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2019 has been an eventful year for Indian cricket in the ODI format. The Men in Blue started the year with a 2-1 series win over Australia in Down Under. This was followed by a tour of New Zealand where the Indians steamrolled the Kiwis by winning the series 4-1.
Australia then arrived in India for a five-match series. The visitors gained retribution by winning the series 3-2. This was then followed by the biggest event in ODI cricket - the 12th edition of the World Cup. India did extremely well in the group stages, but faltered in the semi-final, losing to New Zealand by 18 runs.
India then embarked on a tour to the West Indies for a three-match ODI series, which they won 2-0, with the first match being washed out. The final ODI series for the Men in Blue in 2019 was again a series against the mercurial West Indies at home, which India won 2-1.
In this article, let us look at three Indian batsmen who have scored the most ODI runs in 2019.
#3 Mahendra Singh Dhoni
At number 3 comes arguably India’s greatest wicket-keeper batsman, MS Dhoni. The legendary Indian cricketer played 18 matches this year and scored 600 runs, at a whopping average of 60.00, including six fifties.
Dhoni started the year by scoring three consecutive fifties against Australia in January 2019, and also bagged the Man of the Series award. Dhoni then scored 49 runs in the series against New Zealand. When the Aussies visited Indian shores, Dhoni again contributed a 59* in the first match of the series, but failed to get going in the next two games.
Also see - Ranji schedule
And then, in the World Cup, Dhoni scored two fifties in the tournament. His last match of this calendar year was the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand. Even though he scored a half-century, India went down to the Kiwis in a hard fought game.
Record this Year: Matches:18 Innings:16 Runs:600 Average:60.00 100’s:0 50’s:6
#2 Virat Kohli
The cricketing world is running out of superlatives to describe this man’s ethereal exploits with the bat. Virat Kohli has played 26 matches for India this year and has scored 1377 runs, at an incredible average of 59.86, including five hundreds and seven fifties.
Kohli started the year by scoring a magnificent hundred at the Adelaide Oval against Australia, paving the way for India to beat the Aussies by six wickets. Later, when Australia visited Indian shores, Kohli was again at his rampaging best, scoring two glorious hundreds in the series. And in the 2019 World Cup, Kohli scored 443 runs, including five consecutive fifties and played a pivotal role in India reaching the semi-final of the event.
The master batsman continued his purple patch in the subsequent tour of the West Indies, smashing two hundreds and guiding India to victory on both occasions. Kohli’s final ODI of the year was on December 22nd, against the West Indies in Cuttack. Kohli’s masterly 85 acted as the catalyst of the innings as India romped home, chasing a target of 316 runs with eight balls to spare.
Record this Year: Matches:26 Innings:25 runs:1377 Average:59.86 100’s:5 50’s:7
#1 Rohit Sharma
It would not be an exaggeration to say that 2019 has literally belonged to Rohit Sharma. ‘The Hitman’ has been in surreal form this year, scoring a gargantuan 1490 runs at an average of 57.30, including six fifties and seven hundreds.
Rohit started his first ODI match of 2019 by scoring a whirlwind 133 runs against the Aussies at the Sydney Cricket Ground. In the subsequent series against New Zealand, Rohit scored two half centuries, and on both occasions, India triumphed.
However, it was in the World Cup that Rohit just made all the others fade away. In the biggest cricketing event, Rohit plundered 647 runs, including an unreal five hundreds in the tournament. No batsman in history has scored five hundreds in a single edition of the World Cup, and probably no one ever will.
The Indian vice captain smashed a stunning 159 in Vishakapatnam when West Indies visited India, enabling the hosts to crush their opponents by 107 runs. In his final ODI of the year, Rohit scored a fluent run-a-ball 63, to guide India to a series victory over the West Indies.
Record this Year: Matches:28 Innings:27 Runs:1490 Average:57.30 100’s:7 50’s:6
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