When it comes to the ODIs, the top of the order, i.e., opening and no. 3, is the place that will fetch you maximum results if you are a batter. The common saying is that the top 3 positions are the best to accumulate runs as batsmen, as they are often laced with a lot of scoring opportunities.
If we notice, the top run-getters in ODI cricket are either openers or top-order batters. The top 5 run-getters, Sachin Tendulkar, Kumar Sangakkara, Virat Kohli, Ricky Ponting, and Sanath Jayasuriya, all form the core top order for their respective teams.
Each batting position has its own importance and the teams generally have designated batters to fill in those slots. But as we go down the batting order, the quantity of runs goes down considerably.
Here, in this article, we list the players with the most runs in each batting position in ODI cricket.
Most Runs at Each Batting Position in ODI
| Position/No. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opener | Sachin Tendulkar – 15310 | Sanath Jayasuriya – 12740 | Chris Gayle – 10179 | Adam Gilchrist – 9200 | Sourav Ganguly – 9146 |
| No. 3 | Ricky Ponting – 12662 | Virat Kohli – 11727 | Kumar Sangakkara – 9747 | Jacques Kallis – 7774 | Kane Williamson – 6058 |
| No. 4 | Ross Taylor – 7690 | Mahela Jayawardene – 6947 | Aravinda de Silva – 6870 | AB de Villiers – 5736 | Javed Miandad – 5678 |
| No. 5 | Arjuna Ranatunga – 4675 | Steve Waugh – 4117 | Shakib Al Hasan – 4077 | Andrew Symonds – 3473 | Inzamam-ul-Haq – 3473 |
| No. 6 | MS Dhoni – 4164 | Michael Bevan – 3006 | David Miller – 2730 | Mark Boucher – 2387 | Jos Buttler – 2176 |
| No. 7 | Chris Harris – 2130 | Abdur Razzaq – 2007 | Ravindra Jadeja – 2000 | Shahid Afridi – 1858 | Elton Chigumbura – 1811 |
| No. 8 | Wasim Akram – 1208 | Chris Woakes – 1184 | Heath Streak – 1147 | Shaun Pollock – 1145 | Chaminda Vaas – 1068 |
| No. 9 | Mashrafe Mortaza – 701 | Brett Lee – 630 | Daniel Vettori – 581 | Chaminda Vaas – 552 | Kyle Mills – 545 |
| No. 10 | Waqar Younis – 478 | Zaheer Khan – 416 | Abdur Razzaq – 358 | Kyle Mills – 344 | Muthiah Muralidaran – 337 |
| No. 11 | Trent Boult – 176 | Muthiah Muralidaran – 170 | Courtney Walsh – 165 | James Anderson – 162 | Shane Bond – 145 |
Key Insights
25 players have scored 5000 or more runs while batting in the opening slot in ODIs, and the number truncates to 11 if we consider players who have scored 7500 or more runs from that position. Rohit Sharma’s batting average of around 55.60 is the best for a batter with a minimum of 5000 runs as an opener in ODIs.
At the all-important No. 3 position, 7 players have scored 5000 or more runs. Apart from the 5 mentioned, Babar Azam and Dean Jones (5100) come in next. Virat Kohli’s 61.72 is the best average at this position, and he has 40+ tons while batting at 3. (You can check out Virat Kohli’s ODI centuries list here.)
Likewise, at the No. 4 batting position in ODIs, a total of 6 batters have scored over 5000 runs, with the 6th one being Inzamam-ul-Haq. AB de Villiers has the best batting average (53.11) in this spot, followed by Ross Taylor’s 51.27 (minimum 3000 runs).
In the coveted No. 5 slot, MS Dhoni (3169), Angelo Mathews (3116), Yuvraj Singh (3040), and Eoin Morgan (3008) are the other 4 batters to have accumulated 3000 or more runs. In this batting position, Angelo Mathews has the best average with 51.08, and Yuvraj has struck the most tons (7).
Mushfiqur Rahim of Bangladesh and Tillkaratne Dilshan of Sri Lanka are the other 2 players to have scored 2000 or more while batting from the No. 6 position. While Jos Buttler has struck 4 tons from the No. 6 slot, Bevan has the best batting average (56.72) in 87 innings.
Only 7 batters have scored 1500 runs or more while batting at No. 7. The highest batting average (34.65) with a minimum of 1500 runs from this position belongs to Mahmudullah.
It is worth noting that Shaun Pollock has made over 1000 runs each, coming at both No. 7 and No. 8 in ODIs.
Thus far, only twice have we seen a century scored in the No. 8 or below batting positions. Ireland’s Simi Singh and Bangladesh’s Mehidy Hasan Miraz brought up hundreds while batting at No. 8 in ODIs.
