5 players who came close to hitting an ODI double century before Sachin Tendulkar

Tendulkar celebrates after scoring the first ever ODI double century There was once a time in ODI cricket when a batsman scoring an individual 200 in One-Day International cricket was out of the question. It looked way out of reach earlier, but with the advent of T20 cricket, it no longer seems a surprise if someone breaks the 200-run barrier. You will hardly find a cricket follower who does not know the fact that Sachin Tendulkar was the first man to score a double century in ODI cricket. But it is not that no one had given a shot at the seemingly impossible milestone before the Master Blaster got there.Here we take a look at the 5 instances when players came close to scoring a double hundred prior to Sachin’s memorable feat in 2010.

#5 Gary Kirsten (South Africa) - 188 not out vs UAE

Kirsten carried his bat through the innings during his 188* against UAE

Apart from being the World Cup-winning former coach of the Indian team, Gary Kirsten was also a prolific batsman for South Africa in his playing days. Many people may not know that once in his career, he also reached close to scoring a double hundred in an ODI innings.

This was when he scored 188 not out in a group encounter against UAE in the 1996 World Cup. Although the result of the match was a foregone conclusion, Kirsten gave it some amount of significance through his special knock. It came off 159 balls and included 4 sixes and 13 fours.

For 19 years, Gary Kirsten’s marathon knock remained the highest individual score in World Cup history.

#4 Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) - 189 vs India

Jayasuriya pounded the Indian bowlers into submission during his epic knock

The Matara Mauler, as Sanath Jayasuriya is fondly known, has been one of the most celebrated Sri Lankan cricketers of all time. Drafted into the side as a left-arm spinner, he quickly got promoted to the top of the order and started opening the innings for his national side. His explosive batting, especially in the first 15 overs of an ODI innings, went on to become his trademark for the duration of his career.

He was particularly severe on the Indian bowling attack and has played a number of great knocks against them, particularly in One Day Internationals. Among them was the 189 he scored in the final of the 2000 Coca Cola Champions Trophy played in Sharjah which went on to become his highest score in ODIs.

While the other Sri Lankan batsmen were struggling at the other end, Jayasuriya was busy taking the bowlers to the cleaners. He missed out on scoring a double century by just 11 runs when he was stumped out in the 49th over of the innings, but thanks to his innings, Sri Lanka reached 299 in their 50 overs and mauled India by 245 runs.

#3 Sir Vivian Richards (West Indies) - 189 not out vs England

The legendary Jamaican’s 189* got West Indies out of jail

Words will never be enough to describe what Sir Viv Richards means to world cricket. The best way to get to understand the phenomenon that he was is to know about the great things he has done with the bat. During a time when the cricketing world had not even imagined the possibility of one batsman scoring 200 in an ODI innings, he was the man who almost got there.

In an One Day International against England in 1984, he scored 189 not out to save the mighty West Indies from humiliation and single-handedly took them to a total of 272 for 9. It was a truly magical innings as the master batsman was completely undeterred with wickets falling regularly at the other end and forged some superb partnerships with the tail-enders.

Richards’ stroke-filled knock included as many as 5 towering sixes and 21 boundaries as he went on to break Kapil Dev’s record of the then highest score in ODIs created in the 1983 World Cup. He held on to the record for 13 long years before it was finally broken by Saeed Anwar of Pakistan.

#2 Saeed Anwar (Pakistan) - 194 vs India

Saeed Anwar held the record for the highest individual ODI score for more than 12 years

One of the greatest ever Pakistani batsmen, Saeed Anwar, simply loved batting against arch rivals India and has played some memorable knocks against them in both Tests as well as ODIs. Such was his love affair with the Indian bowling attack that he almost scored an ODI double against them in a quadrangular series called the Pepsi Independence Cup commemorating 50 years of Indian independence.

It was an usually fluent Saeed Anwar inning filled with several of his trademark cover drives and flicks and the occasional hit into the stands. He did require the support of a runner in then young Shahid Afridi for a large part of his innings as he was suffering from heat exhaustion. By the time he finally fell to a tired looking shot and a superb catch by Sourav Ganguly off Tendulkar’s bowling, he had amassed 194 from only 146 deliveries with 22 fours and 5 maximums against his name.

Anwar’s epic innings remained the highest score in One Day Internationals for more than 12 years.

#1 Charles Coventry (Zimbabwe) - 194* vs Bangladesh

Charles Coventry was left stranded at the other end one shot away from the first 200 in ODIs

Charles Coventry of Zimbabwe is the topper when it comes to the list of batsmen who missed 200 by a whisker. His 194 not out came in an ODI at Bulawayo in a home series against Bangladesh. His stroke-filled knock came off just 156 balls and included 7 sixes and 16 fours.

Thanks to Coventry’s memorable innings, Zimbabwe posted a huge 312 on the board in a match they needed to win for drawing level in the 5-match series. Unfortunately, his party was cut short by Bangladeshi southpaw Tamim Iqbal’s 154 that helped his team chase down the total with relative ease.

Coventry held the record for the highest score in One Day Internationals for just a little over 6 months before the legendary Sachin Tendulkar broke it in the process of registering the first double century in the 50-over format.