Indians to score an ODI century against Hong Kong

India and Hong Kong have faced off each other on only two occasions in the One Day International (ODI) format. Both these games were played in the Asia Cup tournament – the first instance was in 2008 while the second instance was in the ongoing 2018 tournament in UAE. The game in 2008 was a pretty one-sided affair, heavily in favor of India while Hong Kong showed a lot of fighting spirit in the second game in 2018!

On both occasions, India batted first and piled runs on the board tackling the Hong Kong bowlers with ease. A total of three centuries were scored by the Indian batsmen in these two games. Let us look at the three centuries scored by Indians against Hong Kong.

Suresh Raina (2008)

A 66-ball hundred from the bat of Suresh Raina, his maiden ODI hundred, lit up the Karachi stadium in 2018 against Hong Kong. He scored 101 runs from 68 deliveries with 7 fours and 5 sixes while involving in a 166-run partnership for the fourth wicket along with Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Raina’s 66-ball century in this innings was the second-fastest hundred by an Indian in ODIs then. Mohammad Azharuddin’s 62-ball hundred against New Zealand in 1988 was the fastest in this category. Currently, Virat Kohli is the holder of this record having scored a 52-ball 100* against Australia in 2013.

Breaking records while scoring a maiden century will be a great feeling for any player. Suresh Raina had this feeling during this knock against Hong Kong and since then he became a dependable middle order batsman for India, and has cored five centuries and 36 half-centuries in ODIs till date.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (2008)

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Dhoni is the other centurion alongside Raina in the Asia Cup 2008 game against Hong Kong. He scored an unbeaten 109 runs off 96 deliveries with 6 fours and 6 sixes. He was involved in a huge partnership with Raina en route to his century and played a crucial part to keep the scoreboard ticking. This unbeaten knock against Hong Kong was his fourth ODI century. Overall, Dhoni has scored 10 centuries and 67 fifties in his 322-match ODI career till date.

Dhoni hit a total of 6 sixes in this innings, the second most for him in a single ODI innings. His 10 sixes against Sri Lanka in Jaipur while scoring his career-best score (unbeaten 183* off 145 deliveries) is still his best in a single ODI innings.

Unfortunately, in 2018, Dhoni bagged a three-ball Duck in the game against the same opposition. The bowler Ehsan Khan was extremely happy and almost kissed the pitch after picking up Dhoni’s wicket! This gesture shows how important Dhoni’s wicket is, even towards the latter end of his career.

Shikhar Dhawan (2018)

Shikhar Dhawan

In the ongoing Asia Cup in UAE, Shikhar Dhawan scored a brilliant 127 off 120 deliveries with 15 fours and 2 sixes to help India get to a fighting total in Dubai. This was his 14th century in ODIs, which he got to in his 105th ODI innings. In terms of innings played, Dhawan is the fourth fastest player to 14 ODI centuries after Hashim Amla (84 ODI innings), David Warner (98) and Virat Kohli (103).

With this knock, Shikhar Dhawan also became the seventh Indian player to score an ODI hundred in UAE and first since Sachin Tendulkar’s 101 against Sri Lanka in 2000. Before Shikhar Dhawan, Sachin Tendulkar scored seven ODI hundreds and Navjot Singh Sidhu scored two centuries while Mohinder Amarnath, Kris Srikkanth, Mohammad Azharuddin and Sourav Ganguly scored a century each in ODI matches played in UAE till date.