Last Updated:
5 batsman Most runs in a calendar year in ODI: In the history of ODI cricket, the record of scoring most runs in a calendar year is still held in the name of Indian greats. In the year 1998, Sachin Tendulkar set a record which no one has been able to break till date. After them, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Australian legend Matthew Hayden also created such an uproar with their bats that they became immortalized forever in the pages of history.
In the history of cricket, the year 1998 is remembered as the golden era of Sachin Tendulkar. This year, Sachin created such havoc on the field that the bowlers had no answer. He scored 1894 runs in 33 innings of just 34 matches while remaining unbeaten 4 times. This still remains the unbroken world record for the most ODI runs scored by any batsman in a calendar year.
In 1998, it was not Sachin’s bat that was spewing fire. During this period, he scored runs at an unmatched average of 65.31 and an explosive strike rate of 102.15. The most special thing was that he scored 9 centuries and 7 half-centuries in a single year, in which the ‘Desert Storm’ innings played against Australia in Sharjah are still alive in the hearts of cricket lovers. During this period his highest score was 143 runs.
In the very next year of this great record of Sachin i.e. in 1999, the ‘grandfather’ of Indian cricket Sourav Ganguly proved his batting prowess. Ganguly scored 1767 runs in 41 innings of 41 matches while remaining unbeaten thrice. This is the second highest scoring year in history.
Add News18 as
Preferred Source on Google
The historic innings of 183 runs played by Ganguly against Sri Lanka at Taunton in the 1999 World Cup shook the world. That year, Dada scored 4 centuries and 10 half-centuries while playing at an average of 46.50. He hit 183 fours and 26 skyscraper sixes from his bat, which established him as the ‘God of Off-Side’.
Rahul Dravid, often considered an expert in Test matches, also did something in the year 1999 that surprised the critics. Walking shoulder to shoulder with Ganguly, he scored 1761 runs in 43 matches, which was just 6 runs less than Ganguly. Dravid scored 6 centuries and 8 half-centuries that year at an average of 46.34.
The year 1999 brought a flood of runs for Indian cricket. The pair of Ganguly and Dravid together had destroyed the opposition teams. Dravid played 2343 balls that year and also played his best innings of 153 runs against Sri Lanka. Together, these two greats gave India a very strong batting order in that period.
Sachin Tendulkar’s name again appears at number four in this list, but this time the story is from the year 1996. This was the year when Sachin showed the world for the first time how to score runs in a calendar year. He scored 1611 runs in 32 matches at an excellent average of 53.70, which included 6 centuries and 9 half-centuries.
India may have lost in the semi-finals of the 1996 World Cup, but Sachin’s bat kept roaring throughout the year. He scored runs at a strike rate of 82.40 and hit 163 fours along with 17 sixes. His highest score this year was 137 runs. Sachin is the only batsman to make it to the top 5 list twice, which proves his consistency.
Amidst this dominance of India, in the year 2007, Australia’s dreaded opening batsman Matthew Hayden made his entry. Hayden, carrying forward the invincible chariot of the Australian team, scored 1601 runs in 30 innings of 32 matches at a blazing average of 59.29. He played the biggest role in making his team champion in the 2007 World Cup.
In the year 2007, Hayden scored 5 centuries and 6 half-centuries while batting at a strike rate of 89.19. During this, he played a very aggressive and unbeaten inning of 181 runs against New Zealand, which also became the best score of his ODI career. That year, Hayden hit 168 fours and 35 sixes on the basis of his powerful batting.
