ODI Cricket: Top 10 greatest batting streaks

#7 Sachin Tendulkar (India): 2000-2004

Tendulkar raises his bat to the crowd in the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup.

Matches: 64, Runs: 3214, Average: 61.5, Highest: 152, 100/50: 10/17, Strike-Rate: 85.

We are celebrating great batting feats here, and it would have been a shame if Sachin Tendulkar did not feature. Tendulkar is the greatest opening batsman in ODI history, and during the course of his 24 year career, he had multiple great batting runs. The one which makes the cut ultimately is his great run of form at the beginning of the 21st century.

Tendulkar had been going strong for over a decade and was easily the best batsman in the world, but he took his game to another level in this phase. Between December 2000 and January 2004, Tendulkar played 64 matches and scored 3214 runs at an average of 61. 20% of his ODI centuries were scored during this period. Interestingly enough, his 10 Odi hundreds came against 9 different opposition.

India enjoyed their most consistent run overseas in the early part of the 21st century and Tendulkar was a big reason why, His ability to take down any bowling attack was exemplary, the greatest example of it was the 98 he scored against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup. He ended the tournament with 673 runs to his name, no one has scored more in an ICC tournament.

Tendulkar was shuffled down the order to accomodate Virender Sehwag but he succeeded at that as well. In the 2002 Natwest Series, he scored 337 runs at an average of 56 despite batting out of position at No.4. Tendulkar's worst series also happened during the same time frame. He scored 2 runs in 3 matches against New Zealand in 2002. He was then moved to the top order for the 2003 World Cup and the rest as they say is history.

Tendulkar had a brief dip in form between 2004-2007 but he bounced back well, and it culminated in him winning the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup on home soil. The longevity and consistency that Tendulkar managed is quite remarkable but he was never more dangerous than at the turn of the century. His numbers are a reflection of that.