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Follow UsThere are normal years, crazy years, and then there is 2023. The year began in sane fashion, but the last six or so months have seen an astonishing number of records getting broken. Not just ‘some’ records but world records that remained untouched for decades and centuries.
We look at some of the notable records that were broken in 2023. Spoilers: the list is looooonnnnnggggggggg.
Fastest fifty in T20 history
For 16 years, no batter managed to better Yuvraj Singh’s record of smashing a 12-ball 50 in T20s (Chris Gayle and Hazaratullah Zazai equalled it but were not able to break it). However, at the Asian Games in China, Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee, in a truly once-in-a-lifetime knock, smashed a NINE-BALL FIFTY!
It’s a record that will likely NEVER be broken, for mathematically, 9 balls is the quickest a batter can get to 50 (minus overthrows).
Ironically, a month later, Railways’ Ashutosh Sharma also broke Yuvraj’s record, smashing an 11-ball 50 against Arunachal Pradesh.
Fastest hundred in List A history
Two weeks after Airee smashed Yuvraj’s record for the fastest T20 fifty, Australia’s Jake Fraser-McGurk became the first batter in history to score a white-ball hundred in under 30 balls. In a Marsh Cup encounter against Tasmania at the Karen Rolton Oval, Fraser-McGurk shattered AB de Villiers’ record (31-ball 100) to create history.
The 21-year-old is currently impressing in the BBL, but at the time of the record-breaking knock, he was an unknown commodity.
Here’s how AB de Villiers’ record got shattered by a very unlikely candidate
First 300 in Men’s T20s
In the same game in which Airee smashed a nine-ball 50, Nepal became the first team in Men’s T20 history to post a 300+ team total. Afghanistan (278/3) and Czech Republic (278/4) had held the record for the highest team totals in all T20s, but Nepal (314/3) shattered this record.
Admittedly, Nepal managed to do this against a very weak Mongolia side (a team that has no full-time professional cricketers) but it’s an extremely impressive feat nonetheless.
First 400 in Women’s T20Is
You thought scaling 300 was cool? Well, earlier this year in a T20I against Chile Women, Argentina Women scored 427/1 (!!) in 20 overs. Yeah, that is, by SOME distance, the highest ever total in T20s, Men or Women.
What’s more, ARG W also posted the second-highest T20 total (333/1) in the same series.
It’s a record that sounds fake but it’s true. This ACTUALLY happened!
You can check out the scorecard of both the aforementioned matches here
Most ODI centuries by a single player (Men)
Sachin Tendulkar’s haul of 49 ODI hundreds was supposed to never be broken, but Virat Kohli broke the seemingly unbreakable record in front of the master himself at the Wankhede. Kohli also did it on the grandest of all stages, in the semi-finals of the World Cup.
We can probably say this with authority: Kohli’s haul of 50 ODI hundreds is NEVER EVER getting broken.
READ: A leap, a bow, a kiss and Kohli's perfect painting
Most runs in a 50-over World Cup (Men)
In the same (aforementioned) encounter, Kohli also broke another record held by Sachin: most runs scored in a 50-over World Cup edition. Sachin’s 673 runs at the 2003 World Cup stood tall for two decades, but Kohli made the record his own in the 2023 edition, finishing the competition with 765 runs.
First ODI double hundred while chasing (Men)
Heading into the 2023 World Cup, there had been 10 occasions of players smashing double-hundreds in Men’s ODI cricket, but none of those 10 instances came in the second innings of a match.
But all that changed when Glenn Maxwell, in what’s being labeled as the greatest knock in 50-over cricket history, notched up 201* against Afghanistan in a crucial WC game to help Australia single-handedly seal an improbable chase.
READ: 2% chance, 98% faith, Maxwell orchestrates the greatest La Remontada
Fastest World Cup hundred (Men)
This record was broken TWICE at the 2023 World Cup. First Aiden Markram (49 balls) broke Kevin O’Brien’s record (50 balls) to script history, and then, 18 days later, Maxwell SHATTERED Markram’s record, registering a 40-ball hundred against the Netherlands.
Indeed, it was a World Cup to remember for Maxwell.
Highest World Cup total (Men)
Last World Cup-related record (we promise you) and this particular record was broken by South Africa. They posted 428/5 against Sri Lanka in Delhi to become holders of a special record - the highest total in a Men’s ODI World Cup match.
Most sixes hit in international cricket (Men)
Heading into 2023, India skipper Rohit Sharma was one of two batters to have hit 500+ sixes in international cricket, but he entered the calendar year still 51 shy of the Universe Boss, who had 553 maximums to his name.
However, Rohit ended up having one of his best six-hitting years ever and went past Gayle in the World Cup game against Afghanistan, in which he blasted five maximums. At the time of writing this, Rohit has 582 sixes and looks set to become the first batter in cricket history to enter the 600 club.
Largest margin of victory in Men’s ODIs
For 14 years, New Zealand’s 290-run win over Ireland in 2008 stood tall as the largest margin of victory in a Men’s ODI, but in Thiruvananthapuram against Sri Lanka, India registered a 317-run victory to become new record-holders.
India, in January, became the first team to register a 300+ run victory in ODIs, but over the course of the next 11 months, there were three more instances of teams registering a 300+ run victory in ODIs, including India themselves (against Sri Lanka in the World Cup).
Largest margin of victory in Women’s Tests
Indian Men in ODIs 🤝 Indian Women in Tests
Against England in Navi Mumbai, the Indian Women registered the largest margin of victory in Women’s Tests, steamrolling their opponents by 347 runs. Sri Lanka (309-run victory over Pakistan in 1998) held the previous record.
Highest chase in T20 history (Men)
Prior to 2023, among full members in T20Is, 250+ had never been chased down successfully. In fact, in all T20s, 250 had NEVER been chased down ever.
But in 2023, a 250+ total was chased down successfully twice - first by South Africa against West Indies and then by Middlesex against Surrey.
In that, South Africa’s chase of 259 against West Indies in Centurion now holds the record for being the highest successful chase in Men’s T20s.
Best bowling figures in Men’s T20s (first ever 7-fer in Men’s T20Is)
In the Asian Games fixture between Malaysia and China, Malaysia’s Syazrul Idrus became the first bowler to take a 7-fer in a Men’s T20I. The medium pacer registered figures of 4-1-8-7 to script history, becoming the first male player to take a seven-wicket haul in T20Is.
In fact, Idrus’ 7/8 is now the best-ever figures in all Men’s T20s. Colin Ackermann took a 7-fer in 2019 but he conceded 18 runs as compared to Idrus’ 8.
