Players who have played the most innings at each batting position (ODIs)

One-Day Internationals have undergone plenty of transformations since Ashes rivals Australia and England faced off against each other for the time in 1971.

Fielding restrictions to powerplay overs, the all-whites to coloured clothing and eight-ball overs to six-ball overs as well as the change from sixty overs a side to fifty - the ODI version of the game has seen a lot of changes but has still managed to remain relevant, even if it may have lost out to T20 cricket in terms of popularity.

With time being a premium in the abridged format, batsmen play more aggressively and it is very unlikely that batsman lower down the line-up get to be in the middle as much as they want.

The team management would invariably want the best batsmen in the side to spend maximum time out in the middle as the list for most ODI innings played in each position would suggest, the gap in the number of innings gets bigger as we move down.

We start off the list with the player who has batted the most as an opener in ODI history.

#Opener - Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) - 383 innings

India's Sachin Tendulkar might be head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to making most runs as an opener in ODI history, but it is Sanath Jayasuriya who holds the record for most innings played as an opener in the 50-over format.

The duo are way ahead of the rest but there is some daylight between the Top as well with the Sri Lankan all-rounder opening the innings in 383 of his 445 ODIs compared to Tendulkar's tally of 340.

He scored 12740 runs as an opener at an average of 34.61, scoring 28 ODI hundreds and his career-best knock of 189 came against India at Sharjah in 2000.

Jayasuriya excelled at the top, playing an instrumental role in helping Sri Lanka lift the 1996 ODI Wolrd Cup with his explosive batting alongside Romesh Kaluwitharana.

He had an extended career with the national side and is, in fact, the third most capped player in ODI history.

#3 Ricky Ponting (Australia) - 330 innings

Ponting, batting at 3, scored an unbeaten 140 to lead Australia to victory in the 2003 World Cup final

The player with the record for most innings batted at the number 3 spot in ODIs is Australian legend Ricky Ponting with 330 innings to his credit.

Ponting, who is Australia's most capped player, made the No 3 spot his own for Australia forging a highly successful career at the international as both player and skipper.

He led Australia to the 2003 and the 2007 ODI World Cup titles and his unbeaten knock of 140 against India, after coming into bat one down, in the final at Johannesburg in 2003 is rated as one of the most significant World Cup innings in history.

With 12662 runs, Ponting is the only player in ODI history to have scored more than 10000 runs as a Number 3 batsman. All but one of his 30 ODI centuries have come batting from that position.

#4 Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka) - 219 innings

Jayawardene and Sangakkara shouldered the Sri Lankan batting for a number of years

Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene is the second-most capped player in ODI history with 448 matches to his credit and he has batted at the number 4 spot a record 219 times.

Though Aravinda de Silva, Ross Taylor, and AB de Villiers have scored more ODI centuries than Jayawardene as a No 4 batsman, Jayawardene is the leading run-scorer from that position, scoring 6947 runs at an average of just above 35.

Though the average may be slightly on the lower side, Jayawardene played an important role in the Sri Lankan side, alongside Kumar Sangakkara and the absence of the duo can surely be felt with a simple glance at Sri Lanka's results since their retirement.

He also played as an opener for the national team, and surprisingly possess an average of 43. He also batted at the No 5 position on 85 occasions but it was at the number four spot that the former Sri Lankan skipper built his career on.

#5 Arjuna Ranatunga (Sri Lanka) - 153 innings

Ranatunga led Sri Lanka to victory in the 1996 ODI World Cup

Another Sri Lankan feature in the list with 1996 World Cup winning skipper Arjuna Ranatunga holding the record for playing most innings at the number 5 spot in the batting line-up.

Ranatunga played 153 innings in the position, 18 ahead of his nearest competitor, Steve Waugh. He holds the record for most runs scored from that position as well with 4675 runs at an average of 38.63.

He formed the core of the Sri Lankan middle order along with Aravinda de Silva during the side's glory years and was tasked with the job as a finisher.

It was as skipper though that Ranatunga truly made his mark in international cricket leading Sri Lanka to World Cup triumph in 1996 with a win over Australia in the final.

