Over the past fifty years, ODI cricket has produced many amazing batsmen. These players changed the way the game is played with their impressive statistics and huge influence on their teams and eras.
Here are five of the greatest batsmen in ODI cricket history:
5. Kumar Sangakkara
Kumar Sangakkara has scored an impressive 14,234 runs, making him the second-highest run scorer in cricket history. He was a key player for Sri Lanka, alongside Mahela Jayawardene and Sanath Jayasuriya, often saving the team with his incredible counter-attacking play.
Sangakkara also set a record by scoring four consecutive centuries in ODI cricket during the 2015 World Cup. People remember his cover drive as one of the most graceful shots in cricket, comparable to Sachin Tendulkar’s straight drive and Ricky Ponting’s pull shot.
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4. Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli’s cricket stats are amazing. He was the fastest to score 10,000 runs in One Day Internationals (ODIs), reaching it in just 205 innings. He is currently second for the most centuries in ODIs with 38 hundreds.
Recently, he has been incredibly consistent, scoring 3,369 runs in his last 49 ODI matches. By the time he retires, he is likely to hold most of the batting records. If we looked at this list again in ten years, Kohli’s name would probably be even higher.
3. Ricky Ponting
Many consider Ricky Ponting the best Australian batsman in ODI cricket, as he stands out among numerous star players.
He played several notable innings, with his best being an unbeaten 140 runs against India in the 2003 World Cup final. He, Adam Gilchrist, and Matthew Hayden formed a powerful batting trio, which many consider one of the best top threes ever.
When Ponting retired from ODI cricket in 2012, he was the second highest run-scorer and century-maker, just behind Sachin Tendulkar. He also holds the title of the greatest captain in ODI history, leading Australia to World Cup victories in 2003 and 2007.
2. Sir Vivian Richards
Viv Richards was the first batting superstar that ODI cricket produced. At a time when bowlers favored the pitches and ODI cricket still played it safe, Richards redefined the game and plundered bowling attacks with an astounding strike rate of 90.2.
He set the record for the fastest to 6,000 runs in ODI cricket before Hashim Amla broke it almost three decades later.
People will remember Richards best for the 138* he scored in the 1979 World Cup final against England.
1. Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar is the owner of almost every single batting record in the game of cricket. Also known as the “God Of Cricket”, Tendulkar is worshipped for his staggering achievements including that for the most runs (18,426) and most hundreds (49).
Although some of Tendukar’s records might be broken one day, he was the first to scale the Everest as far as batting is concerned. No cricketer had been under more scrutiny in the history of the game, as Tendulkar bore the burden of expectations of more than a billion people for almost a quarter of a century every time he walked in to bat.
Harsha Bhogle even very famously said, “When Tendulkar plays well, India sleeps well.”
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