From Sidhu to Breetzke: New Record for Most Consecutive 50s From ODI Debut

South Africa’s Matthew Breetzke made a sensational ODI debut run, scoring five consecutive fifties and breaking Navjot Singh Sidhu’s 38-year-old World Cup record.

Navjot Singh Sidhu (Image Source: Google)

Recently South Africa batter Matthew Breetzke made a sensational start to his ODI career and notched up five straight fifty-plus scores since debut.

In the process he shattered Navjot Singh Sidhu's 38-year-old record who had struck four straight half-centuries, from debut, at the 1987 World Cup but in five matches. Breetzke established many other new records but most significant was bettering the feat of Navjot Sidhu.

Navjot Sidhu was the holder of this record for so long that many had believed that it would be very difficult for anyone to match his feat. After him, Tom Cooper (Netherlands) in 2010 and Max O'Dowd (Netherlands) in 2019 scored 3 consecutive 50s from debut but couldn’t touch him.

Today it is very difficult to realize how significant were those four 50s scored by him, for himself as well as for the team. Breetzke was never under the pressure of scoring the runs and succeeded in scoring 463 runs his first five innings but all the guns were pointed towards Navjot Sidhu when he made his ODI debut, perhaps everybody other than selectors had doubt on his capability as a batsman for this level of cricket.

Today, his overall records shows that he was a better batsman than perceived. He scored 3202 runs in Test cricket at 42.80 and of these, 2911 came as opener. Only five Indian openers have more runs. Of them, only three – Gavaskar, Sehwag, and Gambhir – have a better average (Gambhir, only marginally better at 42.90). Of Indian openers, only three have hit more sixes than his 34.

He made his Test debut against Clive Lloyd's West Indians in 1983-84. In his second Test he opened and saw Marshall reducing India to 0 for 2. He survived for 114 minutes for his 20, but his 54-run stand with Gavaskar had taken India out of danger. This was the show of his determination, but a top journalist Rajan Bala labelled him a ‘strokeless wonder’. At that time, the printed word had some significance, and this label became his second name and for almost five years he didn’t play his next Test innings.

‘I took it in my stride. I worked hard to prove people wrong. I used to play with tennis balls for hours at my house back home in Patiala. I used to bat for hours on a cement wicket built by my father. I would ask any guy who was passing by the house to come in and chuck a few. I used to carry on and on’ Sidhu remembers.

‘My father was very depressed by the article which called me a “strokeless wonder.” Something told me to prove this article wrong. I always had strokes. I stuck that article in my wardrobe. I would read it every day. I never let it fade away from my memory. I had to prove the article wrong.’

There are stories of him hitting more than 300 sixes every day for four years, during practice sessions. He continued scoring in domestic cricket and was prepared to play any match so that he could score. By 1987 for selectors, the biggest question was who would partner Srikanth in the Tests? Navjot Sidhu’s selection for the Reliance World Cup was ‘apprenticeship’ for the return to the Test side.

ODI Debut: 1987 World Cup against Australia (who would win the cup) hit 5 sixes, scored 73 in 79 balls.

Second ODI: Hit 4 more sixes against New Zealand, scored 75 in 71 balls.

Third ODI: The batting order was changed and didn’t bat against Zimbabwe.

Fourth ODI: Another 50, scored 51 in 70 balls against Australia.

Fifth ODI: His fourth consecutive 50, scored 55 in 61 balls against Zimbabwe.

Sixth ODI: Against New Zealand, again the batting order was changed and he didn’t bat.

He was back with a bang and celebrated his Test comeback with 116 (195) and 43* (49) against New Zealand at Bangalore.

This was a new avatar of Navjot Sidhu and by that time Rajan Bala had changed his narrative: ‘Navjot Singh Sidhu, from a strokeless wonder, has turned into a palm-grove hitter.’ For him the new label was Sixer Sidhu, and this transformation was not a laughing matter.

Sidhu played 136 ODIs, scored 4413 runs at an average of 37.08, with 33 fifties and 6 centuries. His record may not sound great today, but till 1998 only Azhar and Tendulkar had more ODI runs, 100s or 50s for India.

Before Matthew Breetzke scored 5 fifty+ scores in 5 innings, 7 innings was the quickest to reach 5 fifty+ scores by a player in ODIs and Asif Iqbal, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Tom Cooper and Jonathan Trott achieved the feat.

Navjot Sidhu remembers, ‘When I got selected for the camp before the World Cup 1987, there was no pressure on me. I just said to myself that I had to play my natural game. That’s how I succeeded.’

‘Well, in the first match against Australia, I got going, played all my shots. It was unfortunate that we lost that match. I got four consecutive fifties during the World Cup. It was all due to the grace of God. It was then that I removed that article from my wardrobe.’