Top five batsmen with the highest average in International cricket 

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Each era in International cricket ushers batsmen who enthral us with their consistency

While talent is one of the key tenets of being a successful cricketer at international level, it is often the temperament that separates the men from the boys.

Each period in International cricket ushers batsmen who enthral the cricketing folklore with their skills as well as their temperament.

Today in this blog, we'll celebrate such batsmen who with a plethora of skill, steely temperament and immaculate consistency, plummeted bowlers from around the world and still maintained an enviable average.

Here's a look at five such batsmen with the highest average in International cricket:

Note: Players who have scored a minimum of 10,000 International runs


#5 Mike Hussey (49)

Mike Hussey had to grind it out in the domestic circuit
Mike Hussey had to grind it out in the domestic circuit

Career Stats (Inclusive of all three formats)

Matches: 302 Innings: 305 Runs: 11398 Avg: 49.00 50s/100s: 72/22 Not Out: 61

Earmarked as a prodigious talent, Mike Hussey had to grind it out in the domestic circuit all over the world before making his presence as an International cricketer.

Hussey made his debut for Australia at the age of 28, after having amassed as many as 15,313 first-class runs while playing for Western Australia and a plethora of English counties. Having made his ODI debut against India in 2004, Hussey made an immediate impact with a plethora of skills and his ice-cool temperament, a facet that earned him the tag of Mr. Cricket

Having made his name as a reliable ODI finisher, an ideal successor to Michael Bevan, Hussey made his Test debut against the West Indies in 2005 as a replacement for injured Justin Langer and sealed his spot immediately with a pristine hundred at Hobart.

The fastest to reach 1,000 Test runs, Hussey played a pivotal role in Australia's 5-0 drubbing of England in 2006-07 Ashes, where he averaged 105.25 across five matches.

Hussey hit a rough patch in his career post-2008, with critics calling for his head after a lean run of form before Ashes 2010/11, but Mr. Cricket bounced back astonishingly with 570 runs in five matches.

He again proved his detractors who doubted his suitability in the T20 format wrong as he transformed himself into a T20 marauder playing a pivotal role in CSK's title-winning seasons in 2010 and 2011.

In all, Hussey amassed 12,398 runs in 302 international matches across formats at an astounding average of 49.00.

#4 Jacques Kallis (49.10)

 the greatest all-rounder to have ever graced the game in the past twenty years
Kallis is probably one of the greatest all-rounders to have ever graced the game in the past twenty years

Career Stats (Inclusive of all three formats)

Matches: 519 Innings: 617 Runs: 25534 Avg: 49.10 50s/100s: 149/62 200s: 2 Not Out: 97

Perhaps the greatest all-rounder to have ever graced the game in the past twenty years, Jacques Kallis makes our list at No.4.

The only cricketer to score over 10,000 runs and accumulate over 250 wickets in both ODI and Test cricket, Kallis remains a modern-day colossus.

With a pristine technique against both pace and spin and a bag of tricks as a bowler, Kallis, who made his debut for the Proteas in 1995, went on to become the cornerstone to their success in his nearly two-decade-long career.

In a career that went on till 2014, Kallis represented South Africa in 519 matches across formats, accumulating 25,534 runs at a cumulative average of 49.10.

#3 Steve Smith (49.56)

Steve Smith's story truly panders to the romantics of this beautiful game
Steve Smith's story truly panders to the romantics of this beautiful game

Career Stats (Inclusive of all three formats)

Matches: 202 Innings: 236 Runs: 10061 Avg: 49.56 50s/100s: 45/31 200s: 2 Not Out: 33

He may have been suspended for a period of 12 months, but Steve Smith's story truly panders to the romantics of this beautiful game.

Smith made his international debut for Australia against Pakistan in 2010 as a leg-spinner who could bat a bit, amid scepticism on his credentials by fans and pundits alike.

After having copped a plethora of criticism on his selection or his pedigree as a Test match player, Smith was axed from all formats of the game after Australia lost the coveted urn at home to the English in the summer of 2010-11.