#6 MS Dhoni (India) - 121 innings

Dhoni is one of the best finishers in the history of 50-over cricket

One of the greatest finishers in the history of ODI cricket, MS Dhoni is the player with most appearances as a Number 6 batsman in the 50-over format.

While wicketkeeper batsmen usually tend to occupy the number 7 spot, Dhoni was simply too good to bat that low down the order and was and still remains a formidable presence in the Indian middle order.

From 121 innings as a No 6 batsman, Dhoni has scored 3931 runs at an average of 46.79, often helping the Indian side chase down targets with his calm and composed presence on the field.

Dhoni's highest individual score as a No 6 batsman came against Australia at Chandigarh in 2013 when he smashed an unbeaten 139 runs off 121 balls.

#7 Chris Harris (New Zealand) - 124 innings

Chris Harris is one of New Zealand's all-time greatest ODI players

Former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Harris is the player with the credit of having batted the maximum number of times at the number 7 position in ODI cricket.

Harris is also the leading run-scorer in ODI history from that position with 2130 runs from 104 innings. He never scored a hundred from that position but a healthy average of 31.32 proves that he was a consistent performer with the bat lower down the order.

With a strike rate of 66.98, one might assume Harris was too slow for the ODI format but he was someone who had the ability to knock the ball around and help in building partnerships.

Harris was an ODI specialist and is New Zealand's third-leading wicket-taker with 203 wickets to his name. He was an excellent fielder as well, especially of his own bowling.

#8 Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka) - 103 innings

Vaas' holds the record for the best bowling figures in an ODI match, picking up 8/19 against Zimbabwe

The player with the best bowling figures in ODI history, Chaminda Vaas, holds the record for most innings played as a number 8 batsman.

Apart from his impeccable bowling record forming the backbone of the Sri Lankan bowling alongside Muttiah Muralitharan, Vaas was handy with the bat as well which explains why he batted higher up among the tailenders.

With an average of 15.25, including a half-century, Vaas played 103 innings in the number 8 position, scoring 1068 runs.

However, the player who has scored most runs from that position in ODIs is Pakistan's Wasim Akram, followed by Zimbabe's Heath Streak and South Africa's Shaun Pollock.

#9 Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka) - 68 innings

Vaas has a Test century to his name, scored against Bangladesh in 2007

Sri Lanka's Chaminda Vaas makes an appearance yet again as the player with most innings batted at the number position in ODI history.

The left-hander scored 552 runs from 68 innings in the position at an average of 13.14 but just like his stats with regards to the number 8 position, he is not the leading run-scorer.

That record is held by Bangladesh's Mashrafe Mortaza who has scored 660 runs from 64 innings.

Vaas' highest score as a No 9 batsman cam against India att Nagpur in 2005 when he scored an unbeaten 37 in a losing cause.

#10 Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) - 69 innings

Muralitharan was a busy cricketer with the bat and certainly not one to hang around

Yet another Sri Lankan features in the list with spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan holding the record for most innings played as a No 10 batsman in ODI history.

It is no secret that his abilities with the ball and bat were miles apart and the statistics prove that as he scored just 337 runs from 69 innings at No 10 with a high score of 33*.

The record for most runs scored from that position belongs to Pakistan's Waqar Younis who scored 478 runs from 63 innings.

#11 Glenn McGrath (Australia) - 66 innings

McGrath's ability with the bat was a far cry from the danger he possessed with the ball

Not a record someone would be proud of, but someone has to own it. The player with the most ODI innings played as a Number 11 batsman is former Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath.

It is a record he holds in Test cricket as well and while he terrified opposition with the ball, his ability with the bat was far less spectacular.

The former Australian batsman has the second worst ODI batting average in history (3.83) and his record at No 11 is slightly better at 4.07.

From 66 innings, McGrath scored just 114 runs with the highest score of just 11.

He could be excused for facing just double of that deliveries while most of his nearest competitors got to bat much more, but it surprising that McGrath got to bat so many times despite being part of a formidable Australian side which had made winning a habit.