Fastest 200 ODI: Fastest 200s, Records & Who Holds Them

Key takeaways

Fastest 200 in ODIs by balls faced: Ishan Kishan reached 200 in 126 balls versus Bangladesh at Chattogram.
Fastest ODI double century in a World Cup: Glenn Maxwell 201 not out off 128 balls against Afghanistan at Mumbai, achieved while chasing.
Most ODI double centuries: Rohit Sharma with three.

Introduction: a record built on tempo, nerve, and context

A double century in one-day internationals used to sound like fiction. Then cricket changed. White-ball tactics matured. Fielding restrictions evolved. Pitches got truer and bats became sleeker, but the biggest shift sat between a player’s ears—the belief that 200 was not a freak occurrence but a parabolic extension of elite tempo and control.

This is not a simple list. This is a living dossier of the fastest 200 in ODIs—by balls faced, by match situation, by position and opposition—told with the detail an analyst obsesses over and the reverence a cricket lifer can’t hide. You’ll find the quick answers you came for, and you’ll also understand why those numbers happened: which phases were maximized, which bowls were targeted, how risk was rationed, and which innings carried the heft of context. Men and women’s records are covered distinctly; World Cup double centuries have their own place; and the data is set up to reward the curious reader who wants more than a headline.

The definitive table: fastest ODI double centuries by balls faced

Note: Balls to 200 reflects the delivery on which the batter reached 200, not final balls faced.

Ishan Kishan — 210 off 131; 200 in 126 balls; vs Bangladesh; Chattogram; 1st innings; opener
Glenn Maxwell — 201* off 128; 200 in 128 balls; vs Afghanistan; Mumbai; 2nd innings; No. 6
Pathum Nissanka — 210* off 139; 200 in 136 balls; vs Afghanistan; Pallekele; 1st innings; opener
Chris Gayle — 215 off 147; 200 in 138 balls; vs Zimbabwe; Canberra; 1st innings; opener
Virender Sehwag — 219 off 149; 200 in 140 balls; vs West Indies; Indore; 1st innings; opener
Shubman Gill — 208 off 149; 200 in 145 balls; vs New Zealand; Hyderabad; 1st innings; opener
Sachin Tendulkar — 200* off 147; 200 in 147 balls; vs South Africa; Gwalior; 1st innings; opener
Fakhar Zaman — 210* off 156; 200 in 148 balls; vs Zimbabwe; Bulawayo; 1st innings; opener
Rohit Sharma — 208* off 153; 200 in 151 balls; vs Sri Lanka; Mohali; 1st innings; opener
Rohit Sharma — 264 off 173; 200 in 151 balls; vs Sri Lanka; Kolkata; 1st innings; opener
Martin Guptill — 237* off 163; 200 in 152 balls; vs West Indies; Wellington; 1st innings; opener

These are the pace-setters: the innings that didn’t simply cross 200, they exploded to it. Each comes with a story and a tactical signature.

Why balls faced is the truest yardstick

“Fastest 200 in ODI” is best expressed by balls faced, not minutes batted. Minutes distort reality: injuries, DRS delays, drinks, crowd stoppages—all add noise. Balls tell you how ruthless a batter’s tempo actually was. When tempo is sustained through a complete ODI arc—Powerplay, middle-overs management, and death-phase acceleration—a double hundred becomes possible. When tempo is staggering, it becomes inevitable.

Context notes on the fastest 200s

Ishan Kishan — 200 in 126 balls

Signature: Match-up demolition of spin and pace with minimal downbeats. His powerplay was brash but controlled—front-foot launches over midwicket interleaved with hard square cuts. The engine of his double was the middle overs, where most batters flatten; Kishan pumped high-velocity twos and boundary bursts off anything back of a length. The final acceleration was clinical: he treated death overs as a volatility window, not a lottery. Even more impressive—he paced it as a pure opener’s essay, not a late overwind.
Tactical layer: Bangladesh tried to pull the length back; Kishan’s bat path through mid-on to midwicket punished it. The left-hander’s back-leg base stayed still even when he muscled; you could count the head-tilts on one hand.
Why it matters: This reset the baseline. The fastest 200 by balls faced happened not on a postage-stamp ground but in a venue that can grip. It re-wrote what’s deemed realistic for an opener in a bilateral with modern field spreads.