However, it was the same opposition three years later that saw the resurgence of Smith. His unorthodox technique along with an exaggerated trigger movement coupled with a constant shuffle paved the way for Smith's redemption as his crucial hundred at Melbourne Cricket Ground as the Aussies to clinched the Ashes in 2013-14.

If 2013-14 were an indication of Smith's resurgence, the following season would establish his credentials as the best Test batter. Smith scored over 700 runs against India at home in 2014-15 empowering him to reach the zenith of Test rankings.

Nevertheless, his finest hour in Test cricket arrived last year when he scored a tenacious hundred in the second innings at Pune on a dust-bowl masquerading as the first Test pitch to help Australia win their Test in India since Nagpur, 2004.

The former Aussie skipper has thus far featured in 202 matches for Australia across formats and has accumulated 10,061 runs at an average of 50.55.

#2 Joe Root (50.62)

The current English Test captain has been a consistent performer
The current English Test captain has been a consistent performer across formats

Career Stats (Inclusive of all three formats)

Matches: 199 Innings: 247 Runs: 11037 Avg: 50.62 50s/100s: 70/24 200s: 2 Not Out: 29

Yorkshire has had a history of producing world-class Test batsmen, and when a 22-year-old Joe Root made his debut for England against India in Nagpur 2012, much was expected of the young Yorkshireman.

And the wonder boy from England did not disappoint in his first outing against the likes of Ashwin, Ojha, and Jadeja on a slow Nagpur turner.

In a series where Cook's men displayed admirable tenacity to overturn the odds, Root's baptism by fire in his debut game stood out.

He made a commendable 73 in an innings that lasted for 289-minute, a testimony to his patience and grit.

Root's impressive debut was followed by a string of consistent performances in the 2013 summer, where the plundered a memorable 180 at Lords against Australia in the 2013 Ashes, but his finest hour in Test cricket arrived in the 2015 home Ashes against Australia in which he amassed 460 runs at an average of 57.50.

The current English Test captain has been a consistent performer in the shorter formats as well and averages 51.16 and 39.11 in the fifty and twenty over format.

In all, Root has featured in 199 international matches and have accumulated 11,037 runs at a staggering average of 50.80.

#1 Virat Kohli (55.60)

One of the most mercurial players to have graced the game in the 21st century
One of the most mercurial players to have graced the game in the 21st century

Career Stats (Inclusive of all three formats)

Matches: 331 Innings: 365 Runs: 17125 Avg: 55.60 50s/100s: 80/56 200s: 6 Not Out: 57

One of the most mercurial players to have graced the game in the 21st century is India's skipper Virat Kohli.

The Delhi batsman rose to prominence after leading India to the U-19 World Cup win in 2008.

Kohli's sheer passion to win was an instant differentiator during that tournament, and he was awarded his debut as an opener in 2008 against Sri Lanka.

It was only in the December of 2009 that he gave a glimpse of his greatness when he scored his debut hundred in a run chase against Sri Lanka, and a slew of consistent performances and earned him a spot in the star-studded middle order in the 2011 World Cup.

Following his prowess in white-ball cricket, Virat was handed his Test debut against the West Indies in 2011.

After average returns in the three Tests and initial failures in Australia, Kohli scored a career-defining hundred at the Adelaide Oval in the fourth Test.

That hundred started Kohli's love after with the ground, that saw him hammer two more on his captaincy debut in the summer of 2014-15.

The legend of Kohli is primarily built on his immaculate game sense and playing risk-free conventional cricket by running plenty of ones and two's, a testimony to his supreme fitness.

Kohli's admittance to getting daddy hundreds has seen him score six double hundreds in two seasons triggering hopes of the inevitable triple hundred in the future.

Kohli has thus far represented India in 331 matches across formats and has amassed a staggering 17,125 runs at an average of 55.60 which includes six double-hundreds, 56 hundred and 80 fifties.

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Edited by Alan John