Top 5 averages among current openers in ODIs

A new ball at each end, propulsion by global Twenty20 cricket all over the year and an urgent brand of cricket promoted by cricket boards in the cohesion of financial gains with broadcasters and sponsors, one-day cricket is becoming high scoring. So much so that yesterday, Australia were 180 runs behind the DLS par score. In the 33rd over. The sport is changing at a rate faster than we think.

With high scoring cricket, we're seeing more and more bloated statistics each day, England have now averaged innings total of 412.5 over their last two ODIs. While it seems destructive, we must not condemn the shift of this paradigm. High scoring encounters are the best advertisements for roping in spectators to the stadium. And though a 200 run each side match-up, ending in a 10 run win or a 2 wicket triumph might keep the TV viewers engage, it is the spectacle that is needed to save the game.

In that light, we look at the five most prolific current openers (min. 20 inns), as they are the most instrumental players in their side, setting the tone for the innings, often getting off to flyers and on occasions batting throughout the innings.

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#5 Shikhar Dhawan, 45.90

Getting off to a forgettable start on his ODI debut by playing all around a Clint McKay delivery to be dismissed for a two-ball duck, Dhawan could not cement his place in the side straight away. But after a memorable Test debut against Australia in the 2013 Border Gavaskar series, he was recalled to the ODI side to open alongside Rohit Sharma in the Champions Trophy.

Scoring a mesmerizing 94 ball 114 against South Africa at Cardiff in the tournament opener, Dhawan did not look back and has since been India's reliable gun at the top of the order. Unlike his former Delhi compatriot Virender Sehwag, Dhawan relies on footwork manoeuvres and looks to unsettle the fast bowlers early in the innings by disturbing their lengths, is equally effective against spin, has a powerful sweep shot that helps him target the wide sector between the long leg and mid-wicket boundaries.

Dhawan elevates his game to match the bigger occasions, he has 968 runs from three ICC tournaments with four centuries, averaging 69.18.

Stats as an opener:

Innings: 101, Runs: 4361, 100s: 13, SR: 93.44

#4 Quinton de Kock, 46.04

2nd Momentum ODI: South Africa v Bangladesh

De Kock was thrown to the wolves early. Always touted for a bright future, he was handed an ODI cap at age 20 but found the going tough. He passed forty only once in his first 13 knocks and then he ran into India.

Rest is history.

With three centuries in three consecutive innings against the men in blue, de Kock became a South African mainstay in the ODI arena, his destructive batting and nimble wicket-keeping drawing comparisons with the legendary Adam Gilchrist. He also became the joint fastest to 1000 ODI runs.

However, his peak moment came at Centurion in 2016, when he raced to 178 off just 111 balls, a reminiscent of Herschelle Gibbs's similar score a decade back, and helped his team gun down 294 against Australia in just 36.2 overs. Had they 434 to pursue that day, they would've strolled past it without breaking a sweat, such was the ferocity of de Kock that day.

What stands out about him is his conversion rate, 46.4% of his 28 fifty-plus scores have been extended all the way to three figures.

Stats as an opener:

Innings: 87, Runs: 3776, 100s: 13, SR: 94.47

#3 Hashim Amla, 50.70

CRICKET-RSA-ENG-ODI

Virat Kohli became the fastest to multiple of 1000 runs ranging from 5000 to 7000 ODI runs, first having the cushion of batting under the Sehwag-Sachin pair and now for the major part follows the consistent opening pair of Rohit-Dhawan.

Hashim Amla, sombre, calm and essentially the antithesis of the modern ODI cricketer, has become the most effective of accumulators in modern cricket. Opening the innings, playing on the bowler-friendly decks of South Africa, he has at times battled the fiercest of bowlers and despite that is now the fastest to all multiples from 2000 to 7000 ODI runs.

This particular stat is a good parameter to understand the genius of Amla, he does not have any particular purple patches to show for, there are no form slumps either. As well as he plays the inconceivable flick by picking the fast bowlers from the fifth stump line to deposit it to the midwicket boundary, with the same ease he meets the spinners by hopping down the pitch to drive against the turn of the delivery.

The perfect antidote to the madness of the likes AB de Villiers and David Miller, Amla has been the reason behind South Africa's long-term success in ODI cricket.

Stats as an opener:

Innings: 158, Runs: 7505, 100s: 26, SR: 89.19

#2 Rohit Sharma, 53.80

Sri Lanka v India - 4th ODI cricket

When he made his debut in 2007 in the CB Series, Ian Chappell, commentating for Channel 9 saw one back-foot punch by Rohit Sharma and became immediately convinced that he will be the successor to the seemingly irreplaceable Sachin Tendulkar.

Prodigy became inconsistency, which then turned into a frustrating run of failures at the international level and just when everyone felt Rohit Sharma's international career would come to a premature end, he was slotted to the top of the order and allowed to express his so customary "lazy elegance".

Between the four consecutive single-digit scores in Sri Lanka in 2010 and scoring his astounding third double century in ODIs, Rohit has finally converted his potential into results and he finally stands on a ground to justify Chappell's decade-old prediction. The push to opening the innings was all the difference, he averages 37% more than before and has made 15 centuries in 90 digs as compared to 2 in 79 innings batting elsewhere in the order.

At 31 only, Rohit's best years in international cricket lie ahead of him.

Stats as an opener:

Innings: 95, Runs: 4627, 100s:15, SR: 91.10

#1 Jonathon Bairstow, 65.76

2018 Royal London International One Day Cricket England v Australia Jun 19th

Just when it seemed like Jason Roy and Alex Hales made the most destructive opening pair in world cricket, Bairstow, as though a little aggravated, put up his hand and boy, in what fashion! Only 20 innings as an opener, he now poses a serious threat to either of Roy or Hales for their spot in the side.

Naturally an attacking cricketer, Bairstow looks extremely comfortable as an opener after some years of struggling in the middle order. He recently became the first English cricketer to score three consecutive ODI centuries, and all of them scored at a rapid pace. Always the elegant Yorkshireman, he poses a contrast to his counterparts in the English squad and relies on timing and fluency to get going off the blocks.

His incredible average is owed to the six centuries he has scored in just twenty opportunities he has gotten as an opener, and without a doubt has been off to the best starting phase in the history of cricket playing as an opener. His real test will be facing the pressure that will accompany the expectations in the 2019 World Cup to be played at home.

Till then, Jonny can toy with the bowlers just because he can.

Stats as an opener:

Innings: 20, Runs: 1118, 100s: 6, SR: 114.19