Glenn Maxwell — 200 in 128 balls, chasing

Signature: Survival and genius in the same over. Maxwell’s body almost rebelled mid-innings; his legs froze, the stretches turned desperate, and then the wrists took over. He carved the ball into angles that didn’t exist for everyone else: reverse sweeps to third man powerfully, swipes straighter than physics, and lofts that left deep fielders flat-footed. Every three overs felt like a jailbreak.
Tactical layer: He picked his battles—targeted the short square boundaries and took spin on even with the field set, deciding that mistimed leg-side hacks were less risky than offset punches into the off side with dead legs. Cummins played the house anchor; Maxwell played the house band.
Why it matters: It’s the fastest ODI double century in World Cup play and the fastest 200 batting second. Context doesn’t just matter; it elevates this into the rare air of cricket’s greatest modern innings.

Pathum Nissanka — 200 in 136 balls

Signature: Craft bent toward violence. Nissanka’s trigger is not flamboyant; the power comes late. He beat Afghanistan’s length with a rhythm that looked middle-order polished yet stayed opener-pure. He turned good-length balls into pick-up fours and turned short into brutal, late-cut lofts. The half-chances died in the ring.
Tactical layer: He ran hard. Doubles were a tax the field couldn’t afford. The lesson: you don’t need a manic powerplay to clock a double; you need clean sequences.
Why it matters: The first double from his country arrived with frightening efficiency and refreshed the map of who can generate such scores.

Chris Gayle — 200 in 138 balls

Signature: Heavy-hitting rhythm split by patience. Gayle’s double is a case study in tempo control from a true six-hitter: the calm at 30 for 1, the sudden parabolic lift post-set, and the refusal to fall into the trap of exclusively leg-side slogging. The on-side power was expected; the flat-batted blows over extra cover weren’t.
Tactical layer: Zimbabwe’s plan to tie him with wide lines worked in spurts, but when the ball came within reach, he punished. His six-zone mapping that day would look like a galaxy swirl.
Why it matters: This was the first World Cup double. It punctured the myth that tournament pressure neuters outlandish individual scores.

Virender Sehwag — 200 in 140 balls

Signature: Relentless, unfussy offense. Sehwag did not reinvent himself; he doubled down on himself. He took front-foot options early, opened his wrists to thread the infield, and swung through the line on repeat. The delusion would be calling this “aggressive”—it was simply Sehwag’s equilibrium, stretched to its limits.
Tactical layer: West Indies were goaded into length, and his hands turned routine balls into boundary feed. The base remained leg-stump aligned, the bat downswing stayed fearless.
Why it matters: It felt inevitable the moment he reached fifty. That’s the Sehwag paradox: you always look one ball away from a miscue and yet the strike rate sits where no one else can park it comfortably.

Shubman Gill — 200 in 145 balls

Signature: Silk and steel. Gill’s double was less pyrotechnic and more architectural—his off-side play glowed, his bottom hand barely shouted, and the acceleration wasn’t a flip of a switch; it was a dimmer rising smoothly to halogen.
Tactical layer: New Zealand chased wide lines; Gill’s hold-shape punch through point and loft over extra turned that plan into a feeding line.
Why it matters: Stat lines say pace; the eyes saw maturity. He also owns the mark as the youngest man to score an ODI double century.

Sachin Tendulkar — 200 in 147 balls

Signature: Purity of path. Smooth legs, centered head, less bludgeon, more carve. He gave the on-side the same love as the off, especially in the midwicket arc 65–85 degrees where few moderns are surgical without slogging.
Tactical layer: He harassed South Africa’s changes of pace, letting the ball roll into late cuts or turning it into ramp shots. He wore the innings like a classic, not a craze.
Why it matters: The first ODI double century. It moved an imaginary line and never wavered under the weight of being historic.

