The Top 10 Run scorers in ODI Cricket History: Where are they from?

Cricket is a sport enjoyed by millions across the globe through its many different formats. From the Indian Premier League to the rivalry shown in fierce international tests such as England vs Australia and India vs Pakistan, it’s a sport which has a huge following.

One of the most popular formats of the game is One Day International (ODI) cricket, which involves two international sides battling it out over a fixed number of overs.

Throughout the years, fans of the sport have seen numerous records being broken in ODI cricket. Recently, India’s captain and star batsman Virat Kohli became the youngest and fastest ever player to reach 10,000 ODI runs, a fantastic achievement for a man who still has so many more years left ahead of him in the game.

Despite this amazing record, Kohli is still some way away from being the highest run scorer in ODI history, but he surely will have this ultimate goal in his sights.

It’s certainly interesting to look at the top run scorers in the history of One Day International cricket and see exactly how far away Virat Kohli has to go. It’s also interesting to examine where these top batsmen are from, an idea similar to what was featured in a recent blog post by Betway.

Are there any trends when it comes to areas producing the best batsmen the world has ever seen?

Let’s find out…

10.  Brian Lara (Born in Santa Cruz, Trinidad and Tobago) 10,405 runs

Brian Charles Lara is the highest scoring batsman to have ever played for the West Indies and is regarded as one of the best the game has ever seen. Born in Santa Cruz, Trinidad and Tobago, Lara played 299 ODI matches, scoring 10,405 runs in the process.

9.  Rahul Dravid (Born in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India) 10,889 runs

The first of three Indian players to make this top 10 list is Rahul Dravid, who was born in the city of Indore. His career total of 10,889 ODI runs was achieved across 344 matches, which saw him score 12 centuries and 83 half centuries. His last innings saw him score 69 runs from 79 balls against England at Cardiff in 2011.

8. Sourav Ganguly (Born in Kolkata, West Bengal, India) 11,363 runs

sourav-ganguly

Image caption: “Gangooly” (CC BY 2.0) By Hash Milhan

Eighth in the list and the first featured to reach over 11,000 runs in their ODI career is Sourav Ganguly. Nicknamed the ‘God of the Offside’, Ganguly’s style of stroke play was appreciated by fans of the game across the world. These days, Sourav Ganguly is still heavily involved in cricket, most notably as a member of the Indian Premier League’s Governing Council.

7. Jacques Kallis (Born in Cape Town, South Africa) 11,579 runs

Next up is Jacques Kallis, the only South African to make the top ten list of ODI total run scorers. Born in Cape Town in 1975, Kallis’ cricketing career is one full of great achievements. Not only is he regarded as one of the best batsmen of all time, he was also a very impressive bowler and fielder. His status as arguably the best all-rounder in the history of the game is supported by his achievement in 2016 of becoming the first player history to score over 10,000 runs and take over 250 wickets in both Test and ODI formats of cricket – truly remarkable.

6. Inzamam-ul-Haq (Born in Multan, Punjab, Pakistan) 11,739 runs

Former captain of the Pakistan National Cricket team, Inzamam-ul-Haq, also known as Inzi, is regarded as one of, if not the, best batsmen ever produced by the ‘Green Shirts’.

Born in the city of Multan in the Punjab province of Pakistan, Inzi had an illustrious playing career, both domestically and internationally. Briefly appointed as head coach of the Afghanistan National Team in 2015, Inzamam-ul-Haq helping to steer the nation to some memorable wins. These days Inzi is chief selector of the Pakistan National Cricket Team.

5. Mahela Jayawardene (Born in Colombo, Sri Lanka) 12,650 runs

The first player to feature on this list with over 12,000 ODI runs under his belt is Mahela Jayawardene. Born in the capital of Sri Lanka in 1977, Jayawardene is a true modern great of Test, ODI and T20 cricket.

4. Sanath Jayasuriya (Born in Matara, Sri Lanka) 13,340 runs

Next up is fellow Sri Lankan, Sanath Jayasuriya whose illustrious 22-year ODI career saw him achieve so much in the game. The former Sri Lankan captain is known as one of the best all-rounders in the history of ODI cricket and became the only player in history to take over 300 wickets and record more than 12,000 runs in this format of the game.

3. Ricky Ponting (Born in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia) 13,704 runs

As we reach the top three of this impressive list, we find the first and only representative of Australia – Ricky Ponting. Former captain of Australia’s Test and ODI sides, Ponting was an inspiring leader and a formidable batsman. Born in the Australian island state of Tasmania, Ricky Ponting represented his country in over 370 ODIs and more than 160 tests – becoming the leading run scorer for Australia in both formats of the game.

2. Kumar Sangakkara (Born in Matale, Sri Lanka) 14,234 runs

In second place we find our third and final representative of Sri Lanka, Kumar Sangakkara. Sangakkara struck up some formidable batting partnerships during his playing career, most notably with Mahale Jayawardene who features in fifth place on this list. Scorer of over 14,000 ODI runs and a total of 28,016 runs across all formats of the game, Kumar Sangakkara is undoubtedly one of the best batsmen the world has ever seen.

1. Sachin Tendulkar (Born in Mumbai, India) 18,426 runs

sachin-tendulkar

Image caption: “Sachin Tendulkar vs Australia, 2008” (CC BY 2.0) by Public.Resource.Org

We have seen some truly remarkable total run scores from the previous 9 entrants featured on this list, but the fact that Sachin Tendulkar scored over 4,000 more ODI runs than second place Sangakkara is just testament to how great a player he was. A truly unique batsmen and the only cricketer to score more than 30,000 runs in international cricket (across all formats), Sachin has rightly earned his nickname as the ‘God of Cricket’.

Will his record ever be beaten? It’s certainly not going to be easy – but Virat Kohli can take some encouragement from the fact that he was able to reach the 10,000 run milestone in ODI cricket over a shorter space of time, and at a younger age, than the great Sachin Tendulkar.