen used to be relatively slow in batting and ODI totals used to be low. It was the time when a certain Sunil Gavaskar scored 36 runs off 174 balls and still managed to play the next match! While batsmen started being more aggressive slowly, daddy hundreds in ODIs were still an unknown term.

This was when Viv Richards managed to score as much as 189 runs in an ODI, which stood as the record for highest individual score in an ODI for 13 years. What makes the record even more special is that Viv scored over 69% rune of the team total in the match, which was also a record. Needless to say, this innings is still known as one of the best efforts in ODI cricket.

#3 Shahid Afridi's 37-ball hundred

Shahid Afridi held the world record for the fastest century for a long time
Shahid Afridi held the world record for the fastest century for a long time

The 1990s was a time for ODI cricket where explosive batting was an unknown term. It was when strike rates into the 70s were considered good and a run-a-ball 50 used to be considered as an excellent effort from a batsman. Centuries in ODIs used to be rare and generally came off more than a 100 balls.

This was the time when Shahid Afridi, at the age of 17, announced himself on the world arena with a century in only his second match, coming off just 37 balls. It was effectively strike-rate of over 270 when an overall score of 270 runs in an ODI was considered to be a winning total. Afridi had a long career for Pakistan, but that innings which stood a world record for over 15 years still defines his stature.

#4 South Africa's 438 run chase

South Africa chasing the first ever 400 plus score in ODI cricket history was a marvellous achievement.
South Africa chasing the first ever 400 plus score in ODI cricket history was a marvellous achievement.

Nowadays, we find 400 runs being scored quite frequently in ODI cricket. Batsmen have become stronger, pitches are becoming flatter and the highest score of ODI cricket today stands at 481 runs. But the first time when this barrier of 400 was crossed by Australia, something even more special happened in the match.

It was in way back in 2006 when Australia, the then world champions, scored 434 runs in a series decider against South Africa, only to eventually end up on the losing side. South Africans chased the mammoth total down in a breathtaking chase, scoring 438 runs. Even in 2018, it still stands as the highest successful chase ever in ODIs. One has to appreciate the grit shown by South Africans to achieve the feat.

#5 Don Bradman's 327 runs is a day

Sir Don Bradman dominated the bowlers like nobody else.
Sir Don Bradman dominated the bowlers like nobody else.

Whenever there is a discussion about cricket’s biggest legends, the name of Sir Don Bradman is inevitable. The all-time great is considered to be one of the most dominant forces in world cricket and holds various records to his name, including a batting average on 99.94.

One such peculiar record is of scoring 327 runs in a single day, made way back in 1930 and standing till date. It was made in the times when batsmen used to play at an extremely slow rate, generally ending up taking over a day to even score a double hundred. Mark Taylor matched the feat in 1999 but did not break the record. What is to be noticed here is that even the most aggressive batsmen of the modern era like Virender Sehwag, David Warner and others have never come close to the feat.

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Edited by Vikshith R