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Top 5 Players With the Best Batting Average in ODIs History
One-day international cricket, famously abbreviated as ODI, is a form of limit overs cricket. Played internationally between two countries, each team gets to play an inning of 50 overs in this format. The Cricket World Cup, held every four years, is played in this format though we have world cups in a twenty-twenty and test format too.
ODIs were not always played. They have become a trend in the late-twentieth century. The first-ever ODI match was played between the cricketing giants, Australia and England at Melbourne Cricket Ground. It was more of a compensatory match at that time. The first three days of the scheduled test match were washed off in the rain. Hence, the officials abandoned the test and replaced it with an 80-over match, with each side playing 40 overs. The overs were eight balls each. Australia won the match by 5 wickets. The uniform of the players was nonetheless the white test kits. Red colored ball was used to play the match.
The credit for giving ODI cricket the size and shape it has today goes to Kerry Packer. He was an Australian media tycoon who established the rival World Series Cricket Competition. Colored uniforms, white balls, night matches under floodlights, multiple camera angles, broadcasting on the television, and other such commonplace characteristics of the game got cemented during the competition. The first-ever match with a colored uniform was played between the Australians and the West Indians. Australians donned wattle gold versus while the West Indians wore coral pink. It was played at VFL Park in Melbourne on 17 January 1979. While Kerry’s Channel 9 earned the TV rights for Australian cricket, cricketers started getting paid and cricket was growingly seen as a profession.
Today, all ODI matches are governed by the International Cricket Council. They release official rankings for teams and players. New Zealand is the table topper and current favorite of ODI cricket. Babar Azam is the number one ODI batsman, Trent Boult is the number one bowler, and Shakib Al Hasan is the number one all-rounder.
ODI cricket has been nearly 50 years old now and has seen quite some amazing players in due course. In this article, we will discuss 5 batsmen who have had a meritorious careers with the best batting average in the format. The qualifying parameter is that the player should have played at least 30 matches. In the race, we have Rassie van der Dussen, Ryan ten Doeschate, Babar Azam, Virat Kohli, and Imam-ul-Haq in decreasing order of batting average. All except Ryan ten Doeschate are active in cricket currently.
Rassie van der Dussen
He is a South African batsman. Named one of the five best cricketers in the South African Cricket Annual, Dussen has successfully maintained a batting average of 69.23. He is the only player to have an average close to 70 with that score. He has even surpassed 70 once with an average of 74.95. So far he has played 38 matches and earned 1525 runs. Though he is a domestic legend, he has not been given a lot of chances in the national team. The reasons could be many. His best performance has been a score of 134 off 117 balls against England in July 2022. He has 11 fifties and 3 hundreds to his name in the ODI format. He is currently ranked 2 with a rating of 766 by ICC.
Ryan is a batting allrounder from the Netherlands. He debuted in 2006 against Sri Lanka and played his last ODI in 2011 against Ireland at Eden Gardens. Though he is not playing international cricket anymore, he ranks significantly high on the batting average charts in the ODI format. In fact, he is the only non-active player in our top 5 list. He batted in 32 innings out of the 33 matches he has played for the country. With 1541 runs, his batting average is a soaring high of 67. He scored 5 centuries and 9 half centuries to achieve this score. He has taken a total of 55 wickets in his cricket career. For his capabilities, he is described as the best associate player amongst all the non-Test playing nations. He scored 2 centuries in the 2011 Cricket World Cup.
The Pakistan skipper is also the top-ranked batsman in the ODI format according to ICC rankings. He has played 95 matches as of now. With 4813 runs, he has managed to also maintain a good batting average of 59.42. 17 centuries and 25 half centuries have helped me reach these stats. This phenomenal player has been doing well both as an opener and as a number three for his country. He scored his best of 158 runs against England in the Birmingham ODI in 2021.
Former captain and the king of cricket in India, Virat Kohli is probably the most admired and revered player of contemporary times. The right-hand batsman has played 269 matches so far and people would surely love to see him play for another decade or so. In 260 innings, he has scored
12762 runs in total. With an amazing strike rate of 93.67, Virat has maintained a good average of 58.01. He has successfully scored 46 centuries and 64 half-centuries and many more are yet to come. Many look up to him with the hope that he can break various of Sachin Tendulkar’s records across all formats. He has played innumerable memorable knocks for the team in the past but his highest score has been 183.
Another Pakistani in our top 5 list is Imam-ul-Haq. Nephew of Inzamam-ul-Haq, he entered the profession with a lot of expectations and is clearly living up to them. He has played 56 matches and innings so far. He has scored 2545 runs with a personal highest of 151. His batting average is 50.9. He has successfully added 9 centuries and 14 fifties to his name.
The Way Forward
Well, cricket no longer is just a gentleman's game. Women play it too and with utmost beauty. Hence, this list needs a mention of the woman with the best batting average in ODI Cricket. Mithali Raj, the former captain of India Women, is the highest run-getter of the format with a total tally of 7805 runs from 211 innings in 232 matches. Her batting average is 50.68, the highest in women’s cricket. She has scored 7 centuries and 54 half-centuries in her career. Her personal best score was 125 not out against Sri Lanka in 2018 at Katunayake.
With this, we come to an end of our discourse. Cricket is the second most watched sport in the world and has been a promising profession. Hence, the near future might see some new names added to the list.
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