Top 5 Indian batsmen with the most ODI runs this decade (2010-2019)

This decade has been a riveting one for Indian cricket, especially in the ODI format. It started with batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar becoming the first man to score a double hundred in ODI cricket, when he smashed an ethereal 200* off just 147 balls against South Africa.

Then India won the 2011 World Cup, with MS Dhoni playing a captain's knock in the summit clash and leading from the front. An entire country of a billion-plus erupted in unbridled joy.

India tasted more success after that, winning the 2013 Champions Trophy in England too. But then the two subsequent World Cups ended in disappointment, with India getting knocked out in the semi-finals of both the 2015 and 2019 editions.

This decade has also seen the retirement of many legends of Indian cricket from the ODI format, including the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh.

But the greatest story of the decade has been the emergence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as batting powerhouses. The two men have taken the cricketing world by storm, smashing bowling attacks across the world with disdain.

In this article, let us look at 5 Indian batsmen with the most ODI runs in this decade.

#5 Suresh Raina

Suresh Raina

Suresh Raina has played 144 matches for India in this decade and scored 3718 runs at an average of 35.40, including 3 hundreds and 23 fifties. Raina’s first hundred of the decade came in the year 2010 when he scored 106 against Sri Lanka at Dhaka. However, the classy innings went in vain as Sri Lanka romped home by 4 wickets.

His second hundred of the decade came in Cardiff in the year 2014. Raina’s whirlwind 100, scored off just 75 balls, enabled India to thrash the hosts by 133 runs.

His final century of the decade came during the 2015 World Cup, when he scored 110* to help India beat Zimbabwe by 6 wickets.

Raina last played an ODI for India on 17 July 2018.

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#4 Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan has formed a formidable partnership alongside Rohit Sharma at the top of the order. The dynamic left-hander has played 133 matches for India this decade and scored 5518 runs at an average of 44.50. He has also registered 17 hundreds and 27 fifties this decade.

Dhawan scored two magnificent hundreds in the 2013 Champions Trophy, against South Africa and the West Indies, and played a pivotal role in India clinching the title. He also slammed a match-winning 137 against South Africa in the 2015 World Cup.

The left-hander conjured a stunning 117 against Australia in the 2019 World Cup, but his stint in England was cut short due to injury.

Dhawan's last ODI match was against the West Indies in August 2019, where he scored a run-a-ball 36.

#3 MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni.

The legendary MS Dhoni has featured in 196 matches for India in this decade and scored 5640 runs at an excellent average of 50.35. Dhoni has also notched up four hundreds and 39 fifties during this decade.

The most important knock played by Dhoni in this decade was the magical 91* he conjured in the final of the 2011 World Cup. Coming in to bat at the fall of Kohli’s wicket, Dhoni scored a whirlwind 91*, led from the front and enabled India to lift the trophy.

Dhoni’s other memorable knocks this decade include a magnificent 113* against Pakistan in a losing cause. Coming in to bat with India tottering at 27/5, Dhoni’s hundred propelled the side to a total of 227.

His final century of this decade came in the year 2017 against England. Dhoni scored 134 and took India to a huge total of 381 runs, enabling the hosts to edge past England by 15 runs.

His last ODI this decade was on 10 July 2019, in the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup. Even though he scored a half-century, India went down to New Zealand by 18 runs.

#2 Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma

One of the biggest success stories of this decade has been the emergence of Rohit Sharma as a match-winner for India. ‘The Hitman’ has played 177 matches for India in this decade and scored a staggering 7991 runs, including 27 hundreds and 38 fifties.

Rohit has smashed as many as three double hundreds in this decade. His 264 against Sri Lanka in the year 2014 is the highest individual score of all time in ODI cricket. He has also crossed the 150-run mark 7 times in this decade.

Rohit almost literally owned the 2019 World Cup. The right-handed batsman became the first man in history to score five hundreds in a single edition of the multi-nation event, and ended the tournament with a staggering tally of 648 runs.

Rohit’s last ODI match was against the West Indies in August 2019, where he was run out for 10 runs.

#1 Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli has emerged as the monarch of all that he has surveyed this decade. The batting maestro has dismantled bowling attacks across the world with stunning regularity, and is already considered by many as one of the greatest batsmen of all time.

The numbers generated by Kohli this decade send the mind into a tizzy. In the 224 matches that the batting maestro has played, he has scored 11036 runs, including a whopping 42 hundreds and 51 fifties. That means he has crossed the 50-run mark 93 times in this decade alone.

Kohli has also broken a plethora of records in this period, including becoming the fastest to 10000 runs in ODIs, notching up the highest number of centuries in chases and scoring the most runs by an Indian batsman in a bilateral ODI series.

Kohli still has several years ahead of him, and if he can continue in the same vein he will likely go past most of Sachin Tendulkar’s big ticket records.