The most successful batters of all time in ODI cricket have been the ones who predominantly batted at the top of the batting order. In ODIs and generally in the white-ball formats, the opening slot is one place that allows a batter to score maximum runs as they can bat for a longer period than others coming down the order. This position also has significant challenges associated with it, one is to adapt to the conditions initially and the responsibility of scoring big runs hinges on their shoulders.
Some legendary cricketers have made this position their own and played majority of their ODI games as an opener. Let us list the top 10 players who thrived in the role as an opening batter in ODIs for their respective teams.
Most ODI Matches as Opener
| Player | Matches | Runs |
|---|---|---|
| Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) | 388 | 12740 |
| Sachin Tendulkar (IND) | 344 | 15310 |
| Chris Gayle (WI) | 280 | 10179 |
| Adam Gilchrist (AUS) | 260 | 9200 |
| Tamim Iqbal (BAN) | 243 | 8357 |
| Sourav Ganguly (IND) | 242 | 9146 |
| Desmond Haynes (WI) | 238 | 8648 |
| Saeed Anwar (PAK) | 220 | 8156 |
| Virender Sehwag (IND) | 214 | 7518 |
| Graeme Smith (SA) | 196 | 6974 |
Key Stats
941: The number of players who have played at least one ODI game as a designated opener for their respective teams and out of them, 938 have faced at least a single delivery.
46: This is the number of players to have played 100 or more ODI games purely as an opener and barring Graham Gooch (99 innings), the rest of the 45 have played 100 or more innings as the opener for their respective country.
15310: Sachin Tendulkar of India leads the way with the most ODI runs as an opener and only two others have scored over 10000 runs batting at the position.
25: The number of players to have scored 5000 or more runs as an ODI opener and among them only Rohit Sharma & Paul Stirling are still playing actively.
45: No prizes to guess as Sachin leads the way with the most ODI tons as an opener and he is followed by Rohit Sharma, who has 29 ODI centuries in the 176 times he batted at that position.
55.57: Rohit Sharma’s batting average is the best among opening batters with more than 5000 runs and the next best is Sachin’s 48.29 from 340 innings.
104.72: Virender Sehwag’s strike rate is the highest among ODI openers with more than 5000 runs and Gilchrist with 98.02 comes next followed by Quinton de Kock (96.96).
Read: Which bowler has picked the most ODI wickets for India?
