Whenever a player takes the field, they want to take their team towards victory. So they try to give their best to return to a winning dressing room.
But sometimes things don’t work out as planned, and players have to face crushing defeats. It’s quite obvious that no player wants to end up on the losing side. But given the nature of any sport, especially ODI cricket, a win or a loss is inevitable.
This may happen due to collective failure from the whole squad or the opponent being too powerful. And many renowned players had to endure such losses during their remarkable ODI careers.
Here, we’ll look at the top 10 players who featured in the most ODI losses.
Most ODI Losses as Players
| Player | Matches Lost | Matches Played | Loss% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sachin Tendulkar (IND) | 200 | 463 | 43.19 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) | 193 | 445 | 43.37 |
| Mahela Jayawardene (SL) | 186 | 448 | 41.51 |
| Shahid Afridi (PAK) | 170 | 398 | 42.71 |
| Kumar Sangakkara (SL) | 167 | 404 | 41.33 |
| Rahul Dravid (IND) | 165 | 344 | 47.96 |
| Aravinda de Silva (SL) | 163 | 308 | 52.92 |
| Chris Gayle (WI) | 161 | 301 | 53.48 |
| Mohammad Azharuddin (IND) | 157 | 334 | 47.00 |
| Elton Chigumbura (ZIM) | 157 | 213 | 73.70 |
Key Insights
200: Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for losing the most ODI matches as a player. He found himself in 200 losses out of the 463 matches he played for India.
88.31: The loss percentage of Khaled Mahmud in ODIs is the worst among the players who played at least 50 matches in this format. He represented Bangladesh in 77 matches, ending up on the losing side in 68 with a loss percentage of 88.31.
100: Over 120 players have featured in 100 or more losses for their respective teams in ODI cricket. The number shrinks to 13 if we consider 150-plus losses. Brendan Taylor (156), Hamilton Masakadza (153), and Arjuna Ranatunga (150) are the other players with 150-plus losses.
1: Stephen Fleming is the only captain to lose more than 100 ODI matches. While leading New Zealand, he lost 106 out of the 218 games between 1997 and 2007. Arjuna Ranatunga is the other captain with 90-plus ODI losses. He lost 95 matches as Sri Lanka’s captain.
2: Tendulkar (6585) and Kumar Sangakkara (5604) have scored more than 5000-plus runs in ODI losses. Tendulkar has also scored 14 centuries in losses, the most by a batter. Chris Gayle (11) is the other batter with more than 10 centuries in losing causes.
You can also find in our blogs the top ten batters who have scored the highest individual scores on losing ODIs and the highest century-scorers on losing causes in the 50-50 format.
3: Chaminda Vaas (166), Wasim Akram (165), and Muthiah Muralitharan (157) have scalped more than 150 ODI wickets in losing causes.
