Top 5 players who have played the most matches in cricket

The game of cricket has been played by so many great players. But only the greatest players have gone on to play the most matches. In this slideshow, we will look at the top 5 players who have played the most matches in cricket. There are many legends who have missed out on this feat. Yet, the ones that feature on this list are true legends of the game and there is no denying that.

Before we look at the players in this list, we need to make a special mention for players who may achieve the feat in the next 2-3 years.

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Well, at the moment, there is only one player who has a chance of breaking in the top 5 in the next 2-3 years. Any Guesses?

Dhoni holds the record for most matches as a captain.

Well, that player is none other than MS Dhoni, who currently stands 9th in the list of most matches played in a career with a total of 504 matches. Dhoni only needs to play 21 more matches to reach the 6th spot with 525 matches. However, he requires a total of 57 more matches to reach the 5th spot with 561 matches. At 37, it is hard to say whether Dhoni will play 57 more matches or not, but nevertheless, he has a good chance of breaking into the top 5.

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#5 Ricky Ponting (560 Matches) (Australia)

Ponting is a legend of the game and probably the best Australian batsmen ever.

Ponting started his career in 1995 and went on to play till 2012. In his 17 year career, Ponting has achieved a lot of records and milestones for Australia. He was a formidable captain, taking Australia to world cup glory and at the same time the main batsmen of the team.

Post his retirement, Ponting has taken up a few coaching roles and has been successful in that too. In the IPL, he was the coach of the Mumbai Indians

Stats: Ricky Ponting has played in 560 matches for Australia. In these matches, he has accomplished a total of 27483 runs at an excellent average of 45.95. He is the highest Australian run-scorer and also the 3rd highest run scorer in the history of cricket.

#4 Sanath Jayasuriya (586 Matches) (Sri Lanka)

Sanath Jayasuriya is a legend of the game and one of the best all-rounders that the world has ever seen.

Jayasuriya was one of the most destructive opening batsmen ever. He could take the game away from the opposition in a flash. A very aggressive batsman by nature, he adopted a fearless approach towards the bowlers.

Having started his career in 1989, he went on to play for 22 years and finally hung his boots in 2011.

Stats: Jayasuriya played in a total of 586 matches, scoring 21032 runs at an average of 34.14. Moreover, he took a total of 440 wickets in his career, a phenomenal feat for an opening batsman.

#3 Kumar Sangakkara (590 Matches) (Sri Lanka)

Sangakkara is Sri Lanka's highest run scorer.

Sangakkara is an extremely underrated and underappreciated batsman. He started his career in 2000 and went onto play till 2015. He played at a time when there were a lot of great batsmen and that's why many of his records have gone unnoticed.

Not only was he a great player but also a great captain and a wicket-keeper. He has 678 dismissals to his name making him the 4th best keeper ever.

Stats: Kumar Sangakkara is the 2nd highest run scorer in cricket with 28016 runs in 590 matches. Further, he has had a phenomenal career average of 46.77.

Spoiler Alert: Having already had 2 Sri Lankan's on the list, we aren't still done with them.

#2 Mahela Jayawardene (652 Matches) (Sri Lanka)

Jayawardene is the 3rd Sri Lankan on the list of top 5 players with most matches in cricket.

Well, we have our 3rd and yes the last Sri Lankan on our list. For Sri Lanka, Jayawardene has been a very dependable player. To make things simpler, he has played a role similar to that of what Rahul Dravid has played for India.

Jayawardene was a fan favourite who started his career in 1997 and went on to play till 2015. In his long career of 18 years, Jayawardene has earned himself a lot of respect as a cricketer.

Stats: Jayawardene has scored 25957 runs at an average of 39.15 in 652 matches.

#1 Sachin Tendulkar (664 Matches) (India)

Tendulkar finally won the world cup in 2011, a dream come true for him and the nation.

Tendulkar is the greatest player that cricket has ever seen. In fact, he is more popular than the sport of cricket and has been a great brand ambassador for the team. He has had a very long career of 24 years having started in 1989 and retired in 2013.

Stats: Tendulkar has scored 34357 runs at an average of 48.52 in 664 matches. Thus, he holds the record for most international runs and most international matches played.

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