India-Pakistan rivalry in cricket has always been fiery and feisty, with players from each side giving that extra bit due to the history surrounding the 2 countries. Though these sides don’t often play against each other these days due to various reasons, when they do, it automatically generates a huge buzz and a lot of excitement. The games, too, are always on the thrilling side, with each team trying to get one over the other.
One of the reasons to adore this rivalry is that it has been billed as the Indian batsmen’s might against the historically lethal Pakistani pace attack, though India did have a potent spin-bowling arsenal and Pakistan had some of the legendary names in batting.
So here we see the top Indian batters in terms of the number of career runs scored against Pakistan in ODIs.
Most Runs for India against Pakistan in ODIs
| Player | Innings | Runs | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sachin Tendulkar | 67 | 2526 | 40.09 |
| Rahul Dravid | 55 | 1899 | 36.51 |
| Mohammad Azharuddin | 59 | 1657 | 31.86 |
| Sourav Ganguly | 50 | 1652 | 35.14 |
| Yuvraj Singh | 38 | 1360 | 42.50 |
| MS Dhoni | 31 | 1231 | 53.52 |
| Virender Sehwag | 31 | 1071 | 34.54 |
| Ajay Jadeja | 36 | 892 | 28.77 |
| Rohit Sharma | 19 | 873 | 51.35 |
| Navjot Singh Sidhu | 25 | 862 | 34.48 |
Key insights from the above stats
2526: Runs scored by the great Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar against Pakistan in the ODI format of the game. And this is the most runs scored by an Indian in ODIs against their arch-rivals. The master blaster has played 67 innings in ODIs against Pakistan and has amassed 2526 runs at an average of just over 40, scoring 5 centuries in the process. This total may not be broken anytime soon, as the games between these sides have reduced drastically in the last decade or so.
Also Read: Sachin Tendulkar – Tests & ODI Runs against Each Country
5: Centuries smashed by Sachin Tendulkar in ODIs, the most by any Indian against Pakistan. This is only equalled by Pakistan’s Salman Butt, who has made a stunning 5 tons against India in 21 innings.
6: There are 6 others apart from Sachin Tendulkar who have scored more than 1000 runs while facing the might of the Pakistani bowlers in ODIs, and they are Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, and Mohammad Azharuddin.
1899: ODI career runs scored by the legendary batter and current Indian coach Rahul Dravid against the neighbours in 55 outings. He is the second-highest run-scorer in Indo-Pak ODI games history, and it has come at an average of 36.51, which includes 2 centuries.
Also Read: Rahul Dravid – Test & ODI Runs Against Each Country
1657: Next up in the list is the former Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin, who makes it to 3rd place in the all-time highest run scorers list for India against Pakistan. He played 59 innings against the arch-rivals, scoring 2 centuries in the process, but his average reads a below-par 31.86, which is well short of Azharuddin’s career ODI average of 36.90.
1652: Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly is another player whose career average in ODIs is much higher than his average against the Pakistan team. This shows the potency of the bowling attack that the Pakistani team possessed in those days and how it was hard to tackle their famed pace as well as spin attacks. Despite this, the left-handed opening batter sits in the 4th position on the all-time run-getters list in India- Pakistan ODI games with 1652 runs from exactly 50 innings.
2: Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni have played 38 and 31 innings, respectively, in ODIs against Pakistan, and the reason for clubbing the duo together is that they have been really prolific while facing the arch-rivals while batting together.
Yuvraj Singh, the former Indian all-rounder, has amassed 1360 runs at an average of 42.50, which is highly appreciable for a batter mostly batting in the middle order. MS Dhoni has scored 1231 of his career runs against the Pakistani side, and this has come at an average of 53.52 while striking at 90.52, which is simply amazing. His maiden ODI ton was also against Pakistan. Playing just his 5th ODI, Dhoni smashed a stunning 148 at Vizag, and this won India the game.
Also Read: Top 10: Highest Individual ODI Scores against Pakistan
1071: Virender Sehwag’s runs in the ODI format versus Pakistan. He has a tremendous record in Test cricket while playing against the Pakistani team, but the numbers did lag a bit when it came to 50-over cricket. He averaged just over 34 in 31 games, scoring 2 centuries in the process. His strike rate in India-Pakistan ODIs is 102.59, which is great for an opening batter at the highest level.
862: Navjot Singh Sidhu’s career total score in ODIs against Pakistan, and this has come at an average of 34.38 in 25 innings.
