Similar to Test cricket, getting the most runs in a calendar year in ODIs is a historic accomplishment in and of itself because it takes an absurd amount of performance and consistency to be better than everyone else in cricket that year. And doing it repeatedly is evidence of a batsman’s greatness. Few batters have ever accomplished this remarkable feat and demonstrated that they are the best in the world; if any batter achieves it more than once, it indicates that he is in a different league. So let’s have a look at the top 5 batsmen in terms of runs scored in ODIs.
- Sachin Tendulkar, 1894 runs in 1998:
No batsman should be able to score this many runs in a single year, but Sachin Tendulkar, the best one-day international player ever, is the subject of this number, and for this maestro, nothing is impossible. He scored nine hundreds in a single year, two of which came against Australia in Sharjah and one of which, the Desert Storm, is regarded as the best ODI innings ever. If there was ever a player who exemplified consistency and a purple patch, it was Sachin Tendulkar in 1998. For Indian fans, his illustrious matchup with Shane Warne was the stuff of legends.
- Sourav Ganguly (1999, 1767 Runs)
The year 1999 was fantastic for Indian batters in ODI cricket as two batters did incredibly well that year, and the one who got just 6 more runs is Sourav Ganguly who had an incredible year in 1999 where he hit 4 hundreds and cemented himself as a top ODI batsman and even scored his highest innings of 183 runs. His six-hitting abilities were second to none, and he did not consider left arm spin bowlers as bowlers. Every team was on equal footing, and there were fantastic matches, so it was a tremendous period for cricket.
- Rahul Dravid – 1999 – 1761 Runs
Rahul Dravid, a teammate of Sourav Ganguly, also had a standout 1999, scoring six centuries and setting a new ODI record of 153 runs. Rahul Dravid proved to the world that he wasn’t just a test match specialist; he was also equally adept in the white ball format, which is what made him a great batsman. Indian cricket enjoyed an incredible period in the late 1990s, and long may it last.
- Sachin Tendulkar – 1996 (1611 Runs):
It is hardly surprising that the top ODI hitter of all time is ranked in the top five on this list once more. At that time, nobody in the world came close to Sachin’s record of scoring the most runs among all batters in ODIs in 1996. Apart from dominating against all other teams in the globe and single-handedly leading India to the semi-finals of the 1996 World Cup, he struck six incredible hundreds and stood out in that tournament. To the satisfaction of Indian supporters, he frequently played extended innings for his country.
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