Top 5 batsmen with most runs between 2003 and 2007 World Cup

The 2003 ICC ODI World Cup saw Australia defend the crown they won in 1999 as they humbled India in the final at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, winning the contest by 125 runs.

The hero in the final for Australia was skipper Ricky Ponting who led from the front with an undefeated knock of 140, and Adam Gilchrist, who scored a quick-fire half-century that helped the defending champions score a mammoth total of 359 runs after being put into bat.

The two batsmen carried on with their exceptional scoring as Australia continued their success at the international level, marching their way to a third successive World Cup triumph in 2007.

The period in between saw the introduction of the T20 format at the international level as well as the powerplay overs being brought into the shorter formats of the game.

The batsmen started to adopt a more aggressive approach and with grounds tending to become smaller, big totals became a norm as batsmen scored more freely than ever before.

A list of the Top 5 batsmen with most runs in the period between the 2003 and 2007 World Cups (25 March 2003 to 12 March 2007) proves that it was still the more accomplished batsmen in the game that adapted to the changes quicker than others.

Here is the Top 5 starting with one of the fore-mentioned Australian batsmen.

#5 Adam Gilchrist (Australia) - 3360 runs

The period in between the 2003 and 2007 World Cups, saw Adam Gilchrist's form fluctuate from on song to mediocre as he was even sidelined by Australia for a few ODIs.

Still, Gilchrist managed to find himself in the Top 5 batsmen for most runs scored in that period, which saw Australia win the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy in England.

Gilchrist scored 3360 runs from 95 ODIs at an average of 37.33 with the highest score of 172, scored against minnows Zimbabwe in the 2004 VB series.

His most significant knock, however, has to be the undefeated knock of 121 in the third match of the ODI series against England in 2005 that helped Australia edge out their bitter-rivals 2-1 in the ODI series.

Gilchrist secured as many as 12 Man-of-the-Match awards in ODIs and a Man-of-the-Series award during the period and also reached the top of the ICC ODI rankings for batsmen in February 2004.

#4 Mohammad Yousuf (Pakistan) - 3523 runs

Mohammad Yousuf is Pakistan's second highest run-getter in ODIs

Mohammad Yousuf or Yousuf Yohana as he was previously known before his conversion to Islam in 2005, is one of Pakistan's best batsmen in history and the period between the 2003 and 2007 ODI Wolrd Cups was an exceptionally good one for the right-hander.

He was exceptional in the Test format, especially in the year 2006, as he broke West Indies legend Viv Richards' record for most runs in a calendar year scoring 1788 runs from just 19 innings.

He was equally good in the ODI format as he scored 3523 runs from 106 ODIs at an average of 41.44.

His conversion from Christianity didn't go down too well with his family, but Yousuf ensured that nothing distracted him from his prolific run-scoring form.

He scored 4 ODI hundreds during the period and secured the Man-of-the-Match award six times.

# Rahul Dravid (India) - 3545 runs

Dravid became Indian captain during the period but his form with the bat remained unaffected

A cricketer who is synonymous with the number 3, it is perhaps apt that India's Rahul Dravid finds himself in the third spot as far as the highest run-getters in ODIs between the 2003 and 2007 ODI World Cups is concerned.

The period saw Dravid shoulder the burden of captaincy as well for the Indian cricket team following the ouster of Sourav Ganguly from the helm during Greg Chappell's troubled reign as coach of the Men in Blue.

The distractions didn't bother Dravid one bit though as he carried on with what he knew best - scoring runs on a consistent basis.

In 103 ODIs, Dravid scored 3545 runs at an average of 41.70, including four hundreds.

The arrival of MS Dhoni as the wicketkeeper of the Indian side did help Dravid's cause as he was relieved of the extra duty with the gloves and he responded in kind as the statistics suggest.

#2 Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) - 3649 runs

Kumar Sangakkara scored close to 30000 runs in international cricket

Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara makes it to the list at Number 2 having scored 3649 runs from 101 ODIs.

The period saw Sangakkara establish himself as one of the best batsmen in the world and though he had made his ODI debut in 2000, his first ODI century came only in April 2003.

His unbeaten knock of 100 against Pakistan at Sharjah was followed by a ton against Kenya in his very next ODI and there was no looking back for Sangakkara since.

Among the Top 5, Sangakkara possesses the highest average of 43.96. He also secured nine Man-of-the-Awards in ODIs during the period.

#1 Ricky Ponting (Australia) - 3861 runs

Ponting successfully led Australia to the ICC Champions Trophy title in 2006

With 3861 runs from just 101 ODIs, Australia's Ricky Ponting was the highest run-getter in the 50-over format during the period between the 2003 and 2007 ODI World Cups.

The fact that he achieved the feat in spite of shouldering the responsibility of captaining an all-conquering Australian side in all formats of the game proves what a legendary player Ponting was.

Ponting scored as many as 9 ODI tons during the period and was instrumental in the continuation of Australia's dominance at the top of the sport, especially in the 50-over format, leading the side to victory in the 2006 Champions Trophy as well.

Ponting scored an epic 164* off just 105 balls against South Africa in the match which has since become to be known as the greatest ODI ever played when the hosts chased down the target of 435 at Johannesburg in March 2006.

Ponting scored 8 other centuries during the period, usually carrying on to score big ones like the knock of 141 against New Zealand at Napier in 2005 as well as the 124 against Sri Lanka at Sydney in 2006.