Fakhar Zaman — 200 in 148 balls

Signature: Freedom with repeatability. Fakhar’s double was a blur of deep midwicket launches and sizzling square slaps, sprinkled with breaks for energy management.
Tactical layer: Zimbabwe retreated into the back-of-a-length safety zone; he threw that into the stands. He played the pull as if it were a forward defense that just went 85 meters.
Why it matters: A reminder that once your technique accepts risk, your mindset must accept responsibility. He managed both.

Rohit Sharma — 200 in 151 balls (twice) and 264

Signature: The ODI epic poet. Rohit’s violence is patient; he teases attack fields until they blink, then hits gaps that were invisible from the stands. He can go twenty balls without a boundary and then take twenty runs off the next four legal deliveries.
Tactical layer: Sri Lanka know the script; stopping it is another universe. He stalls bowling plans by lofting spinners straight, stilling the pitch map. On seam, he waits and waits for anything slightly full or short, and the bat swing turns it into risk-free distance.
Why it matters: Three doubles is not accumulation; it’s a monopoly. The 264 remains the global summit of ODI scoring, and it came with his trademark late detonation.

Martin Guptill — 200 in 152 balls

Signature: Pure seams of hitting. Guptill’s back-foot play against the West Indies was ferocious: deep crease, powerful wrists, high elbow churning through the ball’s back. He ate length for dinner.
Tactical layer: He is happier than most opening batters playing late-cut lofts and square punches that would be risk for others. That day, even his risks felt pre-approved.
Why it matters: It’s the highest World Cup individual score and it arrived without chaos; it was methodically violent.

World Cup double centuries: fastest and full list

Fastest in a World Cup: Glenn Maxwell, 201 not out off 128 balls, reached 200 in 128 balls, vs Afghanistan at Mumbai, batting second, No. 6.
Other World Cup double centuries:
- Chris Gayle, 215 off 147, vs Zimbabwe, Canberra.
- Martin Guptill, 237 not out off 163, vs West Indies, Wellington.

Why World Cup doubles are special

Tournament cricket condenses pressure. Fielding units stay sharper, captains attack longer, and the ball carries more emotion. Those three knocks above didn’t exploit weak days; they created inevitability against bowlers who knew exactly what was coming. It’s also telling that two of the three were split into classical opener platforms (Gayle, Guptill) and one was a rescue-mission from the middle-order (Maxwell). That spread of styles shows that a double in a global tournament needs not just skill but situational genius.

By country: who owns the ODI double-century map

India: Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma (three), Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill.
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman.
West Indies: Chris Gayle.
New Zealand: Martin Guptill.
Australia: Glenn Maxwell.
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka.

India’s dominance here is structural and cultural. Structural, because India play a high volume of ODIs on batting-friendly pitches and in conditions that often reward patience and late-innings acceleration. Cultural, because modern Indian openers are raised to lift the scoring ceiling without losing shape: the Rohit school of patience-to-destruction has rubbed off on a generation that includes Gill and Kishan. Tendulkar and Sehwag, in very different ways, laid the template—one via clarity and craft, the other via audacious tempo.

Fastest 200 by batting position

Opener: Ishan Kishan — 200 in 126 balls.
Middle order: Glenn Maxwell — 200 in 128 balls from No. 6.

This is a quiet revolution. For decades, the template said your best shot at a mega-score was to open and bat deep. That’s still statistically true. But Maxwell proved that if strike rate borderlines on the unreal and risk is managed in micro-intervals, a middle-order double can exist even in a chase.

Fastest 200 batting second

Glenn Maxwell — undisputed. He didn’t just chase; he reversed the game from a losing ledger. Chasing doubles are the rarest because the deck asks for restraint in risk and responsibility in strike rotation. Maxwell did both and still ruptured the boundary rope.

