31st July, 2001

Name: Giri
Query: Sachin has scored the largest number of centuries in ODIs. But who has scored the maximum number of 50s + 100s in ODIs i.e, who is the batsman who has crossed 50 the maximum number of times.

Mohandas Menon:
• Tendulkar (Ind) 28 (100's) + 53 (50's) = 81
• D Haynes (WI) 17 (100's) + 57 (50's) = 74
• A deSilva (SL) 11 (100's) + 57 (50's) = 68
• M Waugh (Aus) 18 (100's) + 49 (50's) = 67
• Inzamul Haq (Pak) 7 (100's) + 60 (50's) = 67
• M Azhar (Ind) 7 (100's) + 58 (50's) = 65
• B Lara (WI) 14 (100's) + 46 (50's) = 60

Mohandas Menon:
In view of the circumstances in which the boundary is scored the umpire should award no runs (as in the case done for runs scored for deliberate padding). However the umpire, can also award the boundary, as it is not against the Law. The decision is purely at his descretion.

Mohandas Menon:
The place and date of births of some of the present Indian cricketers are given below:

• Sourav Chandidas Ganguly (Captain)
Born: Calcutta, 8-7-1972

• Rahul Sharad Dravid (Vice Captain)
Born: Indore (Madhya Pradesh), 11-1-1973

• Sachin Ramesh TENDULKAR
Born: Bombay, 24-4-1973

• Sadagoppan Ramesh
Born: Madras, 16-10-1975

• Javagal Srinath
Born: Mysore (Karnataka), 31-8-1969

• Ajit Bhalchandra AGARKAR
Born: Bombay, 4-12-1977

• Harbhajan Singh Plaha
Born: Jalandhar, 3-7-1980

• Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman
Born: Hyderabad, 1-11-1974

• Hemang Kamal BADANI
Born: Madras, 14-11-1976

• Zaheer Khan
Born: Srirampur, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, 7-10-1978

• YUVRAJ SINGH BHUNDEL
Born: Chandigarh, 12-12-1981

• Shiv Sunder DAS
Born: Bhubaneshwar, 5-11-1977

• SARANDEEP SINGH
Born: Amritsar, 21-10-1979

• Virender SHEWAG
Born: Delhi, 20-10-1978

• Debasis Sarbeswar Mohanty
Born: Bhubaneshwar, 20-7-1976

Mohandas Menon:
I have checked all the MCC Laws since 1744, there never has been any such Law.

i) Overall scores
ii) Indian score/overs when Tendulkar walked into bat
iii) Qadir's and Mushtaq's bowling figures when Tendulkar came in to bat.
iv) Their bowling figures at the end of the match.
v) Tendulkar's batting figures of that match - runs, balls, minutes, fours, sixes. Sachin running back to the dressing room through the crowd with Srikkanth(?) after that match is one of my oldest memories of watching cricket on the television.
:) Thanks, Binil.

Mohandas Menon:
The match you refer was between a Pakistan XI and an Indian XI at Peshawar on 16-12-1989 - played two days before Tendulkar's official ODI debut (in which he scored the second ball duck).

An exhibition fixture of 20 overs each was arranged when the Peshawar ODI had to be abandoned due to poor light conditions.

Pakistan XI batting first made 157-4 in 20 overs.
Mansoor Akhtar (53) and man of the match Salim Malik (75) were the main scorers.

India XI replied with 153-3 in 20 overs to lose by 4 runs.
Raman Lamba (26),
WV Raman (42),
Ajay Sharma (14),
Srikkanth (13 not out) and
Tendulkar (53 not out) were the scorers.

Tendulkar came in when the score was 88-3 in the 17th over. He went on to score 53 in 18 balls, with 5 sixes and 2 fours. He first hit Mushtaq Ahmed for 16 runs (2 sixes, 1 four) and then scored 27 runs (3 consecutive sixes, 1 four) off Abdul Qadir.

Qadir's final figures were: 4-0-44-0, while Mushtaq Ahmed's were 2-0-23-2.

Mohandas Menon:
No! he cannot rule a any player out, unless there is an appeal.

Mohandas Menon:
It does seem that the DL method is complicated specially when one has to go thro' the various calculations involved. However most of the international captains feel that this method is perhaps the best as it gives equal opportunities to both teams, although I must admit that the team batting second is always in some kind pressure since they always have to chase a target.

But then this is the case in any one-day match - the team batting first bats more freely than the team batting second, since the former has no target to chase, while the bonus is always on the team batting second since they have definite target - DL method or otherwise.

Moreover, unlike the earlier methods, the DL system takes into account the number of wickets fallen at a particular stage and then based on the availability of "resources" for the team batting second the target is fixed. So in the DL method losing wickets can mean a penalty of extra runs to be scored by the team batting second. Now this could be a disadvantage for such teams who are using pinch hitters, who are more concerned about the run-rate than the number of wickets lost. I believe the best way to avoid these calculations would be to continue the game the next day, if possible, instead of reducing the overs.

Mohandas Menon:
Before I answer your question, let me explain that there are two categories of cricket matches by which cricket statisticians are able to maintain their records.
1. First-class matches (all Test matches and matches played of three or more days duration are called as first-class matches).
2. Limited-over or one-day "first-class" matches. Recently cricket statisticians have started providing the career records of players who have appeared in matches that are of limited over duration (also known as one-dayers). These matches include all the official one-day (or limited over) internationals, along with the various one-day matches played by teams in their domestic cricket.

For example in India we have the Wills Trophy, Deodhar Trophy, Zonal one-dayers (played between Ranji teams) and the Challenger Trophy one-day tournaments. Even one-day matches by touring teams and by teams touring abroad against local first-class teams are now considered in the one-day career records of the players.

HOWEVER THESE FIGURES ARE ALWAYS SHOWN SEPARATELY FROM THE FIRST-CLASS CAREER RECORDS OF THE PLAYERS, JUST AS IN THE CASE OF TEST AND ODI/LOI MATCHES WE HAVE SEPARATE RECORDS MAINTAINED.

For your information:
Sachin Tendulkar has so far scored 48 first-class hundreds (including 25 in Tests). This means he has scored 23 hundreds in first-class matches other than in Tests.
He has also scored 38 'limited-over' hundreds (including 28 in international matches). This means he has scored 10 hundreds in limited over matches other than ODI/LOI matches.

Now, to answer your question - the batsman with maximum first-class hundreds is England's Sir Jack Hobbs with 199 hundreds from 1905 to 1934. Now this tally includes the 15 Test hundreds scored by him.

The batsman with maximum hundreds in limited over "first-class" matches is England's Graham Gooch with 44 hundreds, which also includes the 8 hundreds scored by him in limited over international matches for England.

Tendulkar now need only seven more limited over "first-class" hundreds to surpass Gooch. He can score these seven either in ODI/LOI matches or in any limited over domestic tournaments. Even if India plays a one-day match against one of the local teams in Zimbabwe during their current tour, this match will also qualify to be a limited over "first-class" match.

Mohandas Menon:
The top three players in a winning side in Tests are:
• Viv Richards (63 - not 64 as you mention),
• Steve Waugh (62), followed by
• Desmond Haynes and Mark Waugh - with 60 each.

In ODIs -
• Steve Waugh has been involved in 192 winning matches, followed by
• Wasim Akram (178) and Azharuddin (160)