Youngest ODI centurions

Youngest ODI centurions by Muhammad Asim

On November 12, during the one-off ODI against India at Eden Gardens Calcutta, Pakistan’s Salman Butt smashed a brilliant unbeaten 108 off 130 balls to propel his side to a stunning win over the arch-rivals. At the age of 20 years and 37 days, Butt became the sixth youngest centurian in ODI’s. It was also Salman’s first ton in The instant form of cricket. Just for record, Shahid Afridi, for his fastest 37-ball ton at the age of 16 years and 217 days, still remains the youngest, followed by Imran Nazir, Salim Elahi and Shoaib Malik. Afridi infact is the only player to score two ODI tons before his 19th birthday while India’s Sachin Tendulkar is the only one with four hundreds before his 22nd birthday. For reader’s interest the accompanying table has the complete details.

Players scoring ODI centuries before their 22nd birthday [35]

Yrs Days  Batsman           Score   BF   For   Vs    Venue            Date
16  217   Shahid Afridi     102     40   Pak   SL    Nairobi (Gym)    04-Oct-96
18  121   Imran Nazir       105*    135  Pak   Zim   Queen's Park 2   15-Apr-00
18  202   Shahid Afridi     109     94   Pak   Ind   Toronto          19-Sep-98
18  312   Salim Elahi       102*    133  Pak   SL    Gujranwala       29-Sep-95
20  14    Shoaib Malik      111*    130  Pak   WI    Sharjah          15-Feb-02
20  37    Salman Butt       108*    130  Pak   Ind   Calcutta         13-Nov-04
20  39    Ijaz Ahmed        124*    87   Pak   BD    Chittagong       29-Oct-88
20  85    Shoaib Malik      115     142  Pak   NZ    Lahore (GS)      27-Apr-02
20  215   Mehrab Hossain    101     116  BD    Zim   Dhaka            25-Mar-99
20  266   Powell, RL        124     93   WI    Ind   Kallang          08-Sep-99
20  335   Faisal Iqbal      100*    97   Pak   Zim   Harare           30-Nov-02
21  0     Kambli, VG        100*    149  Ind   Eng   Jaipur           18-Jan-93
21  21    Ponting, RT       123     141  Aus   SL    MCG              09-Jan-96
21  38    Hooper, CL        113*    97   WI    Ind   Gwalior          22-Jan-88
21  55    Gower, DI         114*    122  Eng   Pak   The Oval         26-May-78
21  76    Ponting, RT       102     112  Aus   WI    Jaipur           04-Mar-96
21  110   Ebrahim, DD       121     140  Zim   BD    Dhaka            25-Nov-01
21  118   Smith, SB         117     130  Aus   NZ    MCG              13-Feb-83
21  120   Yuvraj Singh      102*    85   Ind   BD    Dhaka            11-Apr-03
21  138   Tendulkar, SR     110     130  Ind   Aus   Colombo (RPS)    09-Sep-94
21  143   Ijaz Ahmed        102*    101  Pak   SL    'The Gabba'      10-Feb-90
21  156   Crowe, MD         105*    105  NZ    Eng   Auckland         25-Feb-84
21  164   Saeed Anwar       126     98   Pak   SL    Adelaide         17-Feb-90
21  187   Tendulkar, SR     115     137  Ind   NZ    Baroda (ICPL)    28-Oct-94
21  201   Imran Farhat      107     112  Pak   NZ    Rawalpindi (CS)  07-Dec-03
21  201   Tendulkar, SR     105     148  Ind   WI    Jaipur           11-Nov-94
21  241   Jayawardene, DPM  120     111  SL    Eng   Adelaide         23-Jan-99
21  287   Kaif, M           111*    112  Ind   Zim   Colombo (RPS)    14-Sep-02
21  292   Samuels, MN       108*    75   WI    Ind   Vijayawada       24-Nov-02
21  304   Jayawardene, DPM  101     138  SL    Pak   Visakhapatnam    27-Mar-99
21  309   Gower, DI         101*    100  Eng   Aus   MCG              04-Feb-79
21  320   Inzamam-ul-Haq    101     121  Pak   SL    Multan (IQB)     17-Jan-92
21  322   Inzamam-ul-Haq    117     103  Pak   SL    Rawalpindi (CS)  19-Jan-92
21  328   Gayle, CH         152     150  WI    Ken   Simba            15-Aug-01
21  350   Tendulkar, SR     112*    107  Ind   SL    Sharjah          09-Apr-95

All statistical research has been updated till November 17, 2004.