Top 5 Fastest Fifties By Indian Batsmen In ODIs

Cricket has witnessed a lot of changes in the last decade. The introduction of Twenty20 cricket has brought a change in the mindset of the batsmen. Scoring a quickfire fifty or a century can change a game in a split second. In this article, we will look at the top 5 Indian batsmen with the fastest half-century.

India have produced a lot of attacking batsmen in these years. From MS Dhoni to Virender Sehwag to Kapil Dev, they have dominated the international circuit for many years. One of the successful teams in the world and two-time World Champions, they have a history of having good line-ups who can post massive totals on the board.

With the demanding situations, the Indian batsmen have also moulded themselves and have played qucikfire knocks in the one-dayers.

We at Cricket Addictor will take a lot at the five batsmen from India with the fastest half-century in One-Day Internationals:

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YUVRAJ SINGH (22 balls)

Two-time World Cup champion Yuvraj Singh is one of the greatest limited-overs batsmen to take the centre stage from India. His contributions to the 2007 World T20 and 2011 ICC World Cup played a massive role in India lifting the title. Yuvraj recently announced his retirement in June earlier this year.

Throughout his career, Yuvraj has played many memorable knocks for his country. Meanwhile, the quickfire 69 off just 32 deliveries against Bangladesh in 2004 will go down one of the best. He brought his fifty in just 22 balls which is the fifth-fastest half-century by an Indian in ODIs.

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India eventually posted 348 runs banking on a solid effort from everyone in the batting chart. The Men in Blues scripted a 91-run victory in that game which is also one of Yuvraj’s greatest ODI knocks.

RAHUL DRAVID (22 balls)

Perceived as a traditional batsman best-suited for the Test formats, Dravid has been equally successful in the fifty-over format of the game. The then India skipper Sourav Ganguly made Dravid work on his wicket-keeping skills to make his regular in the ODIs and Dravid responded.

During that period, he played a significant role in the middle-order. However, the one that is remembered till date and chuckled upon by many is his 50 against New Zealand at Hyderabad, which came off 22 balls.

Dravid’s knock included five boundaries and three sixes which proved the world that the Karnataka batsman was also capable of playing such knocks. India eventually won that game by 145 runs.

VIRENDER SEHWAG (22 balls)

Virender Sehwag is one of India’s most loved cricketers. He has entertained the fans throughout his career across the formats with his aggressive display of batting. While Sehwag has given us plenty of enjoyable moments in the past, his emphatic display against Kenya in 2001 is one of the best.

India were playing against Kenya in a triangular tournament involving South Africa. Batting first, India posted a 350+ total baking on Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly‘ opening stand. After Ganguly’s departure, Sehwag came out in the middle and smacked everything at his disposal.

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He remained unbeaten on 55 runs from 23 balls including a half-century from 22 balls. This is the third-fastest half-century by an Indian batsman in the history of ODIs. Sehwag has been an absolute star cricketer from India and has only grown since then.

KAPIL DEV (22 balls)

Regarded as one of the greatest all-rounders to play the game, Kapil Dev is one of the greatest captains India have ever had. He is also the first captain to help India lift the ICC World Cup in 1983. Kapil was also  India’s national cricket coach between October 1999 and August 2000.

The Haryana Hurricane played one of the greatest knocks against West Indies in that World Cup. His knock of 72 from 38 balls including seven boundaries and three sixes was one of the greatest. Kapil Dev brought his half-century in just 22 balls during his 72-run innings.

That fifty against West Indies in that World Cup is the second-fastest by an Indian batsman.  Since then, Kapil has gone onto play many more heroic innings but this will go down in history as one of the best.

AJIT AGARKAR (21 balls)

Over the years, India have produced many attacking batters, from Virender Sehwag and MS Dhoni. However, it is the all-rounder from Mumbai Ajit Agarkar who holds the record for the fastest fifty in One-Day Internationals for India.

Agarkar has made plenty of quality contributions for India at the lower-end but his swashbuckling knock against Zimbabwe was his best. The right-handed batsman walked out in the 44th over of the Indian innings when Hemang Badani departed at the score of 216 for six.

He was all over the bowlers from the word go and reached his fifty in just 21 balls. Agarkar remained not out on 67 off 25 balls, that helped India post a decent total of 301 for six in 50 overs.