Scoring a century is not an easy task. What’s even more tough is scoring a century during an ODI. There are players who kept playing regardless of the time it took them to score a century, which actually proves their longevity when it comes to performance and their determination. The patience and skill required to score a century are indescribable.
Here’s the list of the slowest century during ODIs:
1. Sourav Ganguly vs South Africa 2000
During a match on 12 March 2000 against South Africa, Sourav Ganguly managed to score 136 runs. But the pitch in Jamshedpur was not something very easy for the batsman to perform on.
Though Sourav lost his partner Tendulkar early and Joshi went for a duck, he took the entire time to himself. Later he partnered with Dravid and he remained unbeaten on 105 runs, India won that match by 6 wickets.
2. Sachin Tendulkar vs Bangladesh 2021
This tournament was Sachin’s last before his retirement. Might stand as his retirement match as well. He played well till he reached the 90th run, as soon as he started aiming for 100th it got more difficult for him to do so.
Rather surprising since he took so many balls just to reach 100.
3. Ajay Jadeja vs Australia 1999
In this World Cup encounter, Australia batted first and put on 282/6 at the end of 50 overs. If not for Ajay Jadeja’s valiant effort, India would not have reached a triple-digit score as their chase collapsed in an incredible manner.
Ganguly was castled for 8 by Damien Fleming while Sachin was dismissed for a duck by Glenn McGrath. On 17/4, India was staring at a humiliating defeat but Jadeja along with Robin Singh saved India’s blushes. But in the end, it was not enough as India lost by 77 runs.
4. Sourav Ganguly vs Sri Lanka 1999
Ajay Jadeja played as an opener for this match. Dravid and Ganguly later teamed up. Dravid played in an aggressive manner. But Ganguly played off slowly unlike Dravid. He finished with 130 off 160 balls, but that didn’t really create a huge impact on the team, as they won by 80 runs anyway.
5. Sachin Tendulkar vs Sri Lanka 2000
India kept on losing wickets at the game. Thus Sachin had no option but to hit off small just to save wickets and help the team reach its victory.
India was 102-4 in 23.5 overs and Sachin’s diligent 100 run partnership with Robin Singh for the 5th wicket took India to a respectable total. The outfield was deadly slow and came into criticism from the Indian captain Ganguly after the loss.
