Suresh Raina is the lone Indian in the shortlist of four players from all countries to have scored a century in the ICC World Twenty20 championship’s brief history.
Raina, who lost his place in the Test and ODI formats of the game, is part of the squad led by M.S. Dhoni for the T20 event.
Raina scored 101 with five 6s and nine 4s against the South Africans at Gros Islet in May, 2010 in the third edition of the tournament held in the West Indies.
The other three century-makers in the shortest form of the game are Chris Gayle (West Indies, 117 v South Africa at Johannesburg in September, 2007), Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka, 100 v Zimbabwe at Providence in May, 2010) and Brendon McCullum (New Zealand, 123 v Bangladesh at Pallekele in September, 2012).
Missing out
Gayle and Jayawardene had missed out on notching up another hundred each as they scored 98 and 98 not out respectively, both at Bridgetown, in 2010. Incidentally Jayawardene (858 runs) and Gayle (664) are the top two run-getters in the tournament’s history.
The stylish Lankan also holds the record for most fours (91) in the tournament while the feat of scoring the highest number of sixes (43) rests with the powerful West Indian.
The two batsmen also hold the No.1 and 2 positions in the highest number of 50 or 50-plus scores with Gayle having scored 7 (including one century) in comparison to Jayawardene’s 6 (including one ton).
Sri Lanka’s unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis has the distinction of returning the best figures (six for 8) in the tournament, against Zimbabwe at Hambantota in September, 2012.
The next best figures belong to Umar Gul (Pakistan, five for 6 v New Zealand at the Oval in June, 2009) and Mark Gillespie (New Zealand, four for 7 v Kenya at Durnan in September, 2007).
The West Indies is the defending champion having won the title in the fourth edition held in 2012 after India (2007), Pakistan (2009), England (2010) in that order.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka share the record for most wins (16 each) in the tournament. England with 11 defeats holds the record for most losses by a team in the tournament followed by Bangladesh and New Zealand (10 losses each).
The World T20 championship’s fifth edition is set to commence in Bangladesh on Sunday.