First, most, highest: the quick-hit fact box

First ODI double century: Sachin Tendulkar, 200 not out against South Africa at Gwalior.
Most ODI double centuries: Rohit Sharma with three.
Highest individual score in ODI cricket: Rohit Sharma, 264 against Sri Lanka at Kolkata.

Women’s ODI double centuries

Amelia Kerr — 232 not out vs Ireland.
Belinda Clark — 229 not out vs Denmark.

This is elite company and a story of contrasting eras and methods. Clark’s was ground-breaking—a captain’s metronome that kept climbing. Kerr’s was a teenager’s jaw-dropper: wristy scything through the off side, sweep variations through the middle overs, and a finish that looked like she was still batting in the nets. Women’s ODIs, with their own tactical rhythms and pitch behaviors, are producing sustained high-quality big scores; expect the list to grow.

How a double hundred happens: the four-phase blueprint

Powerplay foundation

Objective: high strike rate without forced slogging.
How the best do it: pick two primary boundary zones and one release shot. Kishan leant on midwicket and square cover with the pick-up pull as release; Rohit’s release is the lofted straight hit off pace or spin.

Middle-overs inflation

Objective: stay above run-a-ball while earning low-risk twos.
How the best do it: rotate with intent, bully the fifth and sixth bowler, and use the square boundaries to drain bowlers’ plans. Gill and Tendulkar stand out in this phase; their risk sits inside the technique.

Pre-death trigger

Objective: manage fatigue and bowlers’ changes while positioning for the last ten.
How the best do it: “window reading”—if the ball is older and the pitch truer, start the slog-sweep or pick-up early. Sehwag and Gayle see this window sooner and stretch it longer.

Death-overs detonation

Objective: maximize overs 41–50 with line-specific plans.
How the best do it: premeditated zones; commit early and fully. Maxwell and Fakhar excel here: wrists for angle, forearms for carry. Rohit’s finish is unique—he can reset after a quiet over and still take 20-plus off the next.

Venue and opposition: the hidden variables

Boundary shape: Canberra and Wellington offer square-scoring rewards; Kolkata’s straight boundaries can be punishing if you miss. Chattogram can be tacky early but truer late, which helped Kishan’s back half look even more vicious.
Ball behavior: The two-new-balls era keeps the Kookaburra a little fresher for longer; cutters still work but the glossy seam can betray the slower-ball grip if overused.
Opposition plans: Zimbabwe and weaker attacks get cited whenever a double is scored, but that’s lazy. The art is capitalizing when a No. 5 or sixth bowler appears without surrendering to dot-ball clusters against the frontline. The best doubles feature a very small number of dry overs across 50.

Strike rate and balls to 200: the relationship that matters

Strike rate at 200 is a stat line. Balls to 200 is the pathway. Consider two extremes:

A 210 off 131 (Kishan) reads like a highway drive—few stalls, long accelerations.
A 201* off 128 (Maxwell) is a storm—calm eyes, violent skies.

Both arrive at 200 with differing beat patterns; the commonality is the absence of long lulls. The strike rate along the entire innings rarely dips into the danger zone of sub-90 in the middle overs. That’s the secret: a fast 200 requires no mid-innings debt.

ODI double centuries: complete list (men)

Sachin Tendulkar — 200* vs South Africa; Gwalior.
Virender Sehwag — 219 vs West Indies; Indore.
Rohit Sharma — 209 vs Australia; Bengaluru.
Rohit Sharma — 264 vs Sri Lanka; Kolkata.
Rohit Sharma — 208* vs Sri Lanka; Mohali.
Chris Gayle — 215 vs Zimbabwe; Canberra.
Martin Guptill — 237* vs West Indies; Wellington.
Fakhar Zaman — 210* vs Zimbabwe; Bulawayo.
Ishan Kishan — 210 vs Bangladesh; Chattogram.
Shubman Gill — 208 vs New Zealand; Hyderabad.
Glenn Maxwell — 201* vs Afghanistan; Mumbai.
Pathum Nissanka — 210* vs Afghanistan; Pallekele.

