Highest Individual Scores in ODI Cricket: The All-Time Record List

The Highest Individual Scores in ODI Cricket History

The 264. That is the number that sits at the summit of one-day international batting — Rohit Sharma's extraordinary innings against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, in November 2014. No batsman in the 50-plus-year history of ODI cricket has surpassed it. The all-time list of highest individual ODI scores reads like a hall of fame of controlled violence, featuring names from eight different nations across multiple eras of the game.

What separates the truly monumental ODI innings from a routine century is the convergence of sustained concentration, boundary-hitting power, and the ability to accelerate through the death overs. Every entry on this leaderboard demanded all three.

The All-Time Leaderboard

Data: CricMind global cricket database (Cricsheet ball-by-ball archive)

The Names at the Top

Rohit Sharma — 264 vs Sri Lanka

Rohit Sharma holds three of the six ODI double centuries ever scored by men. His 264 at Eden Gardens remains the gold standard. What made the innings remarkable was its construction: Rohit scored his first hundred off 114 balls before unleashing 164 runs off his remaining 59 deliveries. The acceleration was not reckless — it was systematic dismantling. Sixteen sixes punctuated the innings, each one struck with the languid timing that became Rohit's trademark.

His other double centuries — 209 against Australia (2013) and 208* against Sri Lanka (2017) — would rank in the top ten on this list individually. No other batsman holds more than one entry above 200.

Martin Guptill — 237* vs West Indies

Guptill's 237 not out came in the 2015 World Cup quarter-final at Wellington — a knockout match with everything on the line. The New Zealand opener struck 24 fours and 11 sixes in an innings that lasted 163 balls. The World Cup context elevates this knock beyond a bilateral-series record: Guptill delivered it when elimination was the alternative.

Virender Sehwag — 219 vs West Indies

Sehwag's approach to batting was binary: the ball was either hit for four, hit for six, or missed entirely. His 219 against the West Indies at Indore in 2011 epitomised that philosophy. Coming just a year after Sachin Tendulkar had broken the 200-barrier for the first time in ODI history, Sehwag went 19 runs further. He reached his double century off just 140 balls.

Chris Gayle — 215 vs Zimbabwe

Gayle's 215 in the 2015 World Cup pool stage was the first double century in World Cup history. The Jamaican needed only 138 balls, striking 10 fours and 16 sixes. His strike rate of 155.79 across the innings remains one of the highest for any score above 150 in ODIs.

India's Dominance of the Record Books

Five of the top eight entries belong to Indian batsmen. Beyond Rohit Sharma's three-pronged assault on the record books, Ishan Kishan (210 vs Bangladesh), Shubman Gill (208 vs New Zealand), and Sachin Tendulkar (200* vs South Africa) all feature. Tendulkar's knock on 24 February 2010 at Gwalior was the first-ever ODI double century — a barrier that had stood for 3,463 ODIs across 39 years of limited-overs cricket.

Virat Kohli's highest score of 183 against Pakistan in the 2012 Asia Cup — while lower on the list at fifteenth — is widely regarded as one of the finest ODI innings ever played, given it came in a chase of 330.

The Global Spread

This is not an exclusively subcontinental list. Eight nations are represented across the top twenty:

• India: 5 entries (Rohit, Sehwag, Ishan, Gill, Tendulkar, Kohli — six if counting Kohli at 15th)
• New Zealand: 2 (Guptill, Taylor)
• Australia: 3 (Watson, Hayden, Warner)
• England: 2 (Stokes, Roy)
• South Africa: 2 (du Plessis, Wolvaardt)
• West Indies: 1 (Gayle)
• Pakistan: 1 (Fakhar Zaman)
• Zimbabwe: 1 (Coventry)
• Scotland: 1 (Munsey)
• Sri Lanka: 1 (Jayangani)

George Munsey's 191 for Scotland — an Associate nation — and Chamari Jayangani's 195 for Sri Lanka Women demonstrate that record-breaking is not confined to Full Member men's teams. Laura Wolvaardt's 184* for South Africa Women sits fourteenth on the combined list, a testament to the expanding boundaries of the women's game.

Context Matters: Knockout Innings vs Bilateral Feasts

Not all double centuries are created equal. Guptill's 237* and Gayle's 215 came in World Cup matches where the pressure of elimination or tournament momentum amplified every run. Stokes' 182 against New Zealand in the 2023 World Cup — chasing a massive target — carried the weight of England's campaign.

Contrast that with Charles Coventry's 194* against Bangladesh in a low-stakes bilateral series in 2009. The Zimbabwean opener struck 16 sixes and seven fours in Bulawayo, yet the innings is rarely discussed in the same breath as Guptill's or Rohit's. Context — the match, the opposition, the stakes — determines legacy as much as the scoreboard.

The 200-Club

Only seven men have scored ODI double centuries: Rohit Sharma (three times), Guptill, Sehwag, Gayle, Ishan Kishan, Fakhar Zaman, and Shubman Gill. Tendulkar's 200* was unbeaten. The double century remains among the rarest feats in limited-overs cricket — rarer than a hat-trick, rarer than a five-wicket haul on debut.

What links all seven is the ability to bat deep into the innings while maintaining or increasing their scoring rate. A double century demands at least 130-140 balls of occupation. Sustaining a strike rate above 140 across that span requires elite concentration fused with boundary-hitting power that few possess.

The Evolving Nature of ODI Batting

The concentration of high scores in the post-2010 era is not coincidental. Batting-friendly pitches, shorter boundaries, two new balls (introduced in 2012), fielding restrictions, and improved bat technology have all contributed. Before 2010, the highest ODI score was Saeed Anwar's 194 against India (1997). Since 2010, eight innings above 194 have been recorded.

Yet the leaderboard still features pre-modern entries. Matthew Hayden's 181* against New Zealand came in 2007 — an era of single new balls and less restrictive powerplay rules. Hayden's ability to dominate in those conditions arguably makes his knock more impressive per ball faced than some later entries.

FAQ

Who holds the record for the highest individual score in ODI cricket?

Rohit Sharma holds the all-time record with 264 runs against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on 13 November 2014. He faced 173 balls, hitting 33 fours and 9 sixes. It is the only score above 250 in ODI history.

How many ODI double centuries have been scored?

Seven men have scored ODI double centuries. Rohit Sharma has three (264, 209, 208), while Martin Guptill (237), Virender Sehwag (219), Chris Gayle (215), Ishan Kishan (210), Fakhar Zaman (210), Shubman Gill (208), and Sachin Tendulkar (200) each have one. The first-ever ODI 200 was Tendulkar's in February 2010.

What is the highest score in a World Cup match?

Martin Guptill's 237 not out against the West Indies in the 2015 World Cup quarter-final at Wellington is the highest individual score in Cricket World Cup history. Chris Gayle's 215 against Zimbabwe in the same tournament is second.

Which country has the most entries in the all-time highest ODI scores list?

India dominates the list with six entries in the top twenty: Rohit Sharma (264), Virender Sehwag (219), Ishan Kishan (210), Shubman Gill (208), Sachin Tendulkar (200*), and Virat Kohli (183). Australia follows with three entries (Watson, Hayden, Warner).