Sportskeeda Cricket Awards: Top 10 ODI batsmen of 2017

With the end of the truncated third ODI between New Zealand and West Indies on Boxing Day, ODI cricket has come to an end in 2017. As many as 129 matches were played this year with 59298 runs being scored by the batsmen off 66351 balls, and 1799 wickets were taken by the bowlers.

The year also saw Pakistan winning the ICC Champions Trophy by beating India in the final by 158 runs. England were the most successful team (at least 5 ODIs) in 2017 with 15 wins in 20 matches at a win% of 75 followed by India with 73 (21 wins in 29 matches) and South Africa with 69 (13 wins in 19 matches).

Sri Lanka and West Indies had a miserable year in the format as they managed to win just 17% (5 wins in 29 matches) and 13% (3 wins in 22 matches) of their matches this year respectively.

There were a lot of brilliant performances throughout the year, which includes the likes of Rohit Sharma's third double ton, Trent Boult's seven-wicket haul, Rashid Khan's spell against West Indies that saw Afghanistan beating the former World Champions etc.

A lot of players, especially the batsmen were consistent throughout the year. Let us take a look at Sportskeeda's top ten ODI batsmen of 2017.

#10 Babar Azam

After a long time, Pakistan have someone who is reliable with the bat in limited overs cricket as Babar Azam has been consistently scoring runs ever since making his debut in 2015.

Babar is Pakistan's answer to Virat Kohli as the right-hander is by far the only batsman from his country who can come close to the Indian skipper. The 23-year-old scored 872 runs in the calendar year at an average of 67 with the help of four centuries and two fifties. Only Rohit Sharma and Kohli have scored more centuries than the Pakistani in 2017.

In spite of having a remarkable year, Babar will be disappointed with one area, his strike-rate, and will look to improve in that in the coming years. In case you are wondering, his strike-rate in 2017 was just over 79, a number is below-par for a middle-order batsman these days.

#9 AB de Villiers

In spite of few players scoring more runs than AB de Villiers this year, the former South African skipper found himself a place in our top 10 ODI batsmen of 2017, thanks to the impact he had while scoring all his runs.

Over the last few years, De Villiers has set a standard for himself by which scoring less than fifty runs in an innings and scoring them at a strike-rate of less than 100 is a failure for him.

In 2017, the Proteas batsman scored 773 runs in 18 innings at an average of close to 60, which is fantastic, and a strike-rate of 117, something that is completely out of the world. How can someone be so consistent scoring at such a good rate? No wonder, his fans call him "The Superman".

#8 Faf du Plessis

While Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers grabbed the limelight by scoring a lot of runs for South Africa in ODIs, their skipper Faf du Plessis has silently scored over 900 runs in the calendar year.

The right-hander plays a perfect foil to his teammates who took to take on the opposition bowlers right from the word go. In the 18 innings he played this year, the 33-year-old accumulated 905 runs at an average of 60.33 and a strike-rate of 93 with the help of two centuries and six fifties.

He played the role of the anchor in the South African side and allowed his teammates to bat around him. His 185 against Sri Lanka was the highest ODI score by an ODI batsman this year until Rohit Sharma scored his third double ton.

#7 Quinton de Kock

Quinton de Kock completes the South African contingent on this list as he ends up as the leading run scorer for his country in 2017. The opener was in red-hot form throughout the year and dominated every single bowling attack he faced this year.

Opening the batting, he made full use of the field restriction overs and in the middle overs, he kept the scorecard ticking by rotating the strike and shifted gears when needed. In spite of scoring fewer runs from the previous year, the wicketkeeper-bat looked more matured in 2017 and looked determined to scale new heights in the coming years.

In the 19 innings he played this year, the left-hander scored 956 runs which included two centuries and seven fifties at an average of 53 and a strike-rate of 95.

#6 Shikhar Dhawan

At the start of the year, Shikhar Dhawan's place in the Indian ODI was hanging in the balance as the opener was in and out of the team due to his inconsistency. The team management kept faith in him and picked him for the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy and there was no turning back for the left-hander.

