Top-5 fastest double centuries in ODIs

For the first three and a half decades of ODI cricket, the 200-run barrier never seemed to be out of bounds, but wasn't, even for once, ever breached. Several came close, but men's cricket had to wait for Sachin Tendulkar to do the honour of opening the double century account in coloured clothing.

Once he managed to leap past the hurdle, others followed suit, and suddenly, 'Mt. 200' wasn't a far-fetched milestone anymore. Broader bats and the ferocious striking that is associated with T20s pushed the par scores up and ensured that the double century column kept finding new entrants as the game progressed.

Here, we look at the fastest innings that resulted in a double century - the fewest balls taken to reach the coveted '200' mark.

Rohit Sharma has made the club his own, he has as many as three entries in the list, the first been back in 2013. That innings, against Australia, sealed his spot as one of the best limited-overs openers in the game and followed it up with two more, the subsequent year, as well as in 2017.

New Zealand's Martin Guptill ensured that home advantage was used to the optimum by his side during the 2015 World Cup, blasting a double hundred off just 152 balls against the West Indies, which is the sixth-fastest innings in terms of balls faced.

Here are the top-five fastest innings to reach 200:

---

#5 Rohit Sharma (151 balls - final score 264 off 173)

Just about a year after his mind-boggling double century against Australia, Rohit Sharma managed to repeat the feat against the humble Lankans, squeezing the life out of them to register the highest ever score by a batsman in the history of ODIs.

As is always the case, Rohit started slow, getting a feel of the conditions even if he appeared scratchy. To collect his first 10 runs, he consumed 22 balls. But once the floodgates opened, there was no holding back for him.

With ample support from Virat Kohli, and later Robin Uthappa, Sharma kept going for his strokes, even if the humidity sapped him out completely. The misfields and dropped catches from the Lankans added to their own plight, as he drilled back to back boundaries in the 45th over to achieve the magical mark.

#4 Fakhar Zaman (148 balls, final score - 210* off 156)

He might not be as established as a certain Saeed Anwar, who previously held Pakistan's record for the highest ODI score, but Zaman is taking giant strides and is doing it at a furious rate. In 17 games, he averages more than 75 and has a double century to his name.

Zaman, recognised by Indian fans as the man who single-handedly stamped his class in the Champions Trophy finals against Kohli's men, pulverised the Zimbabwean side into submission during their ODI series, thumping the highest ODI individual score ever by a Pakistani batsman, overhauling Anwar's tally without seeming to break a sweat.

He ended with 24 fours and five sixes, assembling a Pakistani record score of 210 off 156 balls. Zaman carried on his superb form, and ended up with a total of 455 runs between two dismissals, a world record in itself.

#3 Sachin Tendulkar (147 balls, final score - 200* off 147)

It all started with a steered late cut off Charl Langeveldt. Sachin Tendulkar entered the record books and opened the account for men's cricket in the world of 200. Others followed, but Sachin's feat will be remembered forever, considering that he was able to manage what others couldn't till then, that too at the age of 37, against a potent South African attack.

Tendulkar, having unearthed a golden run of form post from early 2008 in the lead up to the 2011 World Cup, was being preserved ahead of the big tournament. He played only a couple of ODIs in 2010, one of them being the historic one at Gwalior.

He was in his zone from the start, pacing his innings brilliantly, against the combined power of Dale Steyn, Wayne Parnell and Jacques Kallis.

Complemented perfectly by Dinesh Karthik, (briefly Yusuf Pathan and eventually by captain MS Dhoni), Tendulkar, in the third ball of the 50th over, reached the historic feat, studded with 25 fours and 3 sixes.

#2 Virender Sehwag (140 balls - final score 219 off 148)

A year after Sachin Tendulkar assailed the peak, Virender Sehwag followed suit, walking in the footsteps of his long-time mentor. Against a hapless West Indian attack, Sehwag hammered the then-highest individual score, bettering Tendulkar's tally by 19 runs.

Around 500 kilometres away from where Tendulkar accomplished the feat, Virender Sehwag reached the milestone too, powering his side to a mammoth score of 418 with a 149-ball brutal knock.

Be it the steep pace of Kemar Roach or the mystery spin of Sunil Narine, Sehwag did not hold back.

“I was playing my shots throughout the innings, but I started thinking about 200 in the batting powerplay, and when Sammy dropped the catch I thought ‘God is with me’,” he later said.

#1 Chris Gayle (138 balls- final score 215 off 147)

The self-proclaimed Universe Boss has done several awe-inspiring things on a cricket - before his double ton in 2015, he had already hit two triple-hundreds in Tests and several T20 centuries. It wasn't hugely surprising then when he breached the 200-run barrier in the 2015 World Cup, against minnows Zimbabwe.

Always carrying a huge appetite for runs, Gayle combined with Marlon Samuels for a record 372-run partnership, breaking a 20-month drought where he hadn't scored a century.

He became the first non-Indian batsman to score a double-century in ODIs, but was soon joined by Martin Guptill, who bettered his score with a 237 against the West Indies itself in the quarter-finals of the same tournament.