Note: Scorecards mark not-outs with an asterisk; innings positions and venues are listed to emphasize context. For pace and completeness, balls faced and balls to 200 are highlighted in the earlier fast-list.

Fastest by balls vs by minutes: what’s real

By balls: Ishan Kishan holds the fastest 200 in ODIs, reaching the mark in 126 balls.
By minutes: official “fastest by minutes” is not consistently recorded. Breaks for reviews, injuries, and innings interruptions skew time-based comparisons. Analysts therefore use balls-faced as the authoritative standard.

Fastest 200 by role

By opener: Ishan Kishan, 126 balls to 200. This is the highest-probability role for doubles but still needs phase mastery.
By middle order: Glenn Maxwell, 128 balls to 200, from No. 6. Middle-order doubles remain statistical outliers; his was powered by match awareness and absurd range.
In a chase: Glenn Maxwell again; the only double in a high-pressure, chase-from-peril scenario among the modern landmark innings.

The youngest and the trailblazers

Youngest man to score an ODI double hundred: Shubman Gill.
Youngest overall in ODIs: Amelia Kerr.
Trailblazer: Sachin Tendulkar’s first double signaled that the game had stretched its limits without breaking them. It wasn’t a brute-force fever dream; it was a classical masterpiece that just didn’t end at 150.

Tactical breakdowns of standout doubles

Ishan Kishan vs Bangladesh, Chattogram

Ball-use: barely any wasted balls after set-up. When he missed, he missed full—no half-hearted chips.
Boundary geometry: midwicket and point; both sides of the wicket were open because his head position didn’t fall over despite full-blooded swings.
Risk: premeditation visible against short balls, but slogs were kept clean; he hit with the ball, not against it.

Glenn Maxwell vs Afghanistan, Mumbai

Ball-use: he flipped the innings’ expected value with reverse sweeps and improvised ramps even when his legs refused reload. Every fourth or fifth ball had boundary intent.
Boundary geometry: square and straighter; the floor is off-side switch-hits, the ceiling is straight-loft with half a foundation.
Risk: calculated on the bowler’s apex ball, not just the over’s context. He often waited until delivery 3 or 4, then went. Very few last-ball Hail Mary swings; the aggression was time-boxed.

Rohit Sharma vs Sri Lanka, Kolkata and Mohali

Ball-use: slow-burn start, high-heat finish, the classic Rohit arc. Once past fifty, his control percentage rises; the ball looks heavier on his bat.
Boundary geometry: straight and extra cover in the first half, then fine and midwicket as bowlers search for solutions.
Risk: micro-risks against spin, macro-risks against part-time pace late. He makes your fifth bowler feel like a sixth.

Martin Guptill vs West Indies, Wellington

Ball-use: feasted on anything not yorker-perfect; he stands tall and hits through the line off the back foot.
Boundary geometry: square leg to long-on a lot, but the hallmark was the power behind point—rare for tall batters to maintain such balance there.
Risk: early check-hits; he reduced speed on the bat for the first third, then revved into top-gear.

Sehwag vs West Indies, Indore

Ball-use: front-foot statement from ball one; plenty of “hit the gap or go for six” decisions executed with repeatability.
Boundary geometry: midwicket to extra cover, open-shouldered and fearless.
Risk: embraced; he took the false-shot tax and still left the bowler in deficit.

Why some doubles feel “faster” than the numbers

A 200 reached in 145 can feel quicker than one reached in 140 when the chase involved turbulence, the wicket played tricks, or the bowling attack had strong end-phase coverage. Perception of speed is influenced by:

Match jeopardy: Maxwell’s chase felt faster because every boundary mirrored a swing in win probability.
Pitch friction: a tacky surface makes run-a-ball look like rush hour; an even pitch can make 10-an-over feel like jazz.
Opposition variety: a double against multi-phase bowlers (pace off, high pace, wrist spin) is qualitatively different from a double against linear pace at one length.

