Most runs in a bilateral ODI series

In the history of ODIs, only nine batsmen have managed to score more than 450 runs in a bilateral ODI series. Just let that sink in. Some of the best batsmen to have ever played the game, from Sachin Tendulkar and Viv Richards to Ricky Ponting and Brian Lara, have never gone past that milestone.

Of those nine players, only two have scored more than 500 runs. While many more have done it in World Cups, to do so in a bilateral ODI series, which doesn't consist of more than seven matches speaks for simply sensational form.

Here is the list of batsmen with most runs in a bilateral ODI series:

#6 Chris Gayle

While he may have been in the shadows as far as ODI cricket is concerned of late, there is no doubt about Chris Gayle's pedigree in the format. A tally of over 9,000 ODI runs from 275 matches is proof of that and the unfortunate victims of his finest hour as an ODI player in a bilateral ODI series was India.

The seven-match ODI series began and ended on a far from positive note for the hard-hitting Jamaican opener. But in between were four absolute top-class knocks that helped West Indies go on to win the series. Between the second and fourth ODI, Gayle scored three centuries and a fifty and eventually finished the series with an incredible tally of 455 runs from seven matches.

His incredible helped West Indies win the series and that means that four of this top five includes a batsman who scored runs against India or for India.

#5 Hamilton Masakadza

He held the record for four years

The Zimbabwe opener career has also been about the sublime or the ridiculous. While the big-hitting right-hander does make the game look so effortless at times, he hasn't been able to do it on a consistent basis. The one time he managed to achieve that was in a five-match ODI series against Kenya in 2009.

Masakadza scored 467 runs from five matches at an unbelievable average of 116 and strike rate of 97. He scored a fifty and two centuries against a hapless Kenyan bowling line-up who simply had no clue as to how to deal with the destructive ability of the right-hander.

Although it is almost a decade since that series, only four more players in the history of ODIs managed to score more than Masakadza in a bilateral ODI series and for four years between 2009 and 2013, the Zimbabwe batsman was the proud owner of this record.

#4 George Bailey

Captain Bailey led from the front for Australia

Somewhat surprisingly, the Australian record for most runs in a bilateral ODI series doesn't belong to Dean Jones. Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Michael Clarke or Mike Hussey. Instead, it belongs to George Bailey, who scored 478 runs in the ODI series against India in India in 2013.

In a high-scoring series that saw 300 totals being the norm rather than the exception, Bailey stood out with the bat for the visitors as he was consistently amongst the runs. His tally of 478 runs from six ODIs came at an average of 95 and strike rate of 116.

Although he scored just a solitary 100 in that series, he did have three other fifties to his name as he set the tone for the visitors in the middle-order and led from the front. What makes his series even more special is that it came from the No.4 position and aside from his 156 in Nagpur, he also had scores of 85, 92* and 98 and only failed once in the series.

#3 Rohit Sharma

Australia simply couldn't find a way past Rohit in the 2013 ODI series

When you score a double century in an ODI, you certainly magnify your chances of finishing run-getter in that series. Rohit Sharma did just that against Australia at home in 2013 and until his teammate came along, he also held the world record for most runs in a bilateral ODI series with 491 runs from six matches.

Australia, Rohit's favorite opponents in ODIs were at the unfortunate end of an onslaught that saw the Indian opener score two centuries and a fifty in the series and finish it with an average of 122.75. No bowler was spared and nor was any corner of the ground as the stylish right-hander smoked the ball with the precision of a chef over a barbecue grill.

#2 Fakhar Zaman

He also broke the world record for being the fastest to 1000 ODI runs as well in the series

The Pakistani opener is the latest entrant on this list. Zaman, who became the first Pakistani batsman and eighth overall to score a double century in ODIs, added as many as 515 runs in the five-match series against Zimbabwe. With this, he became only the second batsman after Virat Kohli to cross the 500-run barrier in a bilateral ODI series.

Zaman started the series with a half-century, a 61-run knock in Pakistan's 201-run victory. He followed it up with three unbeaten knocks, 117*, 43* and the jewel of the crown 210*. All these knocks came in Pakistan's victories.

The last match of the series saw him fall short 15 runs off his century, an 83-ball-85 knock and end up with second place on this list

#1 Virat Kohli

Is there any mountain too massive for India's milestone man?

Scoring runs isn't easy. That is true for most batsmen unless your name just happens to be Virat Kohli and you can seemingly score at will irrespective of the state of the bowlers, the pitch or the situation that you are in. Just ask the poor South African bowlers, who did everything in their power to ensure that they stopped the No.1 ranked ODI batsman in the world.

But try as they could, they never did manage to stop him. The end result? Virat Kohli finished the ODI series against South Africa with a staggering 558 runs in just six matches at an average of 186 and strike rate of 99. It was a series that saw the Indian captain go from having 0 ODI centuries in South Africa to finish as the visiting batsman with the most centuries in South Africa (3- level along with Kevin Pietersen).

In doing so, he became the first batsman in ODI history to go past 500 runs in a bilateral ODI series and in doing so, went past his teammate Rohit Sharma into top spot on this list.

Considering how few teams play any more than five ODIs these days, it will be simply incredible if anyone ever manages to beat this record, let alone come close to it. But then again, all of us might just be made to look foolish when Kohli himself breaks this record in the future and I, for one, wouldn't be betting against that happening.