Top 3 ODI batsmen with most runs in a calendar year

2019 was the year England, the country which invented the game, finally won the most precious award in the sport - the World Cup. Ben Stokes, the team’s World Cup hero, had a fantastic year with 719 runs from 20 matches at an average of 59.91, scoring seven fifties, including the all-important one in the World Cup final.

England openers Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow also had a memorable run. While Roy scored 845 runs in 14 matches at an average of 70.41 with three hundreds and six fifties, Bairstow amassed 844 runs in 20 at an average of 46.88 with three tons. Joe Root was the leading run-scorer for the team, having made 910 runs in 22 matches at average of fifty plus.

Individually, Indians dominated the charts. Rohit Sharma was the leading run-scorer with 1,490 runs in 28 matches, averaging 57.30 with seven hundreds. Skipper Virat Kohli was second with 1,377 runs in 26 games at an average of 59.86 with five hundreds. Now, here’s a look at top three batsmen who hold the record for having scored most ODI runs in a calendar year.

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#3 Matthew Hayden (1,601 runs in 2007)

Matthew Hayden clubbing a delivery into the stands

In 2007, the year Australia won their third consecutive World Cup, their opener Matthew Hayden dominated the charts with 1,601 runs in 32 matches at an average of 59.29 with five hundreds and six fifties. The bulky Hayden’s runs came at an impressive strike rate of 89.19.

Hayden’s career-best of 181 not out came against New Zealand at Hamilton in February. His innings came off 166 balls and featured 11 fours and 10 sixes. The Kiwis though chased down 347 in this innings thanks to Craig McMillan’s 117 and Brendon McCullum’s unbeaten 86. The left-hander scored 117 from 111 against the same opponent in January at Perth.

Hayden scored back-to-back centuries in the World Cup in March - a rollicking 101 off 68 balls against South Africa at Basseterre, and 158 from 143 balls against hosts West Indies in the Super Eight encounter at North Sound. There was one more hundred (103 from 100 balls) against New Zealand in the Super Eights encounter at St George's, a game Aussies won by an massive margin of 215 runs.

#2 Sourav Ganguly (1,767 runs in 1999)

Sourav Ganguly enroute his brilliant 183 vs Sri Lanka in Taunton

Former Indian captain and current BCCI President Sourav Ganguly amassed 1,767 runs in 41 matches at an average of 46.50 with four hundreds and 10 fifties. Ganguly career-best score of 183 came in this year, in the World Cup game against Sri Lanka at Taunton in May, when the left-hander went on a memorable six-hitting spree. Ganguly slammed seven maximums to go with his 17 fours as India posted a mammoth 373 for 6, with Rahul Dravid also contributing 145.

Earlier in March, Ganguly made an unbeaten 130 from 160 balls against the same opponent in Nagpur. Rahul Dravid also scored a century in the game, making 116 from 118 balls, as India posted an impressive 287 for 4 on the board. Ganguly then claimed four wickets with the ball as well to star in the 80-run triumph.

Ganguly’s two other centuries in the year were 139 against Zimbabwe at Nairobi in October as part of the LG Cup, and 153 not out against the Kiwis at Gwalior in November, in the third match of the five-match series.

Rahul Dravid had a stellar 1999 in the ODIs too

Interestingly, Dravid was the second highest run-getter in 1999 with 1,761 runs in 43 matches at an average of 46.34 with six hundreds and eight fifties.

#1. Sachin Tendulkar (1,894 runs in 1998)

Sachin Tendulkar

Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for having scored most runs in a calender year in ODIs. He plundered 1,894 runs in 1998, the year he turned 25, hitting as many as nine hundreds to go with his seven fifties. Tendulkar averaged 65.31 in the year, and had a strike rate of 102.15.

Two of his most famous ODI hundreds came in this year. 143 (9x4, 5x6) against Australia at Sharjah in April, popularly known as the ‘Desert Storm’, an innings which took India to the final of the Coca Cola Cup, despite the match being lost. Then in the final, which also happened to be his birthday, Tendulkar again took the attack to the Aussies with a splendid 134 from 131 balls, an innings featuring 12 fours and three sixes as India chased down 273 with ease. Till date, many critics rate the knocks as two of Tendulkar’s finest.

Tendulkar’s first hundred of the year also came against Australia - 100 off 89 balls at Kanpur as part of a Triangular Series in April. In the final of the Singer-Akai Nidahas Trophy at Colombo in July, the Master Blaster smashed 128 from 131 balls. Ganguly also registered a hundred as India won a close final by six runs. Then, in the quarter-final of the ICC Champions Trophy in October against Australia, Tendulkar again led the way with 141 from 128 deliveries as India knocked out Australia.

Sachin Tendulkar hitting Shane Warne over the infield

The Indian genius went on to register two more centuries against Zimbabwe in Sharjah in November. The unbeaten 124 off 92 in the final saw Tendulkar demolishing Henry Olonga, who had dismissed the batsman cheaply in the previous game. Tendulkar was also the leading ODI run-scorer in 1996, the year India made it to the World Cup semis, with 1,611 runs at an average of 53.70, hitting six hundreds and nine fifties.