Strike-rate plus sustainability: the rare blend

Double centuries punish the final ten overs. The elite ones also protect the middle: the batter refuses 4–5 consecutive dots unless delivery quality absolutely demands it. Sustained strike rate lives in:

Glide singles and early calls for two: the non-striker matters.
Spin-off strike-play: the ability to meet a good-length ball without charge and still roll it into midwicket or behind point.
Miss-hit management: even when a shot is mis-timed, the best doubles find the space for one or two. That keeps the rate alive.

ODI double centuries in the women’s game: what the two landmark knocks teach us

Amelia Kerr’s 232* turned a known talent into a calibration point for what “complete” looks like: top-order stability, surgical sweeps, and leg-side power without slog. The ball count was brisk, the risk microscopic.
Belinda Clark’s 229* predated the modern bat-speed era but showcased a pace that never felt frantic. It carried the clarity that structure beats chaos, even at 200-plus.

As women’s ODIs deepen with stronger bowling units and more specialized roles, the template for a double will mirror the men’s: solid platform, targeted acceleration, and a finish that turns singles into twos effortlessly.

FAQs

How many double centuries are there in men’s ODIs?
Twelve, across six nations.

Who scored the first ODI double century?
Sachin Tendulkar, 200 not out against South Africa at Gwalior.

Who has the fastest 200 in ODIs by balls?
Ishan Kishan, reaching 200 in 126 balls against Bangladesh at Chattogram.

What is the fastest ODI double century in a World Cup?
Glenn Maxwell, 201 not out off 128 balls against Afghanistan at Mumbai, reaching 200 in 128 balls.

Who is the youngest man to score a double century in ODIs?
Shubman Gill.

Who has the most ODI double centuries?
Rohit Sharma with three.

What is the highest individual score in ODIs?
Rohit Sharma’s 264 against Sri Lanka at Kolkata.

Which countries have ODI double centuries?
India, Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka.

Fastest to 200 by balls vs by minutes—what’s the accepted metric?
Balls faced is the accepted benchmark; minutes are not consistently recorded and are affected by stoppages.

Fastest 200 by an Indian in ODIs?
Ishan Kishan, 200 in 126 balls.

Fastest 200 by an opener vs a middle-order batter?
Opener: Ishan Kishan. Middle-order: Glenn Maxwell.

Methodology and update policy

Scope: Men’s and women’s one-day internationals with official ODI status.
Primary measure: balls to reach 200, as recorded by ball-by-ball data.
Secondary indicators: opposition, venue, innings (first or second), batting position, and final strike rate.
Update cadence: reviewed monthly and post-major series or ICC events. “Updated November” indicates the last editorial check.
Data sources: cross-referenced against primary scorecards and recognized statistical databases. Where “balls to 200” is listed, it reflects the official delivery on which the milestone was reached.

Change log

Added Glenn Maxwell’s 201* in the World Cup section, with fastest World Cup double-century note.
Added Pathum Nissanka’s 210*, Sri Lanka’s first ODI double century, with fast-by-balls placement.
Refreshed India section to include Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan in context of fastest and youngest markers.
Consolidated fastest-by-balls table with opposition, venue, innings, and batting position for clarity.

Closing view: the next frontier for ODI double centuries

What used to be a once-in-a-lifetime eruption is now a benchmark elite players truly chase. The modern ODI ecosystem rewards intelligence as much as explosiveness: batters who can decelerate risk while accelerating output. The fastest 200s we’ve listed aren’t just feats of bat speed; they are case studies in game control.

Expect more doubles from openers who understand the long game, who treat the middle overs not as a pause but as a launchpad. Expect the occasional middle-order thunderclap that reminds us audacity has a place under pressure. Expect additions to the women’s ledger as professionalism and depth continue to surge.

And expect the ranking of “fastest 200 ODI” to remain volatile. All it takes is one batter with a day, a plan, and the courage to keep hitting the right ball the right way longer than anyone thinks is possible. That is the compact of this record: it belongs to those who find tempo and hold it like a flame, steady and fierce, from the first over to the last.