He scored three centuries and six fifties since and by the end of the year, he cemented his place in the Indian team at least till the 2019 World Cup. 2017 was kind to the opening batsman as he, along with his opening partner Rohit Sharma, hunted the opposition bowlers as a pair and dented their confidence in the first few overs.

With 960 runs in 22 innings at an average of 48 and a strike-rate of 102, Dhawan earns his place on the top 10 ODI batsmen of the year.

#5 Joe Root

England Test skipper might have had a mixed year in the longer formats as he is struggling to score runs in the ongoing Ashes series down under but the 27-year-old had a fantastic year in ODIs as he finished as England's leading run scorer with a difference of over 200 runs between him and the second-placed Eoin Morgan.

The Yorkshire man averages over 70 in 18 innings and scored his 983 runs at a rate of 92 runs every 100 balls, something that is not bad for a batsman who anchors the innings. The right-hander also scored two centuries and six fifties with a highest score of unbeaten 133. He is England's only entrant on the list.

#4 Ross Taylor

One of the players who redefined themselves in the last 12-18 months is former New Zealand skipper Ross Taylor. The right-hander faced a pale patch last year but bounced back in style by finishing 2017 as his team's leading run scorer in ODIs, almost 400 runs more than the second best from the Blackcaps, his skipper Kane Williamson.

2017 was kind to him as he scored as many as 968 runs in 20 matches with two centuries and seven fifties - joint-highest by any batsman along with Virat Kohli, Joe Root, Quinton de Kock and Ajinkya Rahane.

The most important aspect of Taylor's good run was the way he scored his runs. He was very consistent as he averaged over 60 this year and played the role of sheet anchor to perfection. He scored his runs at a strike-rate of 82 with just one six, the least by a batsman with at least 350 runs this year.

#3 Upul Tharanga

The most surprising name on this list should be the former Sri Lankan skipper Upul Tharanga. Sri Lanka had a miserable year but one of their batsmen is third on the list of leading run scorers in 2017.

In spite of his team having a forgettable run in ODIs this year, Tharanga was determined to do well whenever he went into bat. The left-hander is one of the three players to have scored at least 1000 ODI runs this year. He ended the year with 1011 runs at an average and strike-rate of 48 and 92 respectively.

Unfortunately, the batsmen who followed him could not capitalize on the start given by him and fell like ninepins as Sri Lanka lost in 23 out of the 29 ODIs they played this year, a losing percentage of 79, the highest for any team in 2017.

#2 Rohit Sharma

Without a doubt, Rohit Sharma is one of the best, if not the best, opening batsmen in ODIs going around at the moment. This year saw the Hitman scale new heights as he ended up scoring six centuries in ODIs out of which one was a double ton, his third in ODIs.

In spite of missing eight ODI matches this year, the right-hander finished as the second highest run scorer after his skipper Virat Kohli. Rohit scored 1293 runs in 21 matches this year at an excellent average of 72 and a strike-rate of 100. Adding to this, he scored six centuries, the most by any batsmen and 46 sixes, which also the highest in the format this year.

After having redefined the term consistency in the shortest format, Rohit will look to continue his good work away from home where India are scheduled to play in the next 15 months.

#1 Virat Kohli

In simple words, 2017 is the year of Virat Kohli.

The Indian captain made scoring runs look easy in every single outing this year irrespective of the format. After scoring three double tons in Tests this year, Kohli also showed some glimpse of his brilliance in the 50o-ver format as well.

The 29-year-old ended the year as the highest run scorer in the format by scoring 1460 runs in 26 innings at an average of 77 and a strike-rate of 99. The Indian run machine, whose routine is scoring centuries, scored as many as six this year, joint-most by a batsman in ODIs this year along with Rohit Sharma, and has seven fifty-scores to his name.

After showing what all he can do with the bat in his hand in 2017, Kohli will look to replicate the success in 2018 as well.