In every cricketer’s life, there are prolific years and lean periods. Some make the most of their purple patches leaving behind a legacy. Some get carried away by their form and end up not making enough runs to make up for the dry period that would come by at some point. In contemporary cricket, there are two aspects to the numbers – a batsman can score across three formats which could increase your tally of runs drastically but a modern batsman also has to adjust to the pace of the game in each of the formats.
Some like Virat Kohli ace that test. Kohli has an average of 86.5, the fifth highest year-end average ever across all formats.
Here, we take a look at the top 5 batsmen in terms of runs scored across all formats in this calendar year. Virat Kohli leads the charts and so good has this year been for him that he only narrowly misses out on being one of the top 5 run-scorers of all-time, across all formats in a calendar year, just 31 runs behind fifth-placed Rahul Dravid. The lowest number of innings played by any of the top 5 players in that list is Kane Williamson’s 46.
Kohli got just 41 this year, to his disadvantage and given his form, another five innings could have easily propelled him at least to No.3. Maybe, he will manage that next year, given his sublime form. Meanwhile, here’s the top 5 for this year.
#5 Quinton de Kock – 1781 runs
Quinton de Kock certainly had a great year, despite not playing as many innings as some of his competitors. Yet, it is the testimony of his talent that he picked up the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year Award having racked up a lot of runs in the shorter format of the game. In all, Quinton piled 1781 runs in just 37 innings at 53.96 with 14 fifty-plus scores.
The highlight of his year was certainly his 178 against Australia in an ODI at Centurion and a century against the same team from down the order, in Hobart, in their own den in a Test. In 8 Tests, he managed 695 runs at 63.18 at a strike-rate of 78.61. Can you really ask for more from your wicket-keeper in whites? In ODIs, he was the third highest run-getter with 857 runs in just 17 innings at 57.13 with a strike-rate of 108.61, the highest amongst the top 10 run-getters.
#4 David Warner – 2374 runs
One of only two players this year to make it to both the ICC Test and ODI Teams of the Year, Warner was in devastating form especially in ODIs. In Tests, he managed 748 runs in 19 innings at 41.55, not special by his standards. But, in ODIs, he was the top run-getter by a huge margin. Warner scored 1388 runs in 23 innings (234 more than the second best) at an average of 63.09 and with an incredible strike-rate of 105.47.
He smashed 7 centuries and 4 half-centuries. He added another 238 runs in 10 T20Is to end up as the fourth highest run-getter this year across all formats. Overall, Warner managed to score at an average of 47.48 with 16 fifty-plus scores in 52 innings.
#3 Steve Smith – 2406 runs
Australia had a torrid year as a team (although they are ending it on a high with three successive wins at home) but that hasn’t affected the form of their skipper Steve Smith. Smith scored 2406 runs at 53.46 with 20 fifty-plus scores from 51 innings. The sixth highest run-getter in Tests this year compiled 1079 runs in 18 innings at 71.93 with 4 centuries. He is also the second highest run-getter in ODIs with 1154 runs at 50.17 with 3 centuries (only two players crossed 1000 ODI runs this year – Smith and his vice-captain David Warner).
The highlight of his year was definitely his last innings, 165*, that set up a virtually unthinkable innings win for Australia after conceding 443 to Pakistan in their first innings, in the second Test at the MCG. Unfortunately, Smith only made it as the 12th Man of the ICC Test Team of the Year and was ignored for the ODI Team of the Year.
#2 Joe Root – 2570 runs
Joe Root scored more runs in whites this year than any other batsman – 1477 in 17 Tests at 49.23 with 3 centuries and 10 half-centuries. He would have loved to convert a few more of those half-centuries into tons to help England, especially in India and Bangladesh. Nevertheless, he was picked in the ICC Test Team of the Year. Root was also the fifth highest run-getter in ODIs, scoring 796 runs in 14 innings at 61.23 with 2 centuries and 6 half-centuries.
In T20Is, Root found himself a little down in the list of run-getters, making 297 runs in 9 innings at 37.12 with 2 half-centuries. His overall average was an impressive 50.39 with 23 fifty-plus scores in 55 innings. The highlight of his year was definitely the 254 he scored against Pakistan in Manchester.
#1 Virat Kohli – 2595 runs
Kohli had an almost impeccable year in all three formats of the game. The fourth highest run-getter in Tests, Kohli scored 1215 runs at 75.93 with 4 centuries, three of which were double tons. In ODIs, Kohli managed another 739 runs at an unbelievable average of 92.37 with 3 centuries and a strike-rate of 100. While managing to play glorious, pure cricket, Kohli still managed to score 641 runs in just 13 T20I innings, 121 more than his nearest competitor.
His T20I batting average this year is a super-human 106.83 with a strike-rate of 140.26. Kohli hit 7 half-centuries during this time and was unbeaten 7 times. So good has been his form, that he was dismissed in single digits just 7 times in 41 innings across all formats, the double ton at the Wankhede against England, in a tough situation to help India win the game, being the highlight of the year.
His 82* at Mohali against Australia in the T20I World Cup was another great knock to remember him by. He was suitably rewarded by being picked as the captain of the ICC ODI Team of the Year! His overall average was a fabulous 86.50 with 20 fifty-plus scores in 41 